This is my first read aloud story so bear with me. I’ll hopefully get better as we go. This story is a story of two colorful dot friends who mix together and end up making a new color. The only problem is when they mix together their families don’t recognize them. Check out the story to see what happens. If you have the story at home you can read it with your child but if not you are welcome to click on the link to hear it read aloud. Below you will also find a variety of activities that go with the story aimed at different age groups and ability levels. I hope your child has some fun hearing the story and trying out an activity!
Color Matching Cards
Print the set of color matching cards that is appropriate for your child. The first set is matching the color circles together. The second set is matching the color circle with the color word. Printing it on white cardstock if you have it works better so that you can’t see through the cards. After printing, cut out the cards.
You can use the color matching cards two different ways:
1) Matching: Mix up the cards. Place them face down on the table. Take turns turning
two cards over. If they are a match you get to keep the cards. If they are not a match
turn the two cards back over and it is the next person’s turn. Whoever has the most
matches in the end is the winner.
2) Go Fish: Hand out 3-4 cards each and put the rest in a pile face down. Take turns
asking each other if they have a color that is in your hand. If the person has that
color they give it to you. If they don’t they say go fish. If you get a match you go
again. If not it is the next person’s turn. Whoever has the most matches in the end
is the winner.
Skills practiced through these games: color matching, color and word matching (with second set of cards), turn taking
Color Mixing Exploration
In this science activity kids can explore what happens when you mix different colors together. You can use a variety of materials to explore what happens when you mix colors: finger paints, water colors, playdough, colorful shaving cream, etc. I have included a color mixing guide you can print out if you would like or you can just let you child do some free exploration. There is a spot guide you can have your child make a prediction about what they think will happen when they mix the two colors together prior to them mixing the colors. If your child isn’t quite ready for that though you can go ahead and skip that part. The last two circles on the page is a spot for your child to pick which two colors they would like to mix together.
Skills practiced during this activity: fine motor (when mixing the playdough or using the paint brush), hand-eye coordination, cause and effect, colors, and creativity
Sorting by Color
For this activity I like to use paper bowls or plates, colorful construction paper, pompoms, and kid tweezers but you can really use whatever you have at home. First, cut out one circle of construction paper for each color pompom you have. Tape it to the bottom of a bowl of plate. I have also included color sorting sheets you can print out and use instead of bowls if you prefer. Give you child a bunch of colorful pompoms and have them sort the pompoms into the bowl with the matching circle using the tweezers. If you have a younger child that is not ready to use tweezers they can use their fingers to pick up the pompoms. If you don’t have paper bowls or plates you can use a muffin tin, plastic cups, or even just colorful sheets of paper. If you don’t have pompoms you could use counting bears, legos, marbles, or whatever small color toys you have. If you don’t have kid tweezers you can use cooking tongs (as long as yours don’t have any sharp edges). If you would like to add some counting or number writing practice to this activity you could have your child count how many there are of each color and if you would like to take it further they write the number to match. If you have children that are ready you could ask follow up questions like: Which color has the most? Which color has the least? Are there two colors that have the same number?
Skills practiced during this activity: color recognition, sorting, fine motor (whether or not you are using the tweezers your child is practicing fine motor skills), and hand eye coordination. If you add in the follow up pieces you are adding: counting, number writing, matching numbers to quantities, more/less/equal.
