Colors

7 Sensational Activities for Teaching Colors

activities for teaching colors

Let’s go beyond the color of the week with these amazing activities for teaching colors! Here are seven of my favorite ways to teach colors to preschoolers!

Activities for Teaching Colors Using Paint Chip Cards

Paint chip cards offer numerous ways to teach colors to your students. The best part about using paint cards is they’re readily available, abundant, and FREE!

First, go to your neighborhood Lowe’s, Home Depot, or any hardware store. Next, introduce yourself to the paint department clerk and explain you’re a teacher. Tell them you need their help teaching colors to your preschool class. Then, ask for a stack of paint chip cards.

At this point, the clerk will give you almost anything as long as they don’t have to teach a group of preschoolers!

Once you’ve got a nice stash of paint cards, you can make both of these colorful activities for your preschool kids!

preschool color activity

Paint Chip Matching

Challenge your youngsters to discriminate the tints and shades of colors with this Paint Chip Matching task.

You’ll need paint cards (2 of each card), wooden clothespins, scissors, and hot glue.

Begin by cutting one of each pair of paint cards along the lines to separate the colors. Next, use your hot glue gun to secure a paint chip to a clothespin.

Students will match each color chip to the paint card by securing the clothespin.

Color Word Puzzles

Students who are learning how to read & spell color words can practice with these paint chip Color Word Puzzles.

To prepare the puzzles, write a letter on each section of the paint card. Then cut the card apart on the lines to make a puzzle.  Your class will quickly master color words as they put the paint chip puzzles together!

Color Sorting Games for Preschoolers

The kids will love playing these engaging color sorting games during small groups at the Teacher Table, at Morning Meeting and circle time, or in free choice centers!

The first game is a Sorting by Color Pocket Chart. With ten colors in this activity, your preschoolers will do plenty of classifying and sorting as they play. Use the sorting colors worksheet is a great option for independent work or for take-home practice.

The second color sorting game requires very little prep and is super easy to set up, too!

For the Color Sort Paper Bag Game, you’ll only need a few lunch size paper bags and the color sorting pieces. Kids take turns picking a color card and then sorting it into the correct bag. Differentiate by having students sort multiple colors at once or by sorting for a particular color and what isn’t that color.

Fun & Frugal Activities for Teaching Colors

Do you need lesson plan ideas for teaching colors that won’t break your budget and where you can use items you already have? Then you’ll love these thrifty preschool color theme activities! 

ways to teach colors

Take your kids on a Color Walk and have them look for a specific color using recycled cardboard tube binoculars! Preschoolers absolutely LOVE these magical field glasses! Simply cover the tubes with construction paper (or paint), tape or hot glue them together, string yarn through to make a necklace, and you’re ready to go on a Color Walk!

Another frugal activity is to collect an assortment of classroom objects and sort them by color. I like to use colored foam pieces for sorting mats but you could also use construction paper squares, paper plates, or colored trays.

Once the class has found an ample supply of things to sort, invite each student to pick an item and place it on the colored mat. Young students never really tire of this activity because the possibilities of things they can find in the classroom to sort is endless!

Which One Doesn’t Belong?

If you want a preschool color activity that will challenge your students’ critical thinking skills, you’ll love Which One Doesn’t Belong. These task cards are ideal for small groups but they also make great choices as a morning arrival activity and for Table Time

In Which One Doesn’t Belong, students will look at four pictures on the task card and then decide which one is different.  Use tokens to mark the one that doesn’t belong, put a play dough ball on it, or clip it with a clothespin. With this activity, students are working on identifying colors as well as improving their observation skills.

Have fun with your preschoolers and enjoy these seven sensational activities for teaching colors!

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