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This page is created for you to find activities to explore with your child/students as they are learning colors.
Colors, like letters and numbers, should be brought to children's attention and labeled frequently. Multiple meaningful exposures to colors can and should be fun and engaging.
Here are some ideas you can do if you are going to spend a day exploring a specific color.
- Go on a color hunt and challenge your child(ren) to find as many objects of that color to bring back to a designated spot in 1-3 minutes (depending on the environment). Once they bring them back, make sure to label the items and count them with them. (FA 3 & 4 yr. 4.2, FA 3 & 4 yr. 4.3)
- Lay out a colored sheet of construction paper and have children place their objects on the sheet and identify each object by color and name (red apple). (Math 3 & 4 yr. 3.3, ELA 3 & 4 yr. 1.4)
- Write out the color word with that color of crayon and ask children to copy it.
- Use magnifying glasses to play “I Spy” as you search for objects in your environment or outside that are that color.
- Paint with Kool-aid or Jell-O (add cold water to the Jell-O) of all colors. (FA 3 & 4 yr 4.1, FA 3 & 4 yr. 4.2)
- Use colored cups. Count them as you to build a tower, pyramid, etc. You could add them to a block center.
- Have a Color Day
- Dress in the color for the day
- Tint materials for the day (milk, water, ranch dressing, shaving cream for art projects, glue, play with that color playdough)
- Use paper plates, napkins, cups, in that color
- Eat colored foods for that day
- Take a walk to look for that color of car, flower, etc.
- List foods that are that color of the day
- Read books about the color of the day
- Have a show and tell for objects that are the color of the day
For a review of colors, you may be interested in some of the following activities:
- Lay out construction paper in all colors and ask the student to sort objects by color
- Dismiss children by the color of their clothing (You may wash your hands for snack if your shoes are black, line up if your shirt is green, etc.)
- Graph children’s favorite colors. Ask which color was liked the best, which was liked the least, point out if any colors were liked the same amount or are equal to each other, etc.
- Have a rainbow party
- Ask students to wear their favorite color and bring a snack to share of that same color
- Use any leftover colored napkins, plates, and cups,
- Sort Skittles, Fruit Loops, or Lucky Charm marshmallows by color.
- Make a colored playdough rainbow cake (once it is mostly dried and ready to be thrown out).
- Make colored ice cubes and use them in water during snack.
For more information, please refer to the Early Learning Standards Ages 3 to 5.
If you have the books on hand, please use them. If not, you will find the links attached for the these books:
- A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni
- Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll What do you See by Bill Martin
- Pete the Cat I Love My New Shoes by Eric Litwin
- The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
- The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane Derolf
- How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow by Monica Sweeney
Tie Dye - Get a large sheet of white bulletin board paper, butcher paper, or a large sheet of construction paper. Mix food coloring or tempera paints in water bottles for the 6 basic colors (red. orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple). Hang the sheets of paper up outside where the children can easily reach. Allow them to pick up a water bottle and spray it onto the paper. Once dry, you can use this sheet to decorate a bulletin board, use it as a tablecloth and have a picnic eating colorful fruits and vegetables, etc. You can also spray paint the snow in the winter.
- Go on a Color Hunt - make up a version of Going on a Color Hunt much like Going on a Bear Hunt to encourage language and vocabulary as you hunt for colored items. Once you have the objects, label the objects by their color and name (blue block, green crayon, red firetruck, etc.)
- Sand table search - Fill a sand table or large cake pan or tub with small colored items. Provide plastic colored bowls or cups for sorting. As children discover each item, have them sort it into the correct bowl or cup.
- Color Explosion Experiment - This activity can also be performed on a smaller scale, allowing each student to have their own dish.
- Color Changing Walking Water Experiment- This may be something you can carry out over a couple of days.
- Color Sort Activity
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