Mixed Up Colours

Going along with my new obsession of mixing colour in my wardrobe, i decided to take it to art time with my daughter.
I want her to really experiment with colours while we do art.  She already knows her primary and secondary colours and now i want her to get comfortable with complimentary colours (both traditional  and ones that she believes are complimentary).
We do a lot of colour mixing with food colouring, ink and paint.  Sometimes she mixes colours in an art palette,  but mostly she just loves taking paint and dumping a whole bunch of colours in a paint pot like a little mad scientist, making her own little colour concoction.  

Crayola is a leader in the art market for kids.  They have so many innovative products that allow kids to explore art in new ways.
Other than Crayola markers, crayons and paint, we had yet to try any of their other products.  While Zellers was having their closing sale, i ended up getting Crayola Colour Twister for $7.  It has been a well used product since we got it, and it is perfect for exploring the colour wheel.

You basically keep pushing down on a pump and drop food colouring or paint in the spinner which makes the colours swirl together.  She has created some fun art disks using the colour wheel as a guide.  Mostly though, she just loves choosing her own colours and watch them mix and swirl together.

Although we love the product, I will let you know some issues about the product as well as some tips that Crayola should  have included.

- for first time use (especially with younger ones) use outside or in an area where you can spill.  The ink comes out of the tube fast if the child just turns it upside down and presses.  Also the ink pools inside the spinner so it can get messy if you are not aware of this.  You have to teach your child to only tilt the tube down and gently squeeze the tube so they can control how much comes out.  My daughter learned this pretty easily after a few tries (but I have to admit, it was a hard lesson because I was not expecting the mess and we did it on our art table in the carpeted room).

-Or skip their tube and use food colouring first.  I find food colouring droppers are not as open as the ones included making it easier for little ones to control.  The little dollar store paints with the small squeeze opening work well too.

-You get 10 disks and they do not sell disks separately.  You just keep one as a template.  Card stock works well as does finger paint paper.  I do admit that the disks included are really nice- heavy and coated with gloss, but you can make it work with making your own disks. We even tried regular paper and construction paper. White is best, but we did see colour variation even when using coloured construction or card stock paper.

-what works best is pumping first until the spinner goes really fast and then letting go and adding the paint or dropper with two hands and continue pumping for the swirls.
It took my daughter several tries to get the mechanics, but she ended up getting it.  I encouraged her to try as much as she could on her own.  All of the ones on the art board are her doing it by herself.

-there are battery operated spinners, they come with their own difficulties too (spin too slow, change batteries too often).

-the product is recommended for 6 and up.  The pump will be an issue for younger ones, but with practice they will get it.  Don't give up on it after one try.  Great for decorating an art room, making cards and just exploring colour mixing.  It was worth the $7 for sure.

Here is a display of our Crayola Twister Spin Art (clickable image).

We are going to try this soon.