The Chromarium involved pairs of children, aged 5-7 years, exploring different ways of mixing colour using a variety of physical and digital tools. In one instance children used traditional physical paints, combining the colours on paper. A second activity allowed them to combine colours using physical blocks, with different colours on each face. By placing two blocks together children could elicit the combined colour and digital animations on an adjacent screen.
A third activity enabled children to use software tools, disguised as paintbrushes, on a digital interactive surface. Here children could drag and drop different coloured digital discs and see the resultant mixes.
The studies suggest that the children’s creativity appears to be enhanced when their physical play activity is matched to produce rich multimedia effects in a digital space. The activities that enabled reversibility of colour mixing and immediate feedback were found to support more reflective activity. The physical blocks, which provided a wider variety of physical manipulation and encouraged children to explore, were particularly effective.
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