Name that Colour - a Game
For Years 3, 4 and 5 (7, 8 and 9 years old)
This workshop uses 35 small acetates sheets, it will also require 7 A2 sheets of paper, colour marker pens and a blackboard and chalk.
The aim of the session is to show the participants the complexity of combining and naming things. The introduction to the session will therefore introduce the idea of how colours are created from one another, and the importance difference between prime colors, the colours of the rainbow and shades and tones (Science Keystage 2 -materials and their properties 2: changing materials). The aim is therefore that they produce names that others in their group can agree to (English Keystage 2 - Speaking and listening, Group interactions), but also other groups can then guess (Science Keystage2 –breadth of study 2: communication). To do so they will need to be able to make very careful distinctions between colours which might appear at first sight to be the same (Science Keystage 1 - scientific materials, grouping materials ). Finally the point system of the game is meant to explore the complexities of competition (Citizenship Keystage 2 – 4: the effect of your actions on others).
The game should pose no additional risks than would be customary in a normal school class: It will last approximately 1 hour.
Lesson plan
1) After an introduction (where we introduce some differences of shades, tones and therefore differences of names) the group is divided into groups of ideally 5-8.
2) Each group is then given a set of five colours which would commonly all fall under the colour bracket red or green or blue, etc.. The colours come in the form of small coloured acetates, each of which has a number on it.
3) They must then assign a name to each numbered colour, and agree amongst themselves. The names can be of their own devising or a real one.
4) The names with the numbers associated within them are then taken to the front, and the enabler writes down the names in no particular order on the board.
5) The set of colours are then handed out to another team, and they have to match the colours with the name (they have five minutes to do it). They must record what they think on paper.
6) At then end of five minutes, the paper is taken up to the front, to be marked, and the team get another colour.
7) The game carries on until each team has had a chance to work out the names of all the colours they did not themselves name.
8) Points are awarded as follows.
a) 1 point is scored for each correct guess, by both the team which assigned the name to a colour and also the guessing team (one is rewarded therefore for giving names others can guess).
b) Teams that assign a name everyone guesses right get 10 bonus points.
9) The team with most points wins…