Colour Exploration

Overview

This 45-minute lesson engages Year 4 students in exploring warm and cool colours, investigating the properties of colours in terms of how they advance or recede visually, and developing artistic ideas using sketchbooks. The lesson aligns closely with the National Curriculum for England’s Art and Design objectives and encourages creativity, critical thinking, and observational skills.

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Curriculum Links

National Curriculum for England: Art and Design (Key Stage 2, Years 3 & 4)

• Pupils should be taught to:
  • Use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination.
  • Develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space.
  • Learn about the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work.

Specific learning objectives for this lesson:

• Experiment with warm and cool colours to create imaginative work.
• Investigate how warm colours advance and cool colours recede in a composition.
• Use sketchbooks proficiently to record observations, gather ideas, and plan artwork.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils will be able to:

1. Identify and classify colours as warm or cool, explaining the emotional and spatial effects these colours create.
2. Create a simple composition using warm and cool colours to demonstrate advancing and receding effects.
3. Use their sketchbooks effectively to collect visual information and begin developing a coloured artwork idea.

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Resources Needed

• A3 sketchbooks (one per pupil)
• Sets of paints (red, orange, yellow, blue, green, violet, black, and white) or colouring pencils/markers
• Paintbrushes, palettes, water pots (if using paint)
• Colour mixing charts for reference (printed for each pupil)
• Large visual examples of paintings demonstrating warm and cool colours (e.g., works by Henri Matisse, Claude Monet)
• Whiteboards and pens or digital tablets for annotation
• Projector and computer to create/display slide presentation
• Slide presentation template (prepared by teacher or collaboratively during lesson)

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Lesson Structure

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

• Starter Discussion:
  Ask the class: “What do you think warm and cool colours are? Can you name some?” Record responses on the board.
• Teacher-led Mini-presentation:
  Show slides illustrating warm colours (reds, oranges, yellows) and cool colours (blues, greens, purples). Explain how warm colours tend to ‘come forward’ in a painting, whereas cool colours ‘go back’ or recede, creating depth. Use examples from artworks (Matisse’s bold Venus paintings or Monet’s water lilies).
• Quick Colour Sorting Activity:
  Give pupils a set of coloured cards or pencils to sort into ‘warm’ and ‘cool’ groups.

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2. Main Activity – Colour Experimentation (25 minutes)

• Task Brief:
  Pupils will use their sketchbooks to create two small squares: one painted or coloured with only warm colours, and one with only cool colours.
• Investigate Advancing and Receding:
  Within these squares, pupils experiment by layering colours and mixing shades, observing how warm colours seem to move forward and cool colours backward.
• Guided Step-by-step:
  1. Draw two side-by-side squares in their sketchbook.
  2. In the first square, mix and paint/draw various warm colours, experimenting with light and dark tones.
  3. In the second square, repeat with cool colours.
  4. Observe and discuss how the colours appear to “pop out” or “sink back.”
• Encourage Annotation: Below each square, pupils write short notes about how the colours behave and how it makes them feel.

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3. Reflection and Idea Development for Slide Presentation (7 minutes)

• Using their sketchbooks and annotations, pupils will think about how they might use warm and cool colours in a future artwork to create depth and mood.
• Pupils will then share their observations verbally in pairs, encouraged to use art vocabulary such as “advance,” “recede,” “warm,” “cool,” “foreground,” and “background.”
• As a class, record key pupil observations and ideas on the whiteboard or digital tablet.
• Explain that next lesson, pupils will use these notes to create a digital slide presentation sharing their colour experiments and ideas, helping to build skills in presenting creative work.

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4. Plenary - Quick Quiz and Assessment (3 minutes)

• Ask pupils rapid-fire questions:
  • “Name one warm colour.”
  • “What effect do cool colours have in a picture?”
  • “Which colours seem closer to the viewer – warm or cool?”
• Collect sketchbooks and provide quick, positive formative feedback—praising experimentation, meaningful annotations, and colour understanding.

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Differentiation

• Support: Provide individualised help with mixing or colouring; use colour cards/palettes with labelled warm and cool sections.
• Challenge: Gifted pupils can add simple shapes suggesting objects (like leaves for cool colours, flames for warm) to their squares and consider how combining warms and cools could enhance future work.

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Assessment for Learning

• Monitor pupil discussions and paired sharing for use of correct vocabulary and conceptual understanding.
• Review sketchbooks for application of warm/cool colour painting and quality of written observations.
• Use plenary quiz answers to check for misconceptions.

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Extension Ideas (Optional)

• Begin a collaborative class mural focused on warm/cool colour dynamics following this lesson.
• Pupils photograph natural objects (flowers, leaves) showing warm/cool colours for digital collection in next slide presentation.

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This lesson plan promotes creativity, critical thinking, and technical understanding of colour inspired by the National Curriculum framework, equipping Year 4 pupils with essential skills in art and design.