Color recognition is an important skill for toddlers and preschoolers to have and games are good tools for practicing this skill.
I have three color recognition games that are easy peasy to set up and can be used with one or more children. They can be played indoors or outdoors.
BONUS: These games can also be used if you are teaching your children color vocabulary in a foreign language. Just substitute the foreign language color words for English ones.
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Color Recognition Games
Hop To It
This game not only teaches color recognition, but it also reinforces gross motor and listening skills.
Materials:
- Squares of felt or other fabric that are roughly 9 to 12 inches square in these colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, white, brown, pink, and gray. You’ll need one set of each color for every 1-2 children playing.
- A spacious area either indoors or outdoors. Should NOT be on a slippery floor.
Instructions:
Spread out the squares of fabric so that they are in a large circle.
Tell your child to stand in the middle of the circle.
Give your child directions such as those listed below to get to different colored squares:
- Hop to the blue square.
- Jump to the green square.
- Skip to the black square.
- Walk to the red square.
- Run to the yellow square.
- Crawl to the white square.
- Walk backwards to the pink square.
- Do the crab walk to the gray square.
You can use any kind of physical activity you like to get the child from one square to another.
You can make this activity more random by writing the color names on one set of craft sticks and actions on another set of craft sticks. Then you simply pick one stick from each group.
A good way to spruce up this activity is to play some lively music while your child plays.
I Spy
This is a good game to play when you need to keep your child occupied in a restaurant or some other place while you are out.
Materials:
None
Instructions:
Look around you and pick out an object that is a certain color.
Tell your child, “I spy with my little eye something that is _______(color).”
Now your child tries to guess what the object is.
After she gets it right, she can pick out an object for you to guess.
Color Scavenger Hunt
Years ago, my mother bought my daughters the Bucket Blast game. They loved it! It includes instructions for multiple games suitable for a variety of age groups. Here is my own game which uses some of the equipment from the Bucket Blast Game.
Materials:
- Bucket Blast Game colored buckets and bean bags
- Space (Indoors or outdoors but not outer unless you have space suits)
Instructions:
Hide the colored bean bags around a designated area. You don’t have to use all of them. You can use 2-3 of each color if you like.
Put the colored buckets in a central location.
Tell your child to go on a hunt to find the bean bags and bring them back to the buckets. When she finds one, she should tell you the color and put it in the bucket of the same color.
To make this more exciting, you can set a time limit.
You can also create a story behind it like “Bring the lost gnomes back to their homes” or “Bring the drops of color back to the rainbow” to make it more interesting.
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Many blessings,
