The terrific technicolor action game - art learning activity

Arts & Activities, Sept, 2002 by Paula Guhin

Each child "wore" a color--a card stuck to the front of his or her shirt. There were two teams, one on each side of the small gym. Everyone was enjoying the activity immensely.

Interaction, cooperation, engaged learning--this game's got it all. Perhaps best of all, it's really FUN! Even this teacher had a big grin on her face watching the kids puzzle out an answer and urge each other on. My middle-schoolers got a physical workout and exercised their minds at the same time. The game works for upper- elementary students, too.

I hoped my students already had learned a great deal about color, as we'd completed a variety of hands-on color projects. The game would serve as a review before I tested their understanding of the color wheel and more. But first, everyone needed to clearly understand the rules of the game (see sidebar, "The Rules").

Questions can be as simple or as challenging as you require (see sidebar for a suggested list). You could even include questions about tints and shades like pink and maroon, and a question about low intensity, such as blue-gray. To stimulate thinking skills, you might use a few pairs of "answers" (color cards) that are correct but different from each other. For instance, if one child stands in as blue-green on one team, and the other team has a "blue-violet" person, both are intermediates that also are cool colors. Either answer is correct.

Another example is to use navy blue (dark blue) on one team, and maroon (dark red) on the other. Both are correct answers to the question, "Which of you is a shade, a color with black added?" Answering such "trick" questions could prevent one team from merely copying whatever the other team does.

Finally, ask enough questions to give each child the opportunity to run more than once, if possible. That's why you'll see some repetition in the list of questions accompanying this article.

I prefer to ask questions to which there is only one correct answer (see Rule 3, above). However, you may decide on more generalized questions, such as "Which of you are warm colors?" and allow more children to run for points at a time. If you choose to do the latter, please inform your students that there may be more than one correct answer, and that safety must be considered when several children are active. Too, your scorekeeper has the burden of deciding which of the many students reached the goal first!

I'll bet you can improve my little game by adding other answer cards, new questions and more. Do try it--it's easy being green!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

* A "game-show host" to ask the questions

* A list of questions (and answers)

* Two identical sets of color cards labeled with the names of the individual primary, secondary and intermediate colors, to be pinned on, taped on or hung around the neck of each player

* An impartial referee and/or scorekeeper

* A safe playing space

THE RULES

1. The two teams stand behind their respective lines opposite each other, with the base of goal in the center (a respectable and equal distance).

2. Anyone over their team's line before the question has been asked loses a point for that team.

3. When a question has been asked (for both teams simultaneously), only one member of each team may run to the center base. The first one to touch the base wins a point for his or her team IF his or her color is the correct answer. (If not, a point is deducted from his or her team's total).

4. In the case of a tie, each team wins a point (again, on the condition that both answer's are correct).

5. NO pushing, shoving, name-calling or poor sportsmanship of any kind will be tolerated.

SUGGESTED QUESTIONS

1. Besides yellow and blue, which is the third primary color? [red]

2. What secondary color is made by mixing yellow and red? [orange]

3. Besides red, which primary color is also a warm color? [yellow]

4. Yellow and blue, mixed together, make this secondary color. [green]

5. Which primary color is also a cool color? [blue]

6. What secondary color is made by mixing red and blue? [violet]

7. Which primary color, besides yellow, is also a warm color? [red]

8. Which secondary color is also a warm color? [orange]

9. Besides violet (purple), which other secondary color is also a cool color? [green]

10. What is the complement of green? [red]

11. Which color makes green when it is mixed with blue? [yellow]

12. What is the complement of violet? [yellow]

13. Which color, when mixed with red, makes violet? [blue]

14. What is the complement of purple? [yellow]

15. Which is a tint or a high value of a color? [pink, light blue]

16. Which is an intermediate color? [blue-green, blue-violet or four more]

17. Which is a color made by missing a primary and a secondary? [any intermediate color]

18. The complement of orange? [blue]

19. Which is a shade of a low value of a color? [maroon, navy blue or any color mixed with black)]

20. Which is a color mixed with white? [pink, light blue or any tint]

At the time she wrote this article, Paula Guhin taught art at Central High School in Aberdeen, South Dakota. She is now retired and serves as a Contributing Editor for Arts & Activities.