How to teach colors to 2-3 year olds?

Can you please give me some ideas? I will be focusing on one color a week and I am looking for ideas for songs, projects, and activities.

Thanks!
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I think you just say what color it is. Wink

No, seriously. I don't mean to undermine your job. But why does "blue" require a song? Did you ever meet a person of say, 14, who didn't know all the colors because she didn't have good lessons in it?

Silver Member Joined: Jul 26 2011 Posts: 798

its a nice theme but knowing colors is not considered a skill, its just a concept. children pick it up usually before five years, on their own.

I guess I am just following the standard curriculum of the ganim (did I mention I am a gannenet?) and looking for the aforementioned to tie in with the color and make it more tangible for the kids.

Posted: Thu, Jan 05 2012, 5:06 pm Post subject:

Not for one specific color, but there's a very nice book by dr. Seus My many colored days. My dd, then just two loved it and after making me read it over and over again knew all those colors.
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Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. -Plato

Abra cadabra, minny mishy moo. Will the child of the day be you you you? It is a boy, is it a girl? Its a .....

All the other gender kids sit.

Then do COLORS. The child of the day has a blue shirt. A brown skirt. Whatever.

(Anon on the off chance someone can figure out where that song comes from, and ID me by it.)

When my DS was 2, he had a wonderful morah that did an amazing unit on colors. There was a bulletin board where projects featuring the color of the week were put up. There was a table covered with a plastic tablecloth of the color of the week, where kids would be encouraged to bring something in from home that was the weekly color. There would be a food project involving cupcakes or cookies being "painted". There would be a day that kids would be encouraged to wear something in the color of the week. And of course, there would be a craft project of that color tied into the parsha. At the end of the unit, there was a rainbow party.

There's the rainbow song, to the tune of "London Bridge"

Red, orange, yellow, green, shiny blue, purple too;
All the colors that we know live up in the rainbow.

It works in Hebrew, too.

I do a song to a tune I made up:

Who is wearing red today, red today, red today?
Who is wearing red today, let's smile and say shalom.

Repeat for other colors.

Have fun!

What ever happened to just doing collages with various things that are all red, or green etc?

Silver Member Joined: Nov 18 2007 Posts: 944

There's a great book called Young at Art by Susan Strikler. It has great ideas of things you can do to teach about colors. For example, in her exploring color chapter, she lists each color, as well as groups of colors, and then recommends different concepts, materials, books, snacks, songs, games, and drawing, painting, collage, and sculpture activities. It's really a great book and a nice perspective on teaching kids about art.

Senior Member Joined: Oct 17 2011 Posts: 231

Also, can I just say, my oldest (daughter) is 2 and 8 months, and until about a month ago, I was really worried that she was color blind. My husband thought I was crazy, but I was really worried, because it seemed to me as if her verbal ability was too advanced for her to not know the colors I was teaching her. Then one day, about a month ago, it just "clicked" foret her. So I'm sure the gannenets on the board know more about this, and I'm just guessing, but it seemed like something just hadn't connected in her growing brain yet, she just hadn't developed those kinds of categories. So, I guess my point is, don't worry like I did! Just my 2 cents...

My daughter is 2.4 and knows colors!
I taught her 2 colors at a time and pointed out EVERYTHING we saw in that color until she got the hang of it.
I kept adding 2 more colors, until she learnt them all!

Posted: Thu, Jan 05 2012, 8:55 pm Post subject:

Eric Carle's "Brown bear, Brown bear, what do you see?" is another great book about colors.

You can get lots of board books that teach about colors.

You can buy play doh in different colors, and each day play with a different color play doh.

You can go to a paint shop and get lots of those paint sample strips, and they can make their own book of colors, they have to cut and paste the right color onto the right page color.

You can make matching games on sheets of paper, where they have to draw a line attaching the 2 items that are the same color, ex. carrot& orange, grape juice&grapes, banana& sun etc.

You can search on line there are tons of secular preschool resources that you can use.

If you're teaching at a school without a uniforn, then you can have a day where the kids each have to wear the color that you're teaching.

For girls you can make beaded necklaces or bracelets with that days color.

You can take pictures of the kids wearing something with that color ex. for black boys can wear a black hat, girls can wear a black snood. For red the boys can wear a fire man's hat, yellow: construction hat . . .

Diamond Member Joined: Dec 18 2005 Posts: 2906

also just want to add that some kids (usually boys) are red/green colorblind. so they mix up red and green and have trouble differentiating blue/purple and green/brown. if a kid knows most of his colors but keeps making those mistakes ask the ped to do a colorblind screen. not that you can treat it, but its good to know so you can stop trying to 'teach' colors.

YouTube videos with songs and pictures taught my DD her colors at 18 months. I reinforced it with books, conversation, crayons, food and so on when I saw she was interested. Specifically this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPWZu4LDmQM

Not that I was trying to teach her at all. I was just trying to occupy her for twenty minutes or so while I got some necessary work done (she was at a clingy stage.) But I'm a big fan, in general, of videos, pictures and songs as educational tools. I know they helped me with various other subjects while I was in school. So a collage with pictures and a song to go along with it would work just as well, I imagine.

I wouldn't diagnose color-blindness this young... my 3 yr old son is JUST starting to get his colors, and yes it was introduced/played/etc. multiple times. Some kids arent ready for the concpept until later. If a child is differentiating all colors well BUT thinks that red and green are the saem, THEN screen for colorblindness. Any earlier just gets you nervous for no good reason. Its not like colorblindness is treatable or harmful for a child!

Gold Member Joined: Jan 16 2012 Posts: 1589

Basically just start identifying things by their colors. Look around your house and find two dominant colors from the red yellow blue green purple orange list. Play a game called "follow directions" and have the child sit on the green chair or bring you the red ball. Then have the child give you a direction. They don't have to give you a color but sometimes if they do then "lose". (Not always, and they'll know you are goofing with them that is part of the fun!)

Add colors gradually.

Play the "color game" where you draw and/or find the red squares/green circles.

Make squares of different colors and have your child jump from one to another (heavy material or something that can be taped to the floor. Maybe you could get carpet squares cheap.)

Make dolls to dress or trains or similar in different colors from paper, ask your child "which color should come next, the red or the green?" At first show the colors as you say them, later just ask while holding them out.
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