Mouse Paint Book + Color Mixing Activity

This Mouse Paint Book & Color Mixing Activity is a great way to help your child understand that colors can be mixed to create new colors!

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that we’re starting some simple preschool homeschool days with Camden. He’s just over 2 1/2, so I wasn’t sure how it would go, but this Mouse Paint and color sorting activity was an absolute hit! He made me read the book THREE times, and he couldn’t get enough of using the tiles to mix the colors.

And then yesterday, I asked if he wanted to go into the playroom – where the day’s guided and independent activities are set up – and he said, with huge excitement, “What are we going to learn today?!?!”

The most important thing I did with my students was to help them create a love of learning. I am beyond excited to be doing the same with Camden.

Skills We’re Working On

Every child has different needs and starts at a different place. Currently, Camden can count to 3, so we’re working on 4 and 5.

He knows the letters A, B, I and O, so we’re working on the letters in his name.

As far as shapes, he knows triangle and star, so we’re working on identifying heart, circle, square and rectangle.

His colors were one of the first things he knew! Camden knew all of his colors by the time he was 15 or 16 months – it was just something he was really interested in. So now that he can identify the colors, we get to move beyond the basic and learn how to make the colors, which is where this lesson and activity come in. 

Mouse Paint Book

The book Mouse Paint, by Ellen Stoll Walsh, is a cute little story about three white mice who live on white paper (So the cat can’t get them). But one day, they find jars of paint.

So the mice climb in, and then they mix colors together to make new colors. The book uses the three primary colors – red, blue and yellow – and mixes them together to make the secondary colors – orange, purple and green.

The book is on Amazon for only $3, but I’m sure you can find it on YouTube to watch or grab it at the library too!

How to Make the Mouse Paint Color Sorting Activity

Grab a copy of the book.

You’ll need just one other thing: colored magnetic tiles (or color paddles) . 

If you want to do the paint color mixing exploration as well, you’ll need red, yellow and blue paint, paintbrushes, paper and water. 

Questions to Ask as You Read

Before Reading:

• What do you think is going to happen in this book? (Then do a picture walk; look briefly through the pictures in the book). Now what else do you think might happen in the book?
• How many mice are there? What color are they?

While Reading:

• What do you think will happen next?
• How will they stay safe from the cat?
• How will they get the paint off?
• What colors are they making?

After Reading:

• How did the mice have fun?
• Why were the mice scared?
• How did they keep themselves safe at the end?

How to Use the Mouse Paint Color Sorting Activity

This Mouse Paint Color Sorting Activity is an easy-prep activity,  but the engagement from your preschooler is amazing! 

To start with, tell him you’re going to read Mouse Paint together and then practice mixing colors to make new ones.

Read the book together and, if you want to take it deeper, use the questions above as a guide while you read. 

When you’re done, go back to the pages where the mice start dancing in puddles. The red mouse is first, so hold up a red tile and ask your child what color it is. 

Then show how the mouse danced in the yellow puddle, hold up the yellow tile, and ask him what color it is. Place the two tiles on top of each other to mix them, and hold them up to the light. Ask your child to tell you what color the tiles are now – ORANGE! Check in the book to make sure the red mouse made orange when it danced in the yellow.

Repeat with green and purple. 

Bonus: Paint Exploration Activity

This is simple: Use the three primary paint colors – red, yellow and blue – to mix them together and make the three secondary colors – green, orange, and purple. Then let your child explore on paper with the new colors. 

This activity was part of our Week 2 Preschool Homeschool activities – but we’ll be doing it over and over again! Camden made me read the book 3 times and we mixed tiles over and over again!