For this post I’ve included two templates for a printable color wheel. These printouts can be used for many classroom projects and will help children learn about primary and secondary colors.
A suggested activity is to print the color wheel template on each of the 3 primary and 3 secondary colors of printer paper. The teacher (parent) can cut the triangles apart, or each child can be given a sheet of paper and instructed to cut apart the 6 same-color triangles. The children can share the triangles until they have one of each color which they can then paste to the labeled color wheel paper. This works well if you have a group of 6, 12 or 18 children (multiples of 6). Else, the teacher may need to cut apart a few of the pages.
What You Will Need to do in Advance
- Print as many copies as you need of the labeled Color Wheel Template on white printer paper.
- Select the unlabeled Color Wheel Template and print at least one copy on each of the primary and secondary colors.
Classroom Color Wheel Art Project
First, give each child a printable Color Wheel that is labeled with the primary and secondary colors. This page has each of the primary and secondary colors written in a tringle.
Next, hand each child a pre-printed page in either red, orange, yellow, green, blue or purple and scissors so that they can cut out the circle and each of the 6 triangles.
Have the children trade around the tringles until the have one of each of the primary and secondary colors. The children can then match up the color to the triangle on the labeled color wheel paper and glue it in place.
I was very fortunate to have had a fantastic, dedicated art teacher in my elementary school. It wasn’t until many years later that I fully appreciated what I had learned from her. The important connection of primary, secondary and even analogous colors is evident in all types of art.
Other Color Wheel Classroom Ideas:
Instead of printing on colored printer paper, children can cut the colors out of construction paper. Another option is to fill in the triangles with paint, crayons or markers.
- Color Wheel Classroom Activity using magazine clippings
- Color Wheel Bookmarks
- Magic Potion Drink
- Color Word Search – Word Scramble
Another great printout with so many learning possibilities! I like to use colour wheels for sorting with my wee ones. It’s also great for sorting things found on a nature walk!