There are three primary colors!
January 31, 2012 6:45 PM Subscribe
The band "OK Go" are using their signature blend of pleasant indie pop and quirky, home-grown videos to teach kids about primary colors in a new short for Sesame Street. - SLYT
Well, when two primary colors love each other very much, they...
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:59 PM on January 31, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:59 PM on January 31, 2012 [4 favorites]
Maybe they've been considering a career trajectory similar to TMBG.
posted by I've wasted my life at 7:11 PM on January 31, 2012
posted by I've wasted my life at 7:11 PM on January 31, 2012
OK GO and Sesame Street are pretty much a match made in heaven.
But, probably it's time to teach kids that the primary colours are red, green and blue. Then Sesame Street can get into hexadecimal. "Sesame Street was brought to you by the letter R and the number E3170D."
posted by looli at 7:11 PM on January 31, 2012 [7 favorites]
But, probably it's time to teach kids that the primary colours are red, green and blue. Then Sesame Street can get into hexadecimal. "Sesame Street was brought to you by the letter R and the number E3170D."
posted by looli at 7:11 PM on January 31, 2012 [7 favorites]
Oh, that was very cute.
posted by not that girl at 7:15 PM on January 31, 2012
posted by not that girl at 7:15 PM on January 31, 2012
"Sesame Street was brought to you by the letter R and the number E3170D."
Correction: the letter 82.
posted by Nomyte at 7:17 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
Correction: the letter 82.
posted by Nomyte at 7:17 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
And then the playgrounds full of kids who grok RGB break out in squabbles over the HSL and HSV models. ARE YOU HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU STARTED NOW, OK GO? ARE YOU? (Oh, for the days when we taught kids Munsell and they liked it.)
posted by maudlin at 7:19 PM on January 31, 2012
posted by maudlin at 7:19 PM on January 31, 2012
I've never really understood why teaching kids primary and secondary colors was necessary, or was something we start so early. The whole idea that red and yellow make orange still very slightly blows my mind, and yet it was something they seemed compelled to teach me in kindergarten, as if it was very, very important that I know it.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:27 PM on January 31, 2012
posted by jacquilynne at 7:27 PM on January 31, 2012
I've never really understood why teaching kids primary and secondary colors was necessary
I think it's an early science thing which can be easily demonstrated in the classroom with basic materials. Get some tempera paints, have the kids mix on their own, and voila, they've come to understand something very basic about light and color. It's rarely taught at an early age with any real explanation of how or why it works, and the difference between reflective color mixing and radiant color mixing is pretty much left out. But it is something that you can teach young children which is a basic science concept that they can prove on their own, and in that way it's a very useful thing to teach.
posted by hippybear at 7:44 PM on January 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
I think it's an early science thing which can be easily demonstrated in the classroom with basic materials. Get some tempera paints, have the kids mix on their own, and voila, they've come to understand something very basic about light and color. It's rarely taught at an early age with any real explanation of how or why it works, and the difference between reflective color mixing and radiant color mixing is pretty much left out. But it is something that you can teach young children which is a basic science concept that they can prove on their own, and in that way it's a very useful thing to teach.
posted by hippybear at 7:44 PM on January 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
Learning color mixing for me was about having power, actually. I was the kid who was constantly coloring and drawing and painting so I always was fighting with myself, having an idea in my head that I couldn't put onto paper if I felt like I didn't have the right materials to achieve it. As soon as I was shown how to make colors from other colors, my available materials expanded almost magically. Suddenly all I needed was 5 colors and I could make nearly everything. Red and white makes pink! Blue and black makes navy! It made me so incredibly happy that I suddenly had the agency to depict what I wanted with a small amount of starting tools. Of course, I got annoyed with murky greens and dark purples and bad skin tones pretty fast so things expanded as I got older and made less of a mess, but I still remember that rush of making the sunset orange and pink and the extreme sense of pride I had in my 3 year old self.
posted by Mizu at 8:03 PM on January 31, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by Mizu at 8:03 PM on January 31, 2012 [5 favorites]
Very much old-school Sesame Street feel to it. Very nice.
posted by maryr at 8:05 PM on January 31, 2012
posted by maryr at 8:05 PM on January 31, 2012
I think it's an early science thing which can be easily demonstrated in the classroom with basic materials
Excellent point, but I had to add...
It's rarely taught at an early age with any real explanation of how or why it works
till now!
gonna show this to my kiddo now!
posted by spbmp at 8:30 PM on January 31, 2012
Excellent point, but I had to add...
It's rarely taught at an early age with any real explanation of how or why it works
till now!
gonna show this to my kiddo now!
posted by spbmp at 8:30 PM on January 31, 2012
A new OK GO video combined with Sesame Street is coming very close to MetaFilter terminal velocity. If only Simon's Cat had been in it, we might have reached singularity.
posted by Curious Artificer at 8:44 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Curious Artificer at 8:44 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you think about it, it's almost weird that this hasn't happened sooner.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:46 PM on January 31, 2012
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:46 PM on January 31, 2012
Great, now my kid's paint is all over my treadmill.
posted by Metro Gnome at 8:47 PM on January 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by Metro Gnome at 8:47 PM on January 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
Imma going to say it. I like OK Go.
There.
posted by Samizdata at 9:25 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
There.
posted by Samizdata at 9:25 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
A new OK GO video combined with Sesame Street is coming very close to MetaFilter terminal velocity. If only Simon's Cat had been in it, we might have reached singularity.
Any cat, really. As long as there's a picture.
posted by maryr at 10:13 PM on January 31, 2012
Any cat, really. As long as there's a picture.
posted by maryr at 10:13 PM on January 31, 2012
OK Go and Sesame Street: Together at last.
posted by Effigy2000 at 10:42 PM on January 31, 2012
posted by Effigy2000 at 10:42 PM on January 31, 2012
This was exactly what I expected from that link, nothing more nothing less.
It was also awesome.
posted by Felex at 10:44 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
It was also awesome.
posted by Felex at 10:44 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
They misspelled cyan and magenta. And what happened to black?
posted by erniepan at 12:20 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by erniepan at 12:20 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Obligatory Leslie Feist Sesame Street Appreciation Link
posted by nickrussell at 1:44 AM on February 1, 2012
posted by nickrussell at 1:44 AM on February 1, 2012
Boootiful.
posted by Faintdreams at 2:33 AM on February 1, 2012
posted by Faintdreams at 2:33 AM on February 1, 2012
It teaches kids that the universe has building blocks. Before, they just see a bunch of colors. After, they see a bunch of colors and ask themselves what they are made of. Preps for the whole concept of atoms and whatnot.
posted by BurnChao at 2:34 AM on February 1, 2012
posted by BurnChao at 2:34 AM on February 1, 2012
It teaches kids that if they memorise the explanation given by the teacher, and then repeat the explanation as closely as possible when asked about it, that that is the same thing as understanding the phenomenon. This will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives.
(Something about Wednesdays brings out the cynic in me. That and Pleasant Indie Pop, with or with out the Jangle.)
posted by Grangousier at 2:47 AM on February 1, 2012
(Something about Wednesdays brings out the cynic in me. That and Pleasant Indie Pop, with or with out the Jangle.)
posted by Grangousier at 2:47 AM on February 1, 2012
Very much old-school Sesame Street feel to it. Very nice.
That's because it was directed by Al Jarnow, a classic Sesame Street animator previously on the blue. (I must credit my source on this: Al's son Jesse, who has a lovely weird show on one of MeFi's favorite radio stations, WFMU.)
posted by knile at 3:34 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
That's because it was directed by Al Jarnow, a classic Sesame Street animator previously on the blue. (I must credit my source on this: Al's son Jesse, who has a lovely weird show on one of MeFi's favorite radio stations, WFMU.)
posted by knile at 3:34 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Quite lovely. I wish we'd had Sesame Street in the UK when I was little.
Our equivalent, Play School, didn't have joyfully singing Muppets. It had a cast of shabby inanimate soft toys including Hamble, a sour-faced plastic middle-aged woman/deformed baby thing so horrifying she stalked the nightmares of every pre-schooler in the country. To make matters worse Hamble was expressly designed to appeal to 'poor children', who might have trouble identifying with the stolidly middle class Big Ted, Little Ted and Humpty (a portly green egg who looked like he spent his weekends trolling for trade with George Melly).
posted by jack_mo at 4:45 AM on February 1, 2012
Our equivalent, Play School, didn't have joyfully singing Muppets. It had a cast of shabby inanimate soft toys including Hamble, a sour-faced plastic middle-aged woman/deformed baby thing so horrifying she stalked the nightmares of every pre-schooler in the country. To make matters worse Hamble was expressly designed to appeal to 'poor children', who might have trouble identifying with the stolidly middle class Big Ted, Little Ted and Humpty (a portly green egg who looked like he spent his weekends trolling for trade with George Melly).
posted by jack_mo at 4:45 AM on February 1, 2012
A new OK GO video combined with Sesame Street is coming very close to MetaFilter terminal velocity. If only Simon's Cat had been in it, we might have reached singularity.
Any cat, really. As long as there's a picture.
You'll have to make do with a goose.
posted by curious nu at 5:54 AM on February 1, 2012
Any cat, really. As long as there's a picture.
You'll have to make do with a goose.
posted by curious nu at 5:54 AM on February 1, 2012
If we don't teach kids about primary colors early, they are just making a mess with their mom's food coloring in the kitchen rather than pretending to be scientists. (I'm hoping this isn't something that has changed in 30 years.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:11 AM on February 1, 2012
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:11 AM on February 1, 2012
For what it's worth, jack_mo, in the US, we had Mr. Rogers who visited the Land Of Make Believe. and while Daniel S. Tiger and Henrietta Pussycat were adorable, Lady Elaine Fairchilde was kind of terrifying, in retrospect and really, naming the mailman Mr. McFeeley? On a kids' show? Innocent enough, I know, but a little weird, Fred.
posted by maryr at 9:29 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by maryr at 9:29 PM on February 1, 2012
Fred McFeeley was his Grandfather's name, and also his middle name... Fred McFeeley Rodgers. No, I'm not making that up.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:44 AM on February 2, 2012
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:44 AM on February 2, 2012
Lady Elaine Fairchilde was kind of terrifying
Jeepers. She looks like a repurposed Judy puppet.
posted by jack_mo at 6:54 AM on February 2, 2012
Jeepers. She looks like a repurposed Judy puppet.
posted by jack_mo at 6:54 AM on February 2, 2012
But but but... red green and yellow aren't accepted primary colours! They are a guess at what primary colours were back before colour theory was understood. Why are they teaching them wrong information?
posted by y10k at 8:22 AM on February 2, 2012
posted by y10k at 8:22 AM on February 2, 2012
Slap*Happy, I know, and I understand, but still. My father goes by "Dick" but any Richards I have will be Rich or Richies.
posted by maryr at 3:16 PM on February 2, 2012
posted by maryr at 3:16 PM on February 2, 2012
Why are they teaching them wrong information?
Because it's not wrong in the most common color systems three year olds have access to - namely, fingerpaint and magic markers. If you add red paint to blue paint, you get purple paint. If you scribble with the yellow and red markers at the same time, you get orange. The point isn't to teach color theory, the point is to show how things basic combine into other, more complicated things in a way that very little kids can test out on their own. It's crippling their photoshop education, true, but setting them on the right path to chemistry.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:13 AM on February 3, 2012
Because it's not wrong in the most common color systems three year olds have access to - namely, fingerpaint and magic markers. If you add red paint to blue paint, you get purple paint. If you scribble with the yellow and red markers at the same time, you get orange. The point isn't to teach color theory, the point is to show how things basic combine into other, more complicated things in a way that very little kids can test out on their own. It's crippling their photoshop education, true, but setting them on the right path to chemistry.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:13 AM on February 3, 2012
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posted by Nomyte at 6:57 PM on January 31, 2012