Colour theory is an exciting concept. It's used in many areas of our life, from decorating our homes to masterful artwork in museums, and everywhere in between. Playing with colours shows us all the crazy combinations that occur when we place, overlay or mix all kinds of hues and tones.

Understanding colour theory can enhance one’s eye for art and design — plus, it’s a fun skill to explore further. In this blog post, we dive into some of the colour theory basics, suitable for teaching to your little ones as they play with art and colouring.  We also share a fun infographic that you're welcome to download, print or share.  Let's get started...

What is Colour Theory?

Color theory is like a special set of rules that helps us understand how colours work together.  You know how there are different colors like red, blue, and yellow?  Well, colour theory helps us figure out which colours look good when we put them together.  It's kind of like a magic guidebook for making stunning pictures and paintings!  By using colour theory, we can create all sorts of moods and feelings with colours.

How to Teach Colour Theory

Let's look at how to teach colour theory in a fun way.  First, gather a bunch of colourful objects like toys, fruits, or even paint swatches. Show them to your children or students and talk about the different colours you see.  Next, play some games with colours. Try a scavenger hunt where everyone looks for items of a specific color. Or have fun mixing paint (starting with Red, Yellow and Blue) to create new hues.  It's like a colourful science experiment!  Finally, encourage creativity by letting kids create their own artwork using the colours they've learned about.  Remember, teaching colour theory is all about having fun and exploring the amazing world of colours.

Scroll down for our free printable poster that makes teaching colour theory fun!

Types of Colours

To understand basic colour theory, we need to learn about the types of colours you'll see in art and how they interact:

Primary Colours

The basis of colour theory comes down to three important colours, known as the primary colours: Red, Yellow, and Blue. These are three colours that cannot be created by mixing other colours. When you mix these primary colours together, they create secondary colours.

Secondary Colours

By mixing primary colours together, you create new colours: Orange, Purple and Green. The exact tone or hue of each secondary colour varies according to the amounts of primary colours used; this means one purple can look different to the next purple. Secondary colours work like this:

• Red and Yellow make Orange
• Red and Blue make Purple
• Yellow and Blue make Green

Adding White and Black

Of course, not all shades of red are the same, nor all shades of orange, purple, green, and so on. One way to manipulate the colours you create is to add white or black to each shade, increasing or decreasing its brightness, respectively.

This colour theory technique may not work in practice for all mediums — for example, layering black marker over yellow marker may not have a mixing effect, whereas combining two colours of paint and stirring will demonstrate how this works.

Warm and Cool Colours

Another important principle of colour theory is warm and cool tones. All colours can be broken down into either warm or cool, based on their strongest hue:

• Red, yellow and orange hues are warm tones
• Green, purple and blue hues are cool tones

This concept can become further complicated when comparing certain shades. For example, the colour red can be either ‘warm red’ or ‘cool red’, depending on whether it contains more orange (warm) or more blue (cool).

The concept of warm and cool tones is something that many artists, designers and colour theorists study to understand and utilise in their work. These concepts are used across fashion, makeup, interior design, art, architecture, and so much more.

Complementary Colours

Complementary colours are two colours that lie directly across from each other on a colour wheel. They are opposite hues, containing one warm colour and one cool colour. The basic complementary colours are:

• Yellow and purple
• Blue and orange
• Red and green

Beyond this, the colour wheel can be divided an infinite number of times to capture all gradients between the basic hues.

Complementary colours look beautiful when paired together, due to the natural illusion that occurs where each colour appears brighter and grabs your attention.

Learning About Colour

To help you on your colourful journey, we've put together this handy infographic.  Feel free to download it, print a copy or share with your school groups (please credit @littlechangecreators if you do!).

How to Make a Colour Wheel for Kids

A colour wheel for kids is one of the best tools for learning colour theory. Here's how to create one:

1. Draw a circle and divide it into 12 equal sections
2. Paint the three primary colours (red, yellow, blue) in alternating sections
3. Mix primary colours to create secondary colours in the remaining sections
4. Label each colour and its complementary opposite

Once your child completes their color wheel, they'll have a visual reference for understanding how all colors relate to each other.

Best Color Combinations for Kids' Art Projects

Understanding colour combinations for kids helps them create visually-appealing artwork. Here are the main types:

Complementary Colour Combinations

Colours opposite each other on the colour wheel create high contrast and visual interest:

• Red & Green
• Blue & Orange
• Yellow & Purple

Analogous Color Combinations

Colors next to each other on the color wheel create harmony:

• Red, Red-Orange & Orange
• Blue, Blue-Green & Green
• Yellow, Yellow-Orange & Orange

Triadic Color Combinations

Three colors evenly spaced on the color wheel create balanced, vibrant designs:

• Red, Yellow & Blue (primary colors)
• Orange, Green & Purple (secondary colors)

Play With Colours

Let your budding artists practice their colour theory knowledge with Re-FUN-able™ Kids Colouring Sets.  Which colours will they choose? Will they see how pairing complementary blue and orange makes both colours pop? Can they pair basic colour theory with clever colouring techniques? The possibilities are endless — and infinitely enhanced with a fun bit of colour theory knowledge.

Additional Resources For Learning About Colour

If you're keen to learn more about the basics of colour theory or would like some materials to share with your children, try these excellent resources:

Colour Theory For Noobs explains all aspects of colour theory in an engaging video that's suitable for kids.

Canva's Colour Wheel allows you to experiment with colour combinations and palettes.