Complementary Colored Hands: 1st Grade

We spent a lot of time on colors in the first grade! This project focused mainly on complementary colors, a bit of a difficult concept for some younger students to grasp.

I had each student trace their hand by the edge of the paper three times, their hand + arm, twice, and parts of their hand on the edge of the paper 2-3 times. Afterwards, I gave students permission to add a few hands if they wished.

I told students to pick out one color to do patterns with on the insides of their hands. On the outside, they had to use the complement of that color to create the circle pattern. Even my older students were impressed with how these turned out!

1st grade - Knowing Our Colors & Creating Peacocks

While this may not be the best picture, I think you can get the idea. I used peacocks to teach colors to my 1st graders. We had just finished watching a video series on colors (complete with color worksheets!) and I need a project to apply some of these concepts.

Day 1 - After handing out their completed worksheets, I gave students a 12x18 sheet of paper. I had students fold their papers in half like a card. I instructed students to color primary colors on one half and secondary colors on the other - front and back. Some students, like the one pictured above, just colored in blocks. Others opted for more complicated designs and pictures.

Day 2 - I printed out a peacock template on card-stock paper. I told students to color in their peacock body using ONLY cool colors (we reviewed what these are). After coloring, students cut out the peacock and did the other side. When they finished, I had them bring the peacock to me. I cut a slot in the body of each peacock.

Day 3 - I taught my first graders to fan-fold! The 12x18 papers are folded so that they are TALL. At first, I told students to put it through the slot themselves, but many had issues doing that. So I had students bring their peacock and fan-fold paper up to me. I put the fan fold through the slot and stapled it once at the top. Ta-Da!!

They LOVED these peacocks!!