Mix It Up: Where Primary Colors turned into More Colors… and Toddlers Became Little Scientists

Imagine a big yellow foamy swirl mixing slowly into another big red foamy swirl, and turning into a bright ORANGE swirl! Then a blue blob of paint mixes into a yellow blob of paint and turns into a beautiful GREEN blob!! And the red and blue mixing to make a majestic PURPLE!!! What an exciting way to show little toddlers the magic of color mixing - wide eyes... tiny gasps… and then, of course, a rush of little hands reaching in to make it happen again! That was the moment I knew our latest Talk and Tinker book had been the right pick.

After how much the kids loved exploring primary colors with Press Here, I couldn't resist following it up with another gem from the same author, Hervé Tullet: Mix It Up. If you haven't come across it, it's another wonderfully interactive picture book, this time all about how the primary colors mix together to make secondary colors. And just like its predecessor, it keeps young readers busy by asking them to tap the book, press the colors, shake it, and tilt it. As you can imagine, my toddlers (and I!) were ready to move.

Reading, Toddler-Style

I read the book start to finish, but I'll let you in on a little secret: I didn't read every single word. Instead, we looked at each page together and I paraphrased most of the sentences so they were easy for little ones to follow. Toddlers don't need every line - they need the invitation to DO something, and this book is full of them.

The book stayed within reach throughout the class, so I could refer back to it whenever the moment called for it. And the children took full advantage of that! All through class, they'd wander over, pick it up, and "read" it on their own. I love seeing that. It means the book has become theirs.

Turning Every Instruction Into a Whole-Body Movement

Since this book was so similar to Press Here, the movements came naturally. When the book said to tap, we tapped on the rug with our feet. When it said to shake, we shook our whole bodies. When it said to tilt the page, we tilted our WHOLE selves to the side. Every tiny instruction became a BIG movement, and the kids were right there with me every step of the way.

We also brought back the favorite colorful dots song from our Press Here classes, this time with colorful scarves, because it was such a hit with the kids. There's something wonderful about a familiar song showing up in a brand new story… it felt like greeting an old friend. And honestly, that song became our anchor, a comfortable and joyful thread connecting one book to the next.

Sensory Painting: Foam, Watercolors, and a Whole Lot of Wow!!

Now for the part the children were most excited about!

Colorful shaving foam. I used an old muffin tray to hold the shaving foam and food coloring in red, yellow, and blue. (Pro tip: a muffin tray is perfect for toddler groups because everyone can reach the colors, which makes sharing so much easier.) The children watched as the primary colors mixed with each other to create orange, green, and purple. Then they scooped up the colorful foam with spoons and painted with spoons, fingers, and whole hands on construction paper. The kids were completely WOWED by the color changes, and they kept at it for over 20 minutes!

Watercolor suncatchers. For the next activity, we switched to watercolors. We started with the primary colors, then mixed them together to make secondary colors, again using the muffin tray. This time the children used thick paintbrushes to paint large coffee filters, and they were mesmerized watching the colors spread and blend right on the filter. This one was more about the process than the product, so there was no right or wrong way to paint.

Once the coffee filters dried, we turned them into suncatchers! I taped each one to a dried branch and hung it with yarn, so every child had a beautiful piece of art to take home. A little science, a little art, and a whole lot of pride.

What Made This Book So Special

Here's what I loved most: the familiarity of primary colors from Press Here sparked the children's interest in the new book right away. Because they already knew and loved those colors, Mix It Up felt like the next chapter of a story they were already in. It was a good reminder that when children feel comfortable and excited about something, you can build on it to introduce a new idea. In this case, the idea was that colors don't just sit still on a page. They can MIX and become something new.

Did I Mention Sensory Adventures?

As usual, the sensory painting stole the show. The children loved the hands-on play with colors and did NOT mind getting messy, which, if you've ever worked with toddlers, you know is a beautiful thing! Both painting activities held their attention for more than 20 minutes.

But something else was happening beneath all that fun. We were practicing sharing materials, sharing space, taking turns, and patiently waiting for our turn with the paints. And the children rose to the occasion, graciously sharing supplies and waiting for their turns like little pros.

The language was growing too. We used new action words like "shake," "tilt," "mix," "press," and "tap" again and again, in all kinds of different contexts: with the book, with our bodies, and with the paint. That kind of repeated, meaningful practice is what helps words stick.

Why I'll Keep Coming Back to Books Like This

Mix It Up reminded me why I love building classes around stories. A book can be a song, a dance, a swirl of colorful foam, and a suncatcher hanging in a sunny window. And when it is, children don't just hear about colors mixing... they get to be the ones who make it happen, with their whole bodies and all their senses.

Here's to many more Sensory Speech Adventures - mixing, tapping, shaking, and splashing right along with our little ones!