Centre: Explicit / Intentional Teaching: Centre:

Oil and water experiment

Fill four small, shallow dishes with baby oil and set aside. In a
cup combine 3-5 drops of food colouring with water and mix,
using one cup for each colour (red, blue and yellow). Children
will experiment with dropping the varying colours into the
pan of oil. The children observe what happens to the water
and the oil, if they mix and what effect is produced. Children
experiment with the primary colours and observe their
properties.
Mat session/ Introduction: Milky Fireworks
Pour milk in a dish, children squeeze droplets of food
Children will gather where they can see the front on the mat. colouring on the surface of the milk. Dip the Q-tip in the dish
The educator will begin the discussion by asking the children soap and then in the milk, preferably in the centre of a spot
questions to get them thinking about the colours of the of food colouring. Repeat this process as often as desired.
rainbow. “Have you ever seen a rainbow in the sky? What did Children watch the colours blend and form new colours.
it look like? Can you remember any of the names of the
colours in the rainbow?”
The educator will then introduce the book, The Rainbow Fish
by Marcus Pfister, and read it to the children. After the book
the children will discuss their favourite colours.

The educator will review the colour wheel and primary

Underwood, C (2015). Oil & Water Experiment For Kids. Retrieved from
https://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/04/science-for-kids-
experiments.html
Resources: Baby oil, shallow dishes, food colouring,
water, pipettes
colours. There will be a big laminated colour wheel at the
front of the room and a little one for each of the children to
keep. The educator will point out that yellow, red and blue
are called primary colours and you can mix them together to Hul, J. V. (2014). The awesome rainbow milk science experiment. Retrieved
make other (secondary) colours. Orange, green, and violet from https://artfulparent.com/awesome-rainbow-milk-science-experiment/
are called secondary colours because they can be mixed from
two primary colours (point to the wheel to explain). The Resources: Whole milk, shallow dish, food colouring, liquid
educator will then discuss how colours on the colour wheel dish soap, Q-tips, pipettes
are the same as colours in a rainbow.
After the introduction, the educator will explain the centres
the children can explore and experiment at today with
mixing colours and the colours of the rainbow.

Centre: Conclusion: Centre:

Window Rainbow Fish
The educator will use a black felt tip pen to draw an outline
of the Rainbow fish onto the non-stick side of contact paper.
The educator will peel the back off the contact paper,
position the fish onto the window and secure with tape (the
sticky side needs to face you). The children can investigate
and decorate their rainbow fish by sticking pieces of
coloured cellophane onto the cellophane. The children
Children will gather on the mat in front of the interactive
whiteboard. The educator will begin the discussion by asking
children to share their favourite activities they participated in
and the exciting things they discovered and explored at the
centres.
Watch the Colour mixing and rainbow colours video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybt2jhCQ3lA
Rainbow Playdough Colour Mixing
Children will explore mixing primary coloured playdough
(red, yellow, blue) to create secondary colours and match
these to the colour wheel. A laminated colour wheel will be
provided for each child.
explore what happens when two primary colours overlap
with the light shining on it from behind.
The rainbow fish will be placed on a black border and a fish
eye will be added. The rainbow fish will create perfect
window art for the classroom.
Edwards, E (2016). Window Art- The Rainbow Fish and Elmer the Elephant.
Retrieved from http://adventuresandplay.com/window-art-the-rainbow-fish-
and-elmer-the-elephant/
Resources: Contact paper, coloured cellophane, black
card, goggle eyes
Children will watch the colour mixing and rainbow colours
video to further concrete the colour theory and recall the
names of the colours visually with the word and colour
displayed. This will further assist children for the following
activity.
Play What am I?
Educators will hand all children their rainbow wand or ring
previously made for this activity (different coloured
streamers attached – view image below) . Tripp,K (2019). Rainbow play dough colour mixing. Retrieved from
https://teachbesideme.com/rainbow-play-dough-color-mixing/
The educator will describe what they are – for this lesson the
focus will be on colours. Resources: Colour wheel printed and laminated, primary
For example; coloured playdough – red, blue & yellow
I am a colour…when you mix yellow and red together you get
me…
Children will try to guess what colour the educator is
describing. The children will hold up a colour streamer from
their rainbow wand or ring. In this example, they will hold up
an orange piece of fabric if they have already figured it out. If
not, the teacher will continue giving hints so more children
have an opportunity to guess the colour.
I am the same colour as a carrot…etc.
The educator will then ask the children to call out the name
of the colour they are holding up.
This way the educator can further assess the children’s
understanding of colour names and how to describe
different colours.
To Be a Kid Again. (2016). Rainbow ribbon wand and ring for movement
activities. Retrieved from https://www.creativelittleexplorers.com/rainbow-
ribbon-wand-ring-movement-activity/
Centre:
Rainbow Slime
The educator will have primary coloured slime in a bowl each
with a spoon. Children will get their own bowl to combine
different primary coloured slime to create their own
combination. The primary coloured slime provided for the
activity can be pre-bought, made by the educator or as a pre-
activity in another lesson where the children make the slime.
Children can take their creation home to keep.
Littlebins (2018). Easy to make Rainbow Slime. Retrieved from
https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/make-rainbow-slime-recipe-science-kids/
Resources: Rainbow coloured slime, bowls, containers
Objective/s: Centre:
Explore the colour theory through mixing primary colours to Rainbow Storm
form secondary colours Combine paint and warm water to make the “rain”. Fill a jar
2/3 of the way with cool water, and then form a “cloud” on
Investigate colours of the rainbow through experimenting top using shaving cream. Children fill pipettes with the “rain”
with hands on materials. colours, and then squeeze them onto the shaving cream
cloud. Once the clouds fill with enough moisture it will begin
to “rain”. The colours swirl and mix to make a rainbow storm.
Growing a Jeweled Rose. (2015). Storm in a jar experiment. Retrieved from
https://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2016/04/storm-in-jar-
experiment.html
Resources: a glass or jar, shaving cream, water, paint,
pipettes, bowls, a spoon
Assessment & Recording: (What are we assessing? How are we assessing? How are we recording?)
Anecdotal notes will be kept on the following
 Students ability to identify and name primary colours 

 Students ability to name secondary colours they made 

 Knowledge on colours of the rainbow
 Understanding on secondary colours formed through sets of primary colours combinations. 


Checklist will be used to assess student’s knowledge on the lesson objectives (example below):
Student Comments (anecdotal notes and observations)
Student A
Student B
Student C

Highlight one or two outcomes specifically connected to your objective/s.

EYLF specific objective links to the learning centre: 4.2 & 4.3
Reference List
Edwards, E (2016). Window art - The rainbow fish and elmer the elephant. Retrieved from http://adventuresandplay.com/window-art-the-rainbow-fish-
and-elmer-the-elephant/

English Singsing. (2016, June 29). Kids vocabulary - Color -Ccolor mixing - Rainbow colors - English educational video [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybt2jhCQ3lA

Growing a Jeweled Rose. (2015). Storm in a jar experiment. Retrieved from https://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2016/04/storm-in-jar-experiment.html

Hul, J. V. (2014). The awesome rainbow milk science experiment. Retrieved from https://artfulparent.com/awesome-rainbow-milk-science-experiment/

Littlebins (2018). Easy to make rainbow slime. Retrieved from https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/make-rainbow-slime-recipe-science-kids/

Pfister, M. (1992). The rainbow fish. New York City, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Tripp,K (2019). Rainbow play dough colour mixing. Retrieved from https://teachbesideme.com/rainbow-play-dough-color-mixing/

Underwood, C (2015). Oil & water experiment for kids. Retrieved from https://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/04/science-for-kids-experiments.html