Learning Colors Somewhere Over the Rainbow

This has been by far one of my favorite lessons with my daughter. We jumped head-first into all things rainbow and had a blast while learning our colors. Without further ado…RAINBOWS!

Supplies Needed

• uncooked white rice
• different colors of food dye
• different sized containers and scoops for sensory bin
• jumbo straws of varying color
• open carton/box
• tape
• handful of black beans
• Fruit Loops
• pipe cleaners
• paintbrush
• salt
• different colored construction paper
• loose part set
• assorted fruit

The Plan

Reading: My Very First Book of Colors by Eric Carle

What I love about this book is that it doubles as an activity. The top half of the book identifies a color, but since the page is cut in half horizontally, the bottom half is an item. It is up to the reader to match the two. What it lacks in narrative strength it makes up for with vibrant and true to form Eric Carle colors.

Nursery Rhyme: I found this cute rainbow song from PreSchool Express:

RAINBOWS IN MY BUBBLES
Tune:  “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round The Mountain”

I’ve got rainbows in my bubbles, yes I do.
I’ve got rainbows in my bubbles, yes I so.
When I blow up towards the sun,
They have rainbows, every one.
I’ve got rainbows in my bubbles, yes I do.
                              

Focus Words: Rainbow, Red, Yellow, Blue

Sensory Activity: This was simple! I really wanted to make my own rainbow rice. After all, our last forays were over a month ago! Instead of just one Tupperware container, I pulled out three Ziploc bags and repeated the same recipe I have been using. For every cup of rice to be dyed I poured in one teaspoon of vinegar with the food dye. And then you shake! After you’re sure the color has been dispensed evenly, you can set it to dry wherever you like. I usually use a baking sheet and place it in my laundry room. It only takes 2-3 hours for it to completely dry. However your mileage may vary depending on how heavy handed you are with your food dye.

I grabbed our wooden sensory bin tools from our favorite toy shop, Chickadees Wooden Toys, and grabbed some other odds and ends from the kitchen. Another key component in teaching color is teaching a negative example. For instance, if I picked up a ball and said “This is a blue ball”, the child might associate the shape with the word blue, and not the color. It’s important that you also show a child a ball that is not blue, as well. Remember, we are teaching something very abstract here.⠀
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When it comes to the sensory bin full of rainbow rice, I tried to keep this in mind when selecting her accessories. I tried to grab two of the same thing. That way I could talk about a red pom or a green pom, a blue lid or an orange lid.

Why is it so hard to teach toddlers their colors?!⠀
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According to the Munsell Color company (basically the Victorian-era creators of how we speak and use color language today) “Children need to first acquire informational pieces before they can begin to understand color as a concept. It might seem simple as blue is blue, before the concept of color is understood. Children don’t have the ability to understand that light blue and navy are both blue and they also lack the verbal skills to explain that to you. Along with learning what each color is called, children need to understand what color represents; it’s not size, nor shape, nor the name of the object, nor the texture, not the number of things showing.”⠀

Fine Motor: We had several activities that could fall under this heading:

Rainbow Ball Run!

One of my favorite accounts on Instagram hosts weekly challenges to create activities with different things you might have around the house. If you have some time, you should check out their account: @manywaystoplay This week’s straw prompt was right up my alley! I keep a boatload of rainbow jumbo straws in the house for my morning protein shakes. First, I grabbed one of each color and an old carton out of our recycling (yes, we buy that many Gerber turkey sticks). Then, I taped the straws against the wall of the carton with enough clearance at the bottom. Then I grabbed a handful of black beans. Voila! Rainbow pipe run for the win! The whole setup took about 5 minutes.

Fruit Loop Jewelry

Vicky loves fruit loops. She also loves pipe cleaners. This activity was an ace before I even started on it. To continue our rainbow exploration of colors, I separated the fruit loops into different color groups and we began the process of stringing them along the pipe cleaner, making our own version of those candy bracelets and necklaces that were a big deal when I was growing up.

Loose Part Play

How beautiful is this color match activity I set up for Vicky? Our rainbow loose parts from Chickadees really come in handy! These loose parts have really withstood some heavy play. They get taken out at least every other day and are still as vibrant as they were on Day 1. For the activity, I pulled out her color silks and our flashcards from Painted and Pine and we went to town walking around and putting our loose parts in the right pile, attempting to discern which part belonged with which pile. Hopefully learning our colors at the same time! Of course, I can’t lie…she really enjoyed messing up our piles when were done. Ah, to be a toddler!

Art/Pre-Writing: Rainbow Salt Tray

I absolutely cannot take credit for this one. I found this idea on Learning 4 kids and fell in love with the easiness of setting it up. This activity is perfect for kids 18 months and up, earlier if they can sit and hold a crayon for any length of time.

I taped different colored pieces of construction paper together, in the order of the rainbow, and then also taped it to the inside of a plastic bin. I put some more tape down so the salt wouldn’t automatically go inside the flaps or underneath the paper itself. Then I sprinkled a very small amount of salt and grabbed an old long paintbrush. Obviously, with any toddler event involving loose grains or particles, I laid down a sheet before we began. Vicky loved pulling the paintbrush along to reveal the colors underneath. Frankly, I loved watching. I had a full cup of hot coffee (yup, you read it right – HOT) before I had to reset the activity.

Voila! An erasable but colorful way to practice pre-writing skills! If you don’t try any of my rainbow activities but one, make it this!

Miscellaneous: Eat the Rainbow!

We can do all the enriching activities and sensory bins in the world, but often times the easiest learning opportunities are in our day to day lives, right in front of our eyes.

Vicky has been rejecting her usual breakfast food, which generally consists of strawberries and bananas. I decided to buy a pre-cut bowl of a variety of fruit. I usually don’t do that since it isn’t especially cost effective. However, since she’s been so picky, I might’ve ended up wasting the money on fruit she won’t eat. The next morning I set up her little plate and we talked about her colors and the different fruits. Wouldn’t you know it? She ate the whole thing!

Postscript

In my color research, I stumbled upon an article in Scientific American that gave me a bit more dismay about toddlers learning their colors. When referring to the different hues of an agreed upon color, the author wrote: “In Himba, a northern Namibian dialect, the color “zoozu,” cuts straight across what we would think of as black, green, blue and purple, while “serandu” encompasses much of pink, purple and red. Even in languages with highly similar color vocabularies, a given color won’t necessarily pick out the exact same set of hues in one language as it does in the other” (Scientific American, 2010).

I mentioned this on a previous social media post, but changing your color statements might help your little one out with correctly identifying colors. Instead of saying “Vicky, can you get me the green turtle”, try “Vicky, can you get me the turtle that is green.” This simple reversal helps your child narrow down the subject first and then treats the color as a property of that subject, like big or small, wet or dry. This will also help your toddler start to narrow down what hues of each color correspond with the given name.

It’s complicated and it’s hard, but keep on truckin’. And just in case you were curious about how many colors Vicky can identify after all our practicing, I’ll let you in on a little secret…

It’s one. I can get her to point to red about 75% of the time. 😂