Mood clock
EXPERIENCING COLOURS:
Colours communicate
Choose a range of colours that you associate with specific moods or emotions
Details:
Ages: 5-99
Time: 30 minutes
Learning Outcome: Realize that colour can be used to show an emotion or feeling.
Colour Concepts: Colour associations are personal
(Colour associations may be as personal to an individual as the emotions they have chosen to evoke.)
Materials:
Drawing Paper
Pencil and your choice of coloured media (e.g. watercolour paints or tempera; crayons; coloured pencils; pastels)
Paintbrushes, water and water containers (if using paints)
Scissors
Arrow print-outs and split pins
Instructions:
Brainstorm a list of words which describe various emotions or moods (e.g. excited, gloomy, delighted, scared).
Select 8 (or more) emotions from that set of words which you tend to feel (sometimes, or often).
Draw a circle, and divide it into as many segments as emotions you have chosen
Assign 1 emotion to 1 segment.
Use your media (i.e. paint, crayons, pastels) to fill in a colour in each area that you associate with each emotion. Make sure to think about both the hue family and character for your association. It may be best to have a palette or separate piece of test paper, to create your colour match before filling it in on your circle.
Cut out 2 arrows to use in your clock circle, one longer and one shorter.
Poke a small hole in the centre of your circle, and attach the arrows to the centre with the split pins.
Point the longer arrow to the mood or emotion you feel most strongly, and the shorter arrow to a mood or emotion you feel less strongly.
You can also point both arrows to the same emotion or mood, if that is the only one you are feeling at the time.
Questions & Observations:
How do your colour choices connect to the emotion depicted? (e.g. soothing calm)
Is it possible to feel two of these emotions at once?
Are your colours related in any way? (e.g. all pale or muted; same hue family)
Are any of your choices similar to other people’s choices for the same mood, or very different?
Can you give names to your custom colours?
These moods/emotions represent the creator’s own personal feelings. There are only right answers because they are right for the creator. Thus there are no wrong answers.
Important considerations for teachers:
If this exercise stirs up some unpleasant emotions/moods or some situations that are difficult to handle, the creator/student is encouraged to seek assistance from an adult, guidance counsellor or human resources professional.
