Mix six new colours
You will follow six colour changes in the film and predict what each mixture might look like. Paint pigments vary, so the outcome is not determined by the colour names alone.
- Art
- Starter
- About 15 minutes
Grown-up needed: yes for preparation, selecting materials and supervising any water or outdoor work
The film shows paint being mixed. This page is a watch-and-predict version with paper and a pencil, so follow the page.
What you need
- The challenge film listed above
- Paper
- A pencil
- A grown-up for viewing together
The rule
Only three paints allowed.
How to do it
- Ask a grown-up to show the listed challenge film.
- Note the three starting paints named in it.
- Predict the next shown mixture before its result appears.
- Record the observed colour with a short written description.
- Repeat for six shown results without mixing substances at home.
- Compare your predictions with the film’s actual colours.
Why it works
Paint pigments absorb and scatter different parts of the light that reaches them. Mixing pigments changes which light comes back towards your eye. Red, yellow and blue are a familiar art teaching set, but they cannot create every colour, and the specific paints affect the result. A pale pink normally needs lightening, which cannot be assumed from three dark paints alone. This observation version keeps the source rule visible while treating the film’s results as things to inspect.
Make it harder
- Describe two close shades separately.
- Predict a changed ratio in the film’s model.
- Explain why a paint-colour set has a limited range.
Ask Taz
- Why does mixing paint differ from mixing coloured light?
- Why do different red paints give different mixtures?
- Why can three paints not make every colour?
For grown-ups
This page uses film observation to follow the no-chemical home-activity constraint. The film invites paint mixing. This page keeps to watching and predicting. Ask at dinner: “Which colour did you predict from the names alone, and what did the actual pigments make you reconsider?”
Taz is an AI and can be wrong, so stay close by. Read how safety works on Taz.
Show us yours
Film your hands and what you made, not your face or name. Ask a grown-up before posting anywhere else.
Questions parents ask
Does the result need to look polished?
No. Begin with a small attempt and keep the first version so you can explain a change. The stated time is an estimate, and a careful observation or unfinished draft can still give you something useful to discuss.
How can a parent help without taking over?
Help with the space and listed preparation, then ask the child to describe their next choice. Let the rule guide the attempt instead of correcting every line or deciding the finished design for them.
Do we have to upload the work?
No. Showing it at home is enough. Online sharing remains optional and follows the privacy and grown-up permission line above.
More to try
See all Taz Challenges, or look through the science labs. One place for every why. Ask for early access at aitaz.com