Monday Mini-Lesson: COLORS!
Let's explore how to teach colors to young toddlers through a week-long, engaging mini lesson.
Rhyme of the Week:
I see red, I see blue, I see yellow - How about you?
Song to Sing All Week:
Tune: If You’re Happy & You Know It
If you see the color red, touch your head!
If you see the color blue, touch your shoe!
If you see the color yellow and you know that it is yellow,
If you see the color yellow, wiggle like Jello!
While singing this song, hold up something red while singing “red.” Do this for each color.
Daily Activities:
Monday:
Color Hunt: Pick a color of the day (focus colors this week: red, blue, yellow)
Walk around the house, searching together for items of that color. To make it more engaging, you can put on your “color hunting glasses” by framing your eyes with your hands and encourage them to do the same. Get very excited when you find the color you’re searching for like it is treasure!
Verbal Routine while playing: “Look! I found red.”
Tuesday:
Color Sorting: Gather small toys or objects in the focus colors (blocks, socks, cars)
Encourage your child to sort by color into different piles. If you have bowls in the corresponding colors, you can have them sort into the bowls.
For younger toddlers, only focus on 2 colors. Base the number of colors you are sorting based on your toddlers age & ability.
Wednesday:
Color Water Play: Fill 2-3 bowls with water and add food coloring (using the focus colors)
Give your child a spoon, syringe, or dropper and let them explore with mixing the colors. Adding another empty clear container allows them to transfer and see the colors mixing.
Thursday:
Monochrome Collage: Allow them to explore variations of a color (e.g. different shades of blue) by creating a monochrome collage (all one color).
Things to add: stamps in that color, pieces of construction paper, cutouts from a magazine, paint, etc.
Friday:
Dot the color: Draw out different colored circles on a page. Use corresponding circle stickers and have your toddler peel and stick them to the matching dot you drew.
To make this more engaging, you could use character stickers that match the color.
Tips for Expanding Language this Week:
Keep the focus colors at the forefront of your mind and use the verbal routine from Monday’s activity when you are on outings and spot a color.
Remember the importance of action/functional words and be extremely repetitive with them during this week’s activities (“stick on”, “mix”)
Leave pauses!!! So many parents forget this essential technique for quicker progress. Leave a pause, have an expectant expression, and give them the opportunity to practice language. Toddlers need longer to process than we usually give them.