Surrounded by colours

EXPERIENCING COLOURS:
Colours are all around us

Notice all the variations of colours in your surroundings

Details:

• Ages: All ages

• Time: 15 minutes+

• Learning Outcome: Describe the variations of colours in your space.

• Colour Concepts: Notice how light influences the colours we see.

• Cornerstone: Experiencing Colours

Materials:

• Background - Experience colours all around us

• Background - Colour plays many roles in our lives

• Handout - Colour Inventory

• Pen/Pencil

Instructions:

Take a Colour Inventory:

• Look around the room you are in and notice all the different colours you can see. Make a list of all these colours in row 1 on your handout. Take 2 minutes for this.

• Repeat the above step, but this time make a list of the colours in the clothing you see different people wearing in your room (include yourself!). Write these colours in row 2 on your handout. Take 2 minutes for this.

• Now take a closer look at the colours in the room, and notice if any of the colours appear differently depending on the amount of light illuminating them. For example, if a coloured object is partly in shadow, describe how it is different in and out of the shadow. Write down how any colour’s appearance changes as its illumination changes in the final row on the handout. Take 1 minute for this.

• Share your observations. Depending on the time available, you can take a few minutes after each inventory for sharing, or wait until the end of the inventory process.

Vocabulary:

• Introducing Hue, Hue Family, Character

Questions & observations: 

• Which colour character is most common in your environment? (i.e. vivid, pale, muted or dark)

• Which hue family is most common in your environment? (i.e. vivid, pale, muted or dark)

• How do the colour appearances shift when they are viewed in shadow?

• If you do this exercise in different locations (e.g. home vs, school), what do you notice?

• Are you surprised by any of your findings?

More to explore:

• Analyze the inventory: Circle the hue names on your paper. List and count the numbers of each hue name. Record on the Inventory. Which are the most and least common hues?

• Circle the adjectives on your paper. List and count the number of adjectives used more than once. Connect them to a character. Record on the Inventory.

• Do another inventory in a different location. Use the colour characters to describe your colours as much as possible. How do the colour inventories compare?

Related exercise:

• If you have not yet done exercises using the sorting set, check out Naming Colours in the Sorting Set to become familiar with characters, and expanding the ways you can describe colours.