Whether you are looking for creative ideas for teaching colors to toddlers or preschoolers, or just looking for ways to inject color into your play and learning time, here are 30 colorful activities from our archives that are sure to inspire you! All of these activities can be easily adapted to any color you are targeting. Click on the photos for details on each activity.
- Create a rainbow sensory bin to spark some colorful conversation and play.
- Fill squeeze bottles with colored flour-based paint; let your little ones squeeze into containers or onto a large sheet of butcher paper.
- Use colorful manipulatives for fine-motor play.
- Bury colorful toys in coffee grounds; have your little ones find them and “wash” them off in colored water.
- Play with (and taste) a pan of colored/flavored gelatin.
- Do some mess-free color-blending with paint and a plastic baggie.
- Float colorful objects in water and let your little ones fish them out with nets.
- Bury colorful toys or objects in sand.
- Play with colored play dough, knead food coloring into white play dough, or blend two colors of play dough together.
- Fill squeeze bottles with colored water and squirt into a container or water table.
- Try “painting” with powdered drink mix by spreading it on paper and then spraying it with a squirt bottle…preferably outside!
- Create a discovery activity by placing small objects of your targeted color inside small bottles or containers with lids and then placing them all in a larger zippered bag. Lots of fine motor practice as the objects are explored!
- Use empty plastic juice containers to make these easy color-sorting monsters.
- Dye tube-shaped pasta your color of choice and string it on a matching string!
- Scatter colored objects around the house (or hide them for older children); have them collect the objects in buckets or bags of the targeted color.
- Hide colored objects in a large pile of bubbles for your tots to find!
- Create these color tubs by tinting containers of water and adding plastic balls. BEST ACTIVITY EVER!
- Play with colored “goop” or “oobleck” (see link for recipe- such a cool sensory material!)
- Play with colored ice and shaving cream, or use the colored ice to “paint” a white sheet.
- Another twist on colored ice- freeze objects inside, or mix in water beads!
- Play with colored squish bags- this one is full of glitter glue!
- Play with dyed rainbow spaghetti- this is a giant squish bag for indoor play.
- Make some color matching tubes from toilet paper rolls and felt; add manipulatives and you are set!
- Cut pool noodles into rings to string onto jump ropes; more ideas for pool noodles in the full post.
- Create colorful duct tape building blocks for stacking and climbing!
- Create spice bottle stampers for painting with your targeted color.
- Paint your entire body with non-toxic, flour-based paint.
- Use colored water to tint snow for some indoor snow play!
- Close to the holidays? Make a soft tree with felt presents (the bows are attached with velcro so they can be removed for a color-matching game)!
- Last but not least, play with colorful scarves while listening to music. This is one of our favorite activities!
Wow, we’ve done a lot this year! I hope you have found some inspiration for your next colorful activity!
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Oh my gosh, bookmarking this post. Thank you for sharing! We’re doing colors in tot school right now and I would LOVE to use so many of these, including the shaving cream and the bubbles and the ocean ice, so neat!
Thank you, Lindsay! I’m glad you found it helpful! Happy New Year!
Stephanie, I am so inspired! You have such original ideas! Thank you for sharing all of these amazing activities.
Thank you, Ann! Such a great compliment coming from you!