Color Activities for Preschool that Engage Children’s Minds

Recognition of color is just one of the things we adults take for granted in this world. But did you know even though colors might seem ever apparent to us, it’s not quite the same for our preschoolers?

The truth is, identifying and naming colors is something of a challenge to toddlers. It’s a process built mainly on culture and language rather than something innately wired into them.

Read on to find out how you can ease your child through this vital process of color recognition.

21 Engaging Color Activities for Preschool

Here are 21 color activities that will keep your preschooler busy.

1. Color Water Mixing

Just some food coloring and some water for this excellent color activity. It can be Holi every single day in the bathroom!

2. Color Changing LED Lights

An early version of ‘dark room,’ this color activity makes types want more. Turn off the lights and identify the colors as they change.

3. Playing ‘Four Colours.’

This game’s a fun spin on the famous ‘Four Corners.’ Call out the names of colors as you scamper to different parts of the room—a fun color activity.

4. Rainbow Fun

Looking for a messy color activity? Your toddler can paint the rainbow colors onto their hand and then make an impression of it on paper. Dirty fun and they get to keep that incredible rainbow, too!

5. Color Scavenger Hunt

A color activity for preschoolers that packs a punch! Give your child a sheet with small boxes of different colors. Then have them scavenge around the house to match objects to their corresponding color boxes.

6. Name that Cereal

Only Fruit Loops will do this mouth-watering colors activity for kindergarten. Also, fill a sheet of paper with several small circles painted in the different Fruit Loop colors. Now take a bowl of Fruit Loops and place the differently-colored loops on their respective color circles.

7. Button Sorting

Simple by design, this color activity is excellent for visual cognition! Take those old buttons in a closet, place them in a heap for your child to sort, and create single-color piles.

8. Rock Painting

Rock climbing can be saved for later years. Painting rocks is something they can enjoy now. Have kids pick their rocks from the outdoors, give them some acrylic paint, and they’re good to go!

9. Color Bingo

You can’t take the versatile game of Bingo away from kids, especially with the fun ‘color’ version. They will delight in identifying the colors called out.

10. Play Dough

Playdough fun is more than just ‘play.’ It bolsters creativity and hand-eye coordination and is a great ‘fun with colors’ activity for kids. Use many colors for an impeccable sensory treat.

11. Playing I Spy With My Little Eye

Tweaked for color fun, I Spy makes for a fantastic color activity. “I spy with my small eye, something,” or something like red in a corner….’ The hint at the end makes it more fun!

12. Object Sorting

One of the best amazing activities for preschool can be played at home anytime. Kids must find ten objects that belong to the color you call out. Make it easy by starting with three.

13. Listen and Draw

This color activity hones your child’s listening skills and improves their sense of concepts like shape and, of course, color. Tell your child to draw, say, a blue sea. Then ask them to remove a brown boat in the ocean. And so on. Click here to know more about the best shape activities for preschoolers.

14. Color Matching

Color matching is excellent as it creates a link between visual clues and words. For this fun colors activity for kindergarten, please have your child match differently colored pom-poms to their respectively colored circles on a paper sheet.

15. Color Mixing Magic

Perhaps not for us, but for kids, mixing two colors to create a unique third is nothing short of magic. All you need for this magical color activity is three shades of paint: red, yellow, and blue. Then watch the fun as blue and yellow combine to form green; red and blue, orange; and red and blue, purple.

16. Books and Colour Fun

Exploring color with books is a color activity that’s always a pleasure! What’s nice is that you don’t have to buy only books that teach color. You can do well with any coloring book, identifying colors as you go along.

17. Make a Pasta Bracelet

Yes, you can wear your pasta and eat it, too! Great ‘fun with colors’ activity. All you need is macaroni dyed with food coloring. String together same-colored pasta to make a fun bracelet or one with two different colors.

18. Passing the Parcel

This old game always entertains and can make for a great color activity. Pack an object in layers of differently-colored wrapping paper. When the music stops, the child with the parcel must identify the layer’s color to be unwrapped.

19. Picture Hunt

This takes the book color activity to another level. Please have your child find as many objects as possible of a particular color in picture books. Repeat with another color.

20. Count the Cars

This one’s a great color activity that can make car drives even more interesting for your toddler. Have them count how many cars of a particular color they can see on the way. A great way to learn to trust, too! Click here to know more about the number recognition games for preschoolers.

21. Finger Painting

This is one of the more fun color activities. Besides making for a great sensory experience, it’s also a beautiful way to learn how colors blend.

Teaching kids colors is a vital part of their cognitive development. Learning about colors helps them develop their visual perception, which is, in effect, the capacity of the brain to process visual information accurately. Use the color activities listed in this article for a great color learning experience.