Is this advanced or normal? At what age did your child know how to mix secondary colours?

[Snowflake777]

Kind of a random question, I know, but I'm curious.

DD and I were doing some painting last weekend (something we haven't done together in at least a year) and I was showing her how to mix colours. Blue & yellow make green, red & white make pink, etc, etc. I didn't spend much time on it because I figured she was too young to really get it. 

Anyway, she wanted to do it again today, and much to my surprise she remembered absolutely everything. She knew exactly which colours made what. We haven't discussed it since we did it last week and I'm pretty sure they haven't taught it at preschool yet, so it's not like she's memorised it through repetition. She just "got" it.

I realise this is a small thing, but I'm wondering if it's typical for a 3 year old (3 years & 2 months to be exact) to be able to do this?

Both her father & I are quite artistic, so that's the main reason I'm curious.

[4evermom]

Kids really retain information that is important to them.  If she likes colors, I'm not surprised.  And another kid that age might not know which color is which because they're busy learning something else. 

[Vermillion]

Originally Posted by 4evermom 

Kids really retain information that is important to them.  If she likes colors, I'm not surprised.  And another kid that age might not know which color is which because they're busy learning something else. 

I totally agree. When my son was that age he couldn't do color mixing... actually, at almost 9 he still probably doesn't remember all of it! it's just not his thing...however, around that age he could tell you about various body organs and their functions

That's something that  I find so cool about kids! When they're really interested in something, it just seems to come so easily and really sticks!

[AllisonR]

Artist here.

Agree with the others. I played "I spy" with my kids yesterday, and I said "I spy something light brown". Well, neither DS nor DD could guess, so when I said it was the masking tape, DD said "That's not light brown; that's beige." So she is into colors. But DS didn't give a hoot whether it was light brown, beige, taupe... whatever. Everyone has their interests. 

Although my DS seems way more artistically inclined than my DD, she is the one that understands colors. He loves making sculptures, drawing, designing. But he accepts that orange is orange and red is red... and no deep interest in hues in between or if colors match or are pleasing. Meanwhile DD barely draws, much preferring to write or do "math lectures." I don't think she does 3-D type stuff either, unless guided by DS. But she knows all her colors and what shades match, and would try on 30 different outfits a day if I let her.... They are each into their own thing.

[staceychev]

That's just about the age that my DD became interested in color-mixing, too. That being said, she's quite gifted artistically--she renders far beyond her age level. Her father went to art school, and my mom is a very good "draw-er" too. (Evidently, it skips a generation on my side...)

[One_Girl]

One of my dd's favorite books at that age was a color dancing book so she knew a lot about color blending.  They also read fun books about mixing colors in her daycare and the kids got a lot of opportunities to mix colors and experiment.  I think the exposure to the knowledge and her love of art both helped.  I don't know if I would call it an advanced skill, my dd certainly isn't advanced in art but she does enjoy the exploration of art and always has.  I think it is also hard to pin down an age for this because many parents don't think to introduce their kids to colors and there are a lot of daycare centers where kids don't do much beyond color worksheets because of the mess involved so it is hard to know what other kids would do if they were introduced to them.

[staceychev]

Have you seen the Mouse Paint book by Walsh? 

[bobandjess99]

There is a color mixing activity in an age 3-6 montessori classroom, and it tends to be a favorite for the yuonger ones.  My dd at 3 could mix colors and still remembers them at 6 :) 

[Snowflake777]

Thanks for the input guys! I guess it's one of those things that is so variable that it's hard to pin down.

Stacychev - no I haven't, but I'll check it out! :)

[hakeber]

DS started doing that at about 3 or 4 when he asked me to buy him a new orange crayon and very off hand told him tp mix the red and yellow together until he was able to get new crayons....this was COOOOOOOOOOL by him.  He then was all "What makes purple?  what makes grey?  what makes pink?  what makes yellow?"  And then we discussed primary and secondary colors and shades and stuff and he was HOOKED but big time.

So yeah.  It totally has to do with need, interest and perception.  I support that argument (that it is not a sure sign of superior intelligence) because it was the same week that this child threw a rather large jagged rock in the air to "test the powers of gravity" and watched as the rock landed on his own head!  He's clever, sure, but I don't think Mensa's gonna be knockin' on our door anytime soon.  

[Snowflake777]

Originally Posted by hakeber 

DS started doing that at about 3 or 4 when he asked me to buy him a new orange crayon and very off hand told him tp mix the red and yellow together until he was able to get new crayons....this was COOOOOOOOOOL by him.  He then was all "What makes purple?  what makes grey?  what makes pink?  what makes yellow?"  And then we discussed primary and secondary colors and shades and stuff and he was HOOKED but big time.

So yeah.  It totally has to do with need, interest and perception.  I support that argument (that it is not a sure sign of superior intelligence) because it was the same week that this child threw a rather large jagged rock in the air to "test the powers of gravity" and watched as the rock landed on his own head!  He's clever, sure, but I don't think Mensa's gonna be knockin' on our door anytime soon.  

LOL!

DD just threw a tantrum because I wouldn't let her chew on a Q-tip. So...yeah...