- Definition
Cool colours are shades like blue, green, and purple that often make things look like they are farther away or in the background.
In a painting of the ocean, the blue water and green seaweed are the cool colours.
How to teach this in 30 seconds
Try this analogy: Cool colours are like the colours you see in a shady forest or deep in the ocean.
Ask your child: Which colours in this picture feel calm or quiet?
Common mix-up: Kids may think 'cool' means popular, like a cool game. In art, cool colours are ones that feel calm, quiet, or far away, like blue, green, and purple.
Examples
- The dark blue and purple of a night sky in a drawing.
- Distant mountains in a picture are often painted in shades of blue or purple to make them look far away.
cool colours is a term used in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 8 curriculum.
Where this shows up
The descriptions on this page are SmartStudy’s own original, plain-language writing — not the Ministry’s wording. They are aligned to the Ontario Curriculum, © King’s Printer for Ontario. For the Ministry’s official wording, see the source link below. SmartStudy is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Education. Ontario Curriculum and Resources ↗
