The Color Kittens

Book Summary
Beloved author Margaret Wise Brown spins a fun tale about two playful kittens named Brush and Hush, who spend their day mixing all the colors of the world while searching for the right mixture to make the color green. Alice and Martin Provensen's bright and whimsical illustrations provide children with an introduction to colors and how colors are mixed together to create other colors.

Objective
This book will introduce children to the scientific concept of color mixtures, encourage them to make comparisons, encourage visual awareness, and provide them with enriched vocabulary.

Before Reading
Tell the children that you are going to read a story about colors. Invite the children to share what they know about colors, and what they have observed when they mix colors. Record the children's responses on chart paper.

Teaching Plan
Mixing Colors
Materials

• Tempera paint. Necessary colors: red, blue, white, yellow, black
  
• Containers for mixing colors: paper or plastic cups, muffin tins, recycled applesauce or yogurt containers
  
• Paintbrushes
  
• Small containers of water for rinsing paintbrushes
  
• White paper or newsprint
  
• Craft sticks (for mixing colors)
  
• Marker

Activity

1. Read The Color Kittens to the children. Invite them to describe what they learned about color mixing from the story. Encourage them to recall the different color combinations that the kittens created. Record the children's responses on chart paper.
   
2. Explain to the children that they will work in small groups and experiment with color mixing. Tell the children that each group will receive four containers of paint, paintbrushes and paper. Each group will work together to find out how many different types of colors they can create.
   
3. Divide the children into groups of four and provide each group with art materials and four separate containers of the following tempera paint colors:
   • Red, blue, white, and black
     
   • Red, yellow, white, and black
     
   • Blue, yellow, white, and black.
     
   • Yellow, red, blue, and black
     
     
4. Ask the children to mix the paint in separate containers and paint the colors they create onto the paper. Encourage the children to see how many different kinds of colors they can create.
   
5. Invite each group of children to sit with an adult to discuss what they've learned about color mixing. Record each group's responses on individual sheets of paper. Ask the children to count the different color combinations they've created. Record their findings.
   
6. Provide each child with an individual sheet of paper. Ask the children to paint a picture using the colors they created. Encourage children to write or dictate a story or information about their painting.
   
7. During meeting time, ask each group to share their color experiments and paintings with their classmates. Encourage the children to discuss similarities and differences between their works. Which group created the most color combinations?
   
8. Create a language-experience chart to summarize what the children learned about color mixing. Display the children's artwork, color mixtures, and language-experience charts to document the project.

Math and Science Extension
Provide each child with black and white paint, paper, paintbrush, craft sticks, and small containers of water. Ask the children to record how many different shades of gray they can create using black and white paint. Children can paint a picture using their different shades of gray. Invite the children to share their work at group time.

Other Books Involving Colors
Cat's Colors
By Jan Cabrera
Jan Cabrera presents a cheerful concept book that explores colors from a cat's point of view.

Purple, Green, and Yellow
By Robert Munsch
Children will enjoy this colorfully illustrated and funny read-aloud about a young girl who paints on herself with super-indelible magic markers.

The Big Orange Splot
By D. Manus Pinkwater
A comical story about a man who decides to paint his house every color of the rainbow, much to the dismay of his neighbors.

Other Books by Margaret Wise Brown
Goodnight Moon
Big Red Barn
The Runaway Bunny

Teaching Plan written by Risa Young.