| Colors,
Colors Everywhere!
Teaching young children about colors.
By Tania Cowling
PARENTGUIDE News May 2006
Colors make our world beautiful in many ways— nature, food,
clothing, crayons— the list is endless. It’s important to
emphasize colors in our daily lives as they stimulate a child’s
imagination and delight their sense of sight.
We, as adults, typically talk about colors
everyday, and for this reason children begin to learn the names of many
colors. However, they may not know which color goes to which name. You
can help children learn colors by asking them the color of things. Start
with single colors with very young children, and then add more in time.
Observation plus language equals learning.
Simple activities are designed to help children
become aware of the many colors that surround them. Here are a few ways
to teach colors to children:
Use the seasons to help teach your child about colors— green in
spring, white in winter, orange in fall and so on.
Use the seasons to help teach your child
about colors— green in spring, white in winter, orange in fall
and so on.
The use of toy blocks, cards, paints and
crayons can help your child develop color skills and learn to name them.
Take a walk outdoors (or even in the house)
and look for a particular color, such as blue. Then ask if a toy is
blue, or is the car parked out front blue?
Choose a day of the week and make it “color day.” Make projects,
wear clothing, cook foods and read books about that color.
Hot glue crayons to a strip of tag board.
Then provide a second set of crayons and invite the children to match
the colors.
Read a good book involving colors. Some
favorites are: Is it red? Is it yellow? Is it blue? (Greenwillow) by
Tana Hoban; The Mixed-up Chameleon (HarperTrophy) by Eric Carle; Colors
(Slide ‘n Seek) (Little Simon) by Chuck Murphy; Colors (Cedco
Publishers) by Anne Geddes.
Colorful Arts and Crafts:
•Looking For Colors Walk—
Make a small booklet, containing the primary and secondary colors. Use
construction paper pages and staple these together. Take your child
on a neighborhood walk and look for items that correspond with the colors
in the child’s booklet. List on the appropriate page what you
see and maybe draw a quick picture. Think about taking pictures—
the quick developing kind is nice to attach to the pages. After returning
home, help your child read from his booklet and discuss the colors all
around.
•Color Match—
Pick up free paint chip cards from your local paint store. Choose cards
in shades of red, yellow and blue. At home, cut each rectangular chip
apart. Spread these across the table and have the children match each
hue.
•Paint and Sniff—
When painting a picture with poster paints, add a few drops of baking
extracts to give these paints a flavor (scent). Painting with scents
is a fun and sensory experience for children.
Strawberry Extract = Red
Lemon Extract = Yellow
Peppermint Extract = Green
Orange Extract = Orange
Chocolate Extract = Brown
Anise (Licorice) Extract = Black
•Color Wands—
Play music and dance to the beat while waving colorful streamers in
the air. Use toilet or paper towel tubes for the wands. The children
can paint the cardboard tubes and then enhance them with crayons, markers
or stickers. Next, attach crepe paper streamers to the wand with a stapler.
For a variation, add ribbons and/or colorful strips of cloth.
•Colorful, Edible Necklace—
Use a 30-inch piece of shoestring licorice knotted at one end. Yarn
or ribbons are good substitutions. String colorful Fruit-Loops? cereal
around the strand. This necklace can be worn and, when hungry, eaten
for a snack.
•Marble or Ball Painting—
Provide a container, such as a large margarine tub or coffee can. Cut
white paper to fit the container. Next, place two different primary
colors of poster paint on the paper (one on each side). Place marbles
or ping-pong balls in the container and place the lid on. Let the children
shake the can. Remove the lid and take the paper out. The kids will
see a great design and also see what secondary color they come up with
when the two are mixed.
•A Cereal Rainbow—
Draw a rainbow arch onto a piece of poster board. Spread glue on the
arch and invite the children to place a row of Fruit Loops cereal onto
each glued area. Follow the rainbow pattern— Roy G. Biv—
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Violet, to finish your rainbow.
This time-consuming project is a favorite amongst kids— make sure
to put a clean bowl of cereal on the table for munching!
Color Games:
•Red Light, Green Light—
Cut out two circles about 12-inches in diameter— one red and one
green. Gather the family to play. Establish two parallel lines at least
20 feet apart. One line is the starting line; the other is the finishing
line. The child chosen to be IT stands on the finish line. The rest
of the family stands behind the start line facing the finish line. IT
turns his/her back to the players and shouts “green light”
and starts counting to five. While IT is counting, the players move
toward IT by walking or running as fast as they can. At the conclusion
of the count, IT calls out, “red light” as he turns around
quickly. The players must stop moving when IT says, “red light.”
If IT sees anyone moving, IT tells them to return to the starting line
to start over again. The first player to tag IT at the finish line is
now the new IT. Everyone returns to the starting line and the game begins
again. The child (IT) can hold up the colored circles as if they were
traffic signals on the road.
•Color Hokey-Pokey—
Get colored circle stickers in four colors. These are easily found in
office or craft stores. Every child gets a sticker on each hand and
each foot (having one of each color on each body part). Play Color Hokey-Pokey
by singing, “Put your blue dot in, put your blue dot out, put
your blue dot in and shake it all about. You do the Color Pokey and
you turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about. BLUE!”
Continue playing with the other colors.
Colorful Snacks:
•Rainbow Vanilla Wafers—
Keebler has put out a product called Rainbow Vanilla Wafers. These wafers
come in lots of different colors. A great snack for your color day theme!
•Cheese and Crackers—
Mix food colors into softened cream cheese. Invite the children to spread
this onto crackers for a super colorful snack. Name the colors as you
eat together!
•Do a Color Feast—
We talked about having a color day where you focus on one color. Prepare
edibles this day in your chosen color. For example, on “orange
day” prepare orange wedges, Goldfish™ crackers and cheddar
cheese cubes. A “yellow day” feast could consist of pineapple
chunks, bananas and golden delicious apples. The kids love this concept!
•Homemade Play Dough (in the kitchen)—
Combine 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoons cream of tartar and ½ cup salt
in a saucepan. Slowly stir in these liquid ingredients: 1 cup water,
1 tablespoon vegetable oil and a few drops of food color (your choice
of color). Stir and cook over medium heat for about three minutes or
until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pot. Cool. Invite
the children to mold and shape creations. When they are finished, store
this play dough in an airtight plastic container until ready to use
again.
NOTE: This is pliable clay, not intended for baking or eating.
Tania Cowling is an author, former early
childhood teacher and mother. She lives in Plantation, Fl.
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