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  • Hi, I'm Vicky, the founder and content creator at Mess For Less. If you are looking for family-friendly recipes, recipes that kids can make, and play and learning activities for kids, you will find them at Mess For Less. I invite you to learn more about me. Thanks for stopping by!

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    Home » Painting Activities

    Outdoor Color Station

    Published: Jun 16, 2014 · Modified: Oct 28, 2022 by Vicky · This post contains affiliate links.

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    My kids love being outdoors during the summer months. While they enjoy spending time playing with their favorite outdoor toys, I like to introduce some new activities every once in a while. An Outdoor Color Station is simple to set up and provides lots of opportunities to learn about color and practice fine motor skills. We recently had some friends over and used plastic cups for beverages. I cleaned those cups out when we were done with them and gave them to my kids to use in their water table. I used the same cups, some water and liquid water colors to create an Outdoor Color Station. You can use food coloring for this if you don't have liquid water colors on hand. Be sure to get the kids in their play clothes because things can get messy and wet!

    Outdoor Color Station - Kids can experiment with color mixing while working on their fine motor skills. This kept my kids entertained for ages!

    You will need:

    • Liquid water colors or food coloring
    • See-through cups or containers (large and small)
    • Droppers
    • Water

    The set up for this color mixing activity is pretty simple. Get some small containers (I love reusing applesauce and fruit cups) and pour in a few drops of food coloring or liquid water colors. Add water to dilute the color somewhat. Set these colorful cups up outside along with some larger see- through containers filled halfway with water. Provide some droppers as well.

    Outdoor color station

    Now just let your kids explore with the colors.

    Mixing colors

    There is so much to be learned in this activity. My daughter discovered if she added more drops of a color to the water, it would turn darker.

    Fine motor activity

    She also learned about what would happen when she mixed different colors together and she experimented with many different color combinations.

    child using dropper

    Color mixing can also be a collaborative effort. "Hey, what will happen if we mix your purple with my yellow?"

    outdoor color station play

    In addition, squeezing the droppers provided a great fine motor exercise. My daughter tried different grips when squeezing the water in and out of the dropper.

    learning about colors

    When the girls filled their large cups nearly to overflowing, they dumped them and refilled their cups with fresh water from the water table.

    playing with colors and water

    I was surprised that this color station occupied my kids for so long. They played all afternoon, mixing colors and creating concoctions.

    Outdoor Color Station - Simple set up and will keep kids occupied while they experiment with mixing colors. A great fine motor activity as well.

    If you enjoyed this be sure to check out our Duck Tape Boat Races.

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    Hi, I'm Vicky, the founder and content creator at Mess For Less. If you are looking for family-friendly recipes, recipes that kids can make, and play and learning activities for kids, you will find them at Mess For Less. I invite you to learn more about me. Thanks for stopping by!

    Valentine's Day Activities and Recipes

    • Valentine’s Dessert Cheese Ball
    • Valentine's Brownie Cake Pops
    • Valentine's Chocolate Covered Pretzels
    • Valentine Ideas for Kids - Glitter Hearts

    Winter Activities

    • Q-Tip Painted Snowman Craft
    • Winter Shaving Cream Paint
    • Pinecone Snowman Craft
    • Melted Snowman Craft

    Popular Recipes

    • Crack Chicken Casserole
    • Overnight Egg Casserole
    • Toasted Italian Sandwich - Food Fun Friday
    • Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Bake

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