Art and painting · lesson 3 of 24 · free

The colour wheel — Art and painting for kids

A colour wheel puts colours in a circle in a fixed order: red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue, blue-purple, purple and red-purple. The 3 primaries are spaced out, the 3 secondaries sit between them, and the 6 tertiaries fill the gaps — 12 colours in all.

▶ Watch how it works

Got it? Practise ↓

Artist's tip

Go round the circle — “each colour sits between the two colours that make it”

  1. Order: red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue, blue-purple, purple, red-purple.
  2. Primary: red, yellow, blue. Secondary: orange, green, purple. Tertiary: the six two-word colours.
  3. Neighbours on the wheel are called analogous colours; black, white, grey and brown are neutrals and are not on the wheel.

Use it for: Choosing colours that go well together, and making your own colour wheel in art class.

Worked example: 🎡 On the colour wheel, is green a primary, secondary or tertiary colour? → secondary colour

  1. Green is made by mixing blue and yellow, two primaries.
  2. A colour made from two primaries is a secondary colour.

Check: Green sits halfway between yellow and blue on the wheel ✓

▶ Watch it animated

✏️ Practice

Work it out in your head or on paper, type the answer and press Check. Stuck? Press “Show me how”.

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🏁 Lesson 3 test

20 questions. Check each answer, then go to the next one. Get 16 or more right to pass.

🏅 Sign in with Google to earn the 🎡 Colour Wheel Spinner badge when you pass — and a certificate when you finish all 8 lessons of Part 1 · Colour. You can still take the test without signing in.

🖨️ Colour Wheel Worksheet for Kids

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