Year 1 Visual Arts

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Colour, Colour Everywhere


Warm and Cool Colours

What colour are your eyes? What colours make up our Union Jack flag? What colour is the sky today?

The world is alive with colour. How many colours can you name? Red, blue… which others? When we think of some things, we think of their colours. When we think of the sun, we think of yellow. What colour does grass make you think of? Some colours, like reds and oranges, are called ‘warm’. This doesn’t mean that something painted red is actually warm to touch, but it does mean that colours like red can make us think of being warm. What things do these warm colours – red, orange and yellow – make you think of? A fire engine, flames, or perhaps a summery beach?

Other colours, such as blues and greens, are known as ‘cool’ colours. They can make us think of icy water or dewy grass.

Warm colours are also considered to be ‘strong’, which means that in pictures they seem to jump forward; whereas cool colours are ‘weak’, appearing farther away.

As well as making us think of things and places, colours can give us feelings. Paintings made up of mostly cool colours usually create a different feeling to those made up with warm colours. Which feelings go with warm colours red and orange? Do you imagine ‘hot’ kinds of feelings, like you feel when you are cross, or after lots of laughing? What about cool colours; does green make you feel calm, does grey make you feel sad?

This activity is adapted from page 155 of What Your Year 1 Child Needs to Know, which can be purchased here.

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