6 Activities to Teach Colors to Toddlers
Teaching colors to toddlers is a part of their early learning and development. Understanding and recognizing colors not only helps children with basic communication but also enhances their cognitive and motor skills. It’s part of teaching preschool math!
We’ll explore six effective ways to teach colors to toddlers, ensuring that learning is both fun and engaging for your little ones. These strategies will help your toddler grasp color concepts with ease. Also discover practical tips and techniques for making color learning a natural part of your child’s day.
Incorporating color recognition into your toddler’s daily routine can be a fun and enriching experience. Teaching colors to toddlers doesn’t have to be stressful—simple activities and interactions can make a big difference.
Whether you’re sorting toys by color, using colorful books, or engaging in creative play, there are countless ways to make learning colors enjoyable.
In this post, we’ll dive into six easy and effective methods to help your toddler master their colors using a free color sorting printable, turning everyday moments into valuable learning opportunities.
My point is, that teaching colors to toddlers is important.
So important, in fact, that it is part of developmental assessments in many pediatrician’s offices and is often used as an indicator of preschool readiness, and absolutely used in kinder readiness assessments before formal enrollment.
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Product on saleColor Sorting Mats for the Entire YearOriginal price was: $16.00.$4.00Current price is: $4.00.
Teachging Colors to Toddlers
It’s ideal to start teaching colors around 18 months, as toddlers begin to develop the ability to recognize and differentiate colors. Some children will pick up color names as early as 15 months, but not all.
Learning colors is important as it enhances cognitive development, improves language skills, and helps toddlers understand and organize their environment.
Try activities like color sorting games, colorful snacks, painting, or using colorful building blocks to make learning colors interactive and enjoyable.
Incorporate colors into daily routines by naming colors during mealtime, while dressing your child, or during playtime to reinforce learning. When building blocks with your child, talk about the colors as you build.
If your toddler struggles with distinguishing colors or consistently confuses certain colors beyond age three, consider consulting a pediatrician for an evaluation.
The internet and Pinterest are chock-full of ideas for teaching colors, including fun activities like color mixing or fun sensory bins for toddlers to explore colors.
But today I'm sharing with you six new color activities for toddlers and preschoolers.
Plus, this post includes a free color sorting printable, so be sure to grab it from the end of the post.
Activities About How to Teach Colors to Preschoolers
These color lesson plans include an entire week of free preschool color activities. They are full of fun, colorful hands-on learning.
Free Printable for Teaching Colors
While teaching colors to toddlers and preschoolers can often times be done through daily activities and routines, sometimes a helpful printable, like this color sorting printable, can make learning colors all the more fun!
What You Get
This is a full color pdf that features all the colors of the rainbow. Each page can easily be printed un full page or half pages. A black line master is also included if you would rather print on colored paper instead of colored ink.
Additional Materials
The only additional materials needs are some color manipulatives for sorting. Here are some of our favorites.
- EARLY math concepts become a fun adventures with these colorful counters.
- MASTER early academic standards such as grouping, sorting, patterning, classifying objects, and...
- Tactilely-inviting, soft, rubber Mini Motors counters encourage hands-on learning. Counters can be...
- DEVELOP COGNITIVE FUNCTION -- These warm, rubbery sorting and classifying counters develop cognitive...
- AN ENGAGING MATH MANIPULATIVE -- Young minds will love this hands-on teaching aid in learning how to...
- DEVELOP LANGUAGE AND DESCRIPTIVE SKILLS -- Vibrant colors and varying sizes of fruit can inspire...
- Durable and reusable translucent plastic keeps numbers covered, but visible .
- 500 Pieces in total,6 colors including red, yellow, blue, green, orange and purple,random mixing.
- Each measures 3/4 inch in diameter, easy to use and maneuver.
- Math skills (one-to-one correspondence, counting to 100, skip counting, Comparison, Making 10,...
- School Readiness for Kids : Promote school readiness with activities that support math skills...
- Montessori Materials Math : Cubes easily snap together on all sides of each cube with geometric...
- PRACTICE COUNTING, SORTING & MORE: Develop early math skills, counting, sorting, and color...
- HANDS-ON TACTICAL LEARNING: These teddy bear counters are great for hands-on tactical learners.
- 102 BEAR COUNTERS WITH ACTIVITY GUIDE & STORAGE: Set includes 102 bear counters in 6 vivid colors,...
Activities to Teach Colors to Toddlers
If you're looking for some fun, but simple ways to teach your toddler colors, then you've come to the right place. These activities are low or no-prep, and are new and creative.
Color Activity for Toddlers #1 - I Spy
There's no guessing here, I Spy is a popular children's game and you can play it with just about any concept. You can print off the color mats at the end of this post and point to the mats to help your toddlers and preschoolers identify which color you are "spying". For example, it might go something like this:
I spy with my little eye, something that is red.
Then you point to the red color mat and ask,
This is red! What can you spy that is red?
Playing the game in two steps like this helps your toddler make the connection that the color has a specific name.
Color Activity for Toddlers #2 - Search the Room
One of my favorite ways to teach colors to toddlers is to invite them to search the room.
Invite a toddler or preschooler to join you in the front of the room and have them select a color that the rest of the class will search for. That student gets to hold the color mat up high for everyone to see while they search the room for something that matches in color.
When your students return, you may find that they come back with items that do not match. This is ok. Just help them find the right mat to make their match.
Or, your toddler may find an item that is very colorful. This is a good opportunity to allow your toddler to share with you all the colors they know as they share their object.
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Product on saleColor Sorting Mats for the Entire YearOriginal price was: $16.00.$4.00Current price is: $4.00.
Color Activity for Toddlers #3 - Use a Variety of Materials
These color mats are perfect for color sorting, which is an old stand-by in preschool. But for good reason because sorting activities really help strengthen a child's knowledge of a concept. You can use the free color sorting printable in this post to sort a variety of materials.
We've used them with Legos.
We've used them with pom poms and also Unifix cubes and snap cubes.
But the fun doesn't stop there.
You can use crayons, pipe cleaner, baby food lids (from squeeze packs), foam blocks, construction paper squares, and just about any themed math counter too, like farm animals, counting bears, transportation counters, or my favorite: dinosaur counters!
Color Activity for Toddlers #4 - Race to the Color
Need to include some gross motor fun? Of course you do! Toddlers love (and need) to get up and move about!
Try taping these color sorting mats onto the wall or white board. Have a "grab-bag" of items in the rainbow colors prepared. Draw an item from the bog, show the children, and have the run to the wall and slap the coordinating color mat!
My little boys adore this version of the game, but if you're worried about having lots of kid running at the same time, or worried about a child's feelings getting hurt during the "race", then you can also play this one child at a time. Have the one child close his eyes while you show the rest of the class, then open his eyes and go!
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Product on saleColor Sorting Mats for the Entire YearOriginal price was: $16.00.$4.00Current price is: $4.00.
Color Activity for Toddlers #5 - Color Stomp
Here is another gross motor game to teach colors to toddlers and preschoolers. Laminate the color sorting mats and tape them to the floor. Tape them really well.
Turn on some music and have the children walk in a circle as though they were playing Musical Chairs. At a random time, have turn off the music and then flash a color sorting mat in front of them. The child who is standing on the matching mat(s) stomp their feet while saying the color out loud.
As you might have guessed, you will need to make at least two copies of these mats, maybe even more depending on the number of children playing. You'll want at least one color mat per student, but it's ok if there are more more mats on the floor than children playing.
Color Activity for Toddlers #6 - Mixed Up Colors
One way to assess a child's comfort in color sorting is by mixing up a set of objects on the color sorting mats and inviting your toddler to fix all the mistakes.
It's easiest to start this activity with a single set of materials like linking chains, instead of a bunch of different materials. Scatter them over the color sorting mats and invite your toddler to join you in fixing the sorting by placing all the materials on the correct color mats.
If your toddler is new to color sorting, you can start with only two colors rather than all six rainbow colors.
Printables to Teach Colors
You might enjoy some of these free color sorting printables.
Try this fun colorful process art activity that teaches the science of color and light!
Want this FREE Color Sorting Printable?
This post has six easy to teach toddlers their colors, so grab your free printable and have some fun with the ideas above!
Get Color Sorting Mats for the Entire Year!
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Product on saleColor Sorting Mats for the Entire YearOriginal price was: $16.00.$4.00Current price is: $4.00.
I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
The color mats are awesome!
Sarah, I love these color mats and all the ways to use them. Thanks for the freebie!
These will be great in our color theory unit.