We’re doing out best to make “sunshine and rainbows” with this extra time we have together. Here are some of our color activities for preschool.
I’m writing this at the beginning of “week 3” of staying home and keeping “social distance” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like you, my kids were sent home from school (for at least 6 weeks), grocery shelves are bare, restaurants and recreation have closed, we were given a “Stay at Home Order” and I’ve become my children’s full-time school and church teacher. And wow. That is a lot of change in such a short amount of time.
I will openly admit I’ve yelled and cried a few times . . . simply because I wasn’t sure how to process all of this.
But that’s ok. Because life isn’t always “sunshine and rainbows.”
For the first few days my brain froze and screamed for rest. And so we read, played games, watched movies, stayed in our comfy clothes. No rush to dive into a new routine or curriculum with the kids or tackle that to-do list I’ve been meaning to get to.
And now that I’ve had a good cry and have been able to get a bit more grounded, I’ve begun to realize, “it’s not all sunshine & rainbows BUT a good amount of it actually is.” (anonymous quote)
And so I’m doing my best to make memories (and rainbows!) with this extra time we have together — because that’s what we do around here. We “keep life creative” even (or especially) when life gets monotonous and dreary.
Here are some color activities for preschool we did in order to create our own “sunshine and rainbows.”
A Week of Color Activities
One day right before school let out and we went on the “Stay Home order,” Ammon (3 years old — and our youngest) was having a hard time saying goodbye as his siblings were leaving for school. He insisted HE was a “big boy” and should go to school too.
After calming him down and promising to do some activities with him, I asked what he thought he would learn at school. “Colors” was his immediate answer.
So we pulled out some of our favorite color-themed books and planned some color activities for preschool.
Reading About Colors
We have A LOT of favorite titles, but these are two of our favorites about “color.” Each of the books have neat interactive features such as a turning color wheel, flaps to lift, and plenty to look at and talk about.
The gorgeous books are must-haves for your preschool shelves and were the basis of our color-themed learning.
Painted Rainbow Craft
“When it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.” (Gilbert K. Chesterton) 🌈☔️
Pull out the art supplies! We love using simple cut-and-paste templates to make colorful crafts and this rainbow made a bright, colorful project to hang on the bulletin board. Also a perfect St. Patrick’s Day or a rainy day project!
Mixing Paint & Creating Colors
While the paint was out we took the opportunity to talk about mixing colors, and experiment to see what would happen when we intentionally mixed colors.
The “Monkey Mixing” page in Lift-the-Flap Colors illustrates the new color that will be formed when paint colors are mixed.
After reading and talking about the lift-the-flap page, we mixed our own colors on the “Mixing Colors” printable, as well as in Zip-loc bags.
Predict, blend, squish, and explore new colors by mixing paint in the bags. Then use the paint-filled bags another time as a squishy kinesthetic surface for drawing or writing letters/numbers/shapes.
Sorting Colors
Sorting is an important early math skill and young children are just learning to sort at the preschool age. Start teaching sorting by color, and then move onto other types of sorting – such as sorting by quantity or pattern.
This simple color activity for preschool can be done with anything, really! Gather colorful manipulatives such as pom poms, buttons, blocks, toy cars, Fruit Loops, or the printable cards shown here, and start sorting!
Learning to sort doesn’t always come naturally to young preschoolers, so set up opportunities often to play with colorful objects, guiding them through the sort by asking questions like, “Can you find a red one? Let’s put it in the red bowl.” Soon they’ll pick up on it and will begin sorting on their own.
Time for a Colorful Snack
Threading Fruit Loops on a string is another simple project, but one my kids beg for over and over. Maybe because it’s the only time I agree to buy the cereal?! haha
In any case, this activity is great for fine motor practice, counting, and patterning. Occasionally I like to get projects like this one out during read aloud time, as the activity keeps their hands busy and their mouths quiet. 😉
Bonus that color activity for preschool ends with a sweet treat!
Color Activities for Preschool
If you’d like the printable color activities for preschool shown here, you can find them at Teachers Pay Teachers, or I’ll send them to you FREE with a “color” book purchase from my Usborne Books & More shop. E-mail me if you have questions! pam@keepinglifecreative.com.
