Where did the orange paint come from?

Today in the studio I created a design with yellow, red and white paint. 

We paused for a moment before touching the paint to look at the lines and the colors I used. 

Then I have each child a wide paint brush and then quickly went to work. Some children focused on exploring one color, moving the paint around a small part of the paper and keeping the color pure. Other children pushed their brush in long strokes as far across the paper as they could reach. There were moments when we people would get too close, which gave us a chance to practice making space for each other. 

Soon the original design had faded away into blotches and new patterns of color. We admired our work. I reminded them of the lines and the colors we started with then invited them to see what we had now. 

Then I paused. 

"I noticed something new!  We started with white, yellow and red.  But now there is orange!  Where did the orange come from?"

We talked about how each child used the paint and the paint brush. We talked about how the paint mixed. We remembered and noticed.  There was a sense of satisfaction in the way the painting came together.  And our knowledge of how paint and color works expanded.