Water Color Fractions
Participants
 At least one adult or older child who understands fractions and decimals.
 At least one child who needs to strengthen their understandings of
fractions and decimals.
Required materials
 Clear cups -- I bought plastic cups, but glass you already have would
work just fine, as long as they are clear.
 Food coloring (liquid!)
 spoon -- for stirring
 paper towels
 paper (either the form provided here or something similar you make) and
pencil
 water (tap water is great for this... no special water needed)
Preparation
 This family-based activity needs just a little preparation. The most
important part is to make sure that everyone is wearing clothing that can
get stained without consequence and that the activity is done somewhere
that furniture, carpet, etc. can be protected from food coloring and water.
If it's a nice day, put on bathing suits and go outside! The colored water
can be used to water plants.
 Cover any surfaces that might need protection
 Print out the accompanying form to help people keep track of their work
and their fractions, or use the form to create a similar version on your
own paper. You may want to make multiple copies so that you can play
lots of rounds!
 Get supplies and family and bring them to wherever you all want to work.
Directions
1. Fill a plastic cup approximately 2/3 full with water. In the pictures, I used
9 ounce cups from Kroger, and used 2/3 of a cup of water. You may
have to adjust that based on your cups.
Don’t fill them so full that water might spill
when an enthusiastic child starts to stir to
blend the drops!
2. One person (let the child go first), adds
three drops of food coloring into the cup,
and records what drops they choose. For
the example, I used B-G-G, for one blue
and two green drops. No one else should
be able to see what combination of drops
were used. For younger children, someone
older may have to help in the first round.
Water Color Fractions
3. Everyone else should get a cup (same type) and fill it with the same
amount of water. Then, using three drops of food coloring, they try to
match the color created by the first player. You may find you need a
spoon to stir up the water and food coloring. If you do, wipe the spoon
with a paper towel before using it again! They should record on their
form what combinations they try, and keep experimenting until someone
matches the color. That person scores a point. See example below.
The cup on the right
contains the color I’m
trying to get to, B-B-G.
The cup on the left
contains my first guess,
B-B-Y. Clearly it is wrong,
so I try again.
Again, the right cup contains the
color I’m trying to match with the
one on the left, which is B-Y-Y. This
is closer, but still not correct.
Attempt #3 on the left is B-G-G,
which is closer still, but a little
too green for the cup on the
right.
Finally, the color in both cups
match!
If no one makes a
match in 3-4 rounds,
the artist should give a
hint as to the color
blend.
Water Color Fractions
4. All players should then talk about the mix of colors using fraction and
decimal language. For example, "Two thirds of my drops were green, and
only one third of my drops were blue." Ask the child why they put the
number of each color over 3, and why 3 is in the bottom. Try to
encourage the child to use "numerator" for the top and "denominator" for
the bottom. Vocabulary is important.
5. Someone else gets to create the mystery color now, and the game
repeats.
6. After a couple 3-drop rounds, increase the drops to 4, and then 5, etc.
7. You can also all try to match a color from your home (the grass, a colored
dinner plate, a flower, etc) and determine the fraction and decimal of
each mixture.
8. If the adults feel comfortable, comparison questions can be asked, like
"how many times more green was used than blue?" Ask the child to
explain using drops, and the fractions and decimals they recorded.
9. Whoever scores the most points at the end, and parents should feel free
to award LOTS of points based on correct use of language in fraction and
decimal discussion, should receive a small prize of the parents’ choice.
Extension ideas
 Discuss art concepts, like opposite colors. If the child is familiar with
opposite colors, ask them to try to create opposite colors.
 Ask children to name the colors they create, and encourage them to
relate to something. For example, not "blue-green", but "too much
chlorine in the pool blue-green" or “Granny’s favorite sweater teal”.
 For older children, ask they to make a color that is 1/6 blue, 1/2 yellow,
and 1/3 red. Ask them how many drops for each color. This brings up
common denominators and equivalent fractions. Use that language if the
child doesn't know how to get started. If they are still stuck, ask how
many drops of yellow would be needed if there were 6 total drops of food
coloring. then, ask how that relates to the 1/2 in the original request.
Ask the child why they think you used 6 as the total number of drops.
 If desired, save all the similarly colored water (like all the purplish ones)
and boil for pasta water. Enjoy fun, colored noodles for a family meal!