If you’d like to incorporate a few more senses into your painting projects, add some regular salt generously to your tempera paint and use as fingerpaint or with a brush. The resulting project will have a bit more texture and grit that becomes even more visible as it dries. Use side by side with “regular” paint for a great texture comparison. This will spark interest as well as encourage the use of new vocabulary words like bumpy, gritty, sandy, smooth, etc. (If you’re not fingerpainting, you might want to use your older brushes for this one, as the salt tends to get into the bristles a bit.)
by Ellen Stoll Walsh is one of my very favorite books for teaching about primary and secondary colors. The children absolutely love it as well. In the story, three mice climb into three jars of paint (red, yellow, and blue) and then begin dancing, stirring and mixing with their feet as they blend the primary colors together to create secondary colors. (Incidently, 
by Alan Baker is also fantastic and follows a very similar format. Just in case one is easier for you to get your hands on than the other!)
