**Lesson Plan: Primary Colours**
**Age Group**: Reception (Ages 4-5)
**Duration**: 45 minutes
**Objective**:
Children will learn to identify and use primary colours (red, blue, yellow) and explore mixing colours through painting activities.
### Materials:
- Red, blue, and yellow paint
- A3 & A4 sheets of white paper
- Paintbrushes
- Water containers
- Aprons or old shirts to protect clothing
- Sponges and small pots for paint mixing
- Wet wipes or cloths for clean-up
- Visual aids (posters or flashcards with primary colours)
- Example artwork using primary colours
### Lesson Outline:
**Introduction (10 minutes)**
1. **Welcome and Warm-Up:**
- Begin with a cheerful greeting.
- Gather children in a circle and show them the visual aids.
- Introduce the topic of primary colours: red, blue, and yellow.
- Ask the children if they can identify anything in the classroom that is red, blue, or yellow.
2. **Discussion:**
- Explain that these colours are called “primary colours” because they cannot be made by mixing other colours.
- Show examples of items (real or in pictures) that are each of the primary colours (e.g., a red apple, blue sky, yellow sun).
**Activity: Colour Exploration (25 minutes)**
1. **Setting Up:**
- Have children put on aprons to protect their clothing.
- Distribute paintbrushes, water containers, and paper to each child.
2. **Painting Exercise:**
- Start with one colour at a time: First red, then blue, and finally yellow.
- Let children dip their brushes into the paint and make simple strokes or shapes on their A4 paper.
- Encourage them to verbally express how they feel about each colour.
3. **Colour Mixing Experiment:**
- After exploring each primary colour, introduce the concept of mixing.
- Provide small pots or palettes with a bit of red, blue, and yellow paint.
- Demonstrate mixing colours to make new ones (e.g., red + blue = purple, blue + yellow = green, yellow + red = orange).
- Allow children to try mixing colours on their own A3 paper and discover secondary colours.
**Conclusion and Clean-Up (10 minutes)**
1. **Review and Share:**
- Gather children in a circle again and display their artwork.
- Ask each child to share what they discovered about the colours they mixed.
- Reinforce the names of the primary colours and the secondary colours they created.
2. **Clean-Up:**
- Show children how to clean their brushes and workstations.
- Use wet wipes or cloths to tidy up any spills.
- Collect aprons and place them in a designated area.
3. **Final Reflection:**
- Summarise what was learned about primary colours.
- Praise children for their creativity and participation.
- Hand out a simple colouring sheet to take home, featuring objects in primary colours.
### Extension Activities:
- Set up a 'Colour Mixing Station' in the classroom where children can further explore mixing colours in their free time.
- Integrate a story book that emphasises colours, such as "The Color Monster" by Anna Llenas.
### Assessment:
- Observe children during the activity to ensure they can identify and use the primary colours.
- Assess their understanding through their ability to create and name secondary colours from mixing primary colours.
This lesson plan aims to provide a fun, creative, and educational experience for Reception students, helping them grasp the concept of primary colours and the joy of colour mixing through hands-on activities.