Mixing paint is such a great way to teach kids about the difference between primary and secondary colors (namely, that you achieve one of the latter by mixing two of the former), and I’m always looking for ways to make the lesson hands on. These hair gel bags make it easy to mix the colors together in a fun and squishy way!

To start, squirt a little clear hair gel into each of three sandwich-sized zip-top bags. Add the primary colors on either side of the gel, so you have one bag that contains red + yellow, a second that contains yellow+ blue, and a third that contains blue + red.

Seal tightly and add a strip of duct tape at the top of each for security. Now invite your toddler to squish and mush!

Veronika was particularly pleased when the red and blue combined to make her favorite color (purple).

We simply made this about the squishy sensory play today, but see my previous post on primary color storytime for reading suggestions that can go along with it.

If you have enough paint, you might consider making one bag that contains just red paint + hair gel, one with yellow paint + hair gel, and one with blue paint + hair gel, in which case you’ll wind up with the full rainbow lineup at the end.