Learning about colors is an important part of early childhood education and preparation for kindergarten. As little ones develop language skills and discover the world around them, they enjoy learning new words that they can use to describe the items they see. We can support this interest by introducing children to colors and helping them learn to identify them. In this article, we share some books and activities that help toddlers learn all about colors through engaging stories and playful learning.
This children’s book is a classic in many preschool classrooms. Children love the opportunity to talk about the boldly colored animals shown on each page, from the plump purple cat to the handsome blue horse. This book introduces a variety of colors with simple text that will be enjoyed by toddlers and young children.
A free musical read-aloud of this book is available on YouTube.
This humorous and engaging children’s book tells the story of a group of monsters who love to make new colors. The book’s friendly and energetic monster characters will entertain children while teaching them about different colors and the way they interact with each other.
A free read-aloud version of this story is available on Youtube.
This popular children’s book was a Caldecott Honor-winner and New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year. The story follows the characters Little Blue and Little Yellow who give each other such a big hug that they turn green. The simple story can facilitate meaningful learning for young learners about how colors mix together to make new colors.
A free read-aloud version of this story can be found on Youtube.
For deeper exploration of colors in your early childhood program, you might enjoy trying some of the following play-based learning activities.
This simple activity is easy-to-set up and is a great way to practice color sorting with young learners. The only materials you’ll need are colored sheets of construction paper and dot stickers (in colors that match the paper). Hang the different pieces of paper on the wall and give children a sheet with differently colored dot stickers (sheets can be cut in halves or quarters if you are doing this activity with a larger group of children). Encourage little ones to stick each of the dots on the sheet of paper that matches its color. As an added bonus – peeling and sticking the dots gives children an opportunity to strengthen fine motor skills in their hands and fingers! As the children engage in the activity, talk with them about the colors to help them practice their names.
This activity requires only three materials: legos (of various colors), a sensory tub, and a scooping colander. To set up the activity, simply fill up the sensory bin with water, dump in a variety of differently colored legos, and encourage children to begin scooping!
As the children enjoy reaching for the legos, introduce the names of colors by saying things like, “I see you scooping up the blue lego,” or “looks like you’re trying to pick up the black one.” You might even ask children what color lego they are picking up while they’re working. Younger children could choose to abandon the scoopers and use their hands – which is just as much fun!
This activity is a great way to make use of the small, broken pieces of crayons that many of us have lying around in our classroom. Along with the crayons, the only other item that you’ll need for this activity is playdough!
To set this up, offer children the crayons and playdough in a variety of colors. As they explore by shaping the playdough and decorating it with pieces of crayon, talk with them about the different colors of the dough and of the crayons. Introduce different colors with suggestions like, “let’s put the blue crayon into the white dough, or by asking questions such as, “which colors of crayons are in the red dough?”
Learning about colors can be easily incorporated into your daily routine with young children by talking with them about the different colors that they observe while playing. Using multi-colored classroom materials such as play dough, colored blocks, and paints can also foster conversations about a variety of colors.
To help children practice their colors, you might incorporate colors into everyday routines by asking questions like, “Can you please hand me the red blocks?” or, “Can everyone with white tennis shoes come line up?” Incorporating color-specific language throughout the day will give children lots of opportunities to practice naming and recognizing different colors.
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