🎨 Creativity & Puzzles

Mixing Colors

Ages 5–7

You will learn

Name the three primary paint colors and say which two colors mix to make orange, green and purple.

Before you start

Knowing the names of common colors.

Quick answer

In painting, the three primary colors are red, yellow and blue. Mixing two of them makes a secondary color: red and yellow make orange, yellow and blue make green, and red and blue make purple.

Let’s learn

Artists can make lots of colors from just three paint colors. These are called primary colors.

The primary colors

🔴 Red · 🟡 Yellow · 🔵 Blue

Mixing to make new colors

When you mix two primary colors, you make a secondary color:

Mix Makes
🔴 red + 🟡 yellow 🟠 orange
🟡 yellow + 🔵 blue 🟢 green
🔴 red + 🔵 blue 🟣 purple

Try it

Draw three circles. Color one red, one yellow and one blue. Then, between them, paint the colors they make when you mix them.

Check what you know

Choose an answer, then press Check. You can try again if you need to.

  1. 1 What do red and yellow paint make?
  2. 2 What do yellow and blue paint make?
  3. 3 Which two colors mix to make purple?
  4. 4 Which of these is a primary color in painting?

Try this next

With a grown-up, mix a little paint on a plate. What happens if you add more yellow to your green? Try making light green and dark green.