Our facilitator provided children with an
opportunity to explore colour mixing but with a twist.
Children were provided with three
containers that contained vegetable oil, food colouring and a little bit of
water. They were then invited to add drops of colour onto a black tray and to
swirl the colours together. Mixing on
the black tray meant that you couldn’t really see how the colours were mixing
until you pressed the blank sheet against the surface and then pulled it away
to see your masterpiece.
The children (and adults) were delighted
to turn over their papers to discover how their colours had mixed and the
patterns that were created. One young
friend stayed at this activity for over 30 minutes and experimented with
different strategies and techniques.
“Children use their senses, their
minds and their bodies to find out about and make sense of what they see, feel
and experience in the world around them. They gather information and develop
new skills, including thinking skills. They form ideas and theories and test
these out. They refine their ideas through exploring their environment actively
and through interacting and communicating with adults and with other children.
Much of this happens through play and other experiences that allow children to be
creative, to take risks, and to make discoveries. As they learn, they retest
their theories adjusting them to take on board new discoveries and new
experience” National Council for
Curriculum and Evaluation
Lynda Gellner
