Teaching Colours #1

Colours is one of the first subjects I teach a new bunch of kids.  It doesn't matter how young or old they are, it is always good to go back over the basics.   Making the subject interesting for the children will get them even more interested and there is more to teaching colours than just singing about a rainbow!

Kids pick up the names of the main colours pretty quickly but why not show them a little bit more?  Teach them some science!  Have some fun! Over the years I have done various colour projects and/or Morning Circles.  This post shows various activities and ideas you can use to be colourful and creative!

Meet Oliver Orange and his friends (you can use any names you want). They came along to Kindergarten and got to know the kids. Oliver asked the children where they have seen the colour orange before.  The other colourful friends also ask about their colours.  This can be a long conversation with the group if you have chatty kids so make sure you plan enough time.

This activity encouraged the children to think about items they see in everyday life.  It is interesting to see what they come up with!  I also used my flash cards in various ways.  For example the children had to match them to the correct Colourful Friend (make them repeat the colours, words, names out loud) and got a little exercise at the same time.  The activity will last longer if your kids get a bit of movement now and again.  Even if it is just getting up and placing a flashcard on the floor.

You can get all the Colourful Friends involved in the morning circle and depending on your activity for the Morning Circle they can even lend you a hand ;)  Let one of the colours tell a story/read a book.  Hide your coloured friends around the group and get the kids to look for them.  Also get the children to find items in the room with the same colour.  This is a great way to observe what the kids have really understood.

My Colourful Friends also had a rainbow house to live in.  Let the kids get involved by helping you make the house.  It's a simple craft project but the kids loved it.   We made the house out of a cardboard box and lots and lots of coloured paper squares but let your imagine run wild and come up with your own special house.   All the colours sleep in the house which made it easy to take the house with me to the other group that I was teaching.

One of the things you really need to show the kids when you are working with colours is how they mix to make other colours.  I usually make a colour wheel with them.  Just draw the circle (as big or small as you like) and divide it into six pieces.  Have the kids colour in a blue area, a red area and a yellow area.  Make sure they leave a space between each colour.

Then let them mix the colours together.  Red and Yellow is orange.  Talk to them about it.  Get them to repeat everything.  This is especially important for kids who are going to school soon.

There are some great books you can use to help teach colours and my go to book is Mouse Paint.  Three mice manage to get their paws on some paints.  What happens next is just fun and educational.  You can even look on the internet for some great activites to use with the book.

Mouse Paint is a great book and I have used it in many activities.  So expect to hear about it again!

Teaching English to non-native speaking children isn't just singing songs.  You can do arts & crafts and also experiments.  A great experiment to try while teaching about colours is this one below.  After mixing colours to make other colours it will interest the children to find out that many of the colours we use (eg. Felt tip pens) are actually two or more colours mixed to make one.  All you need are normal colouring pens and some white coffee filters.

First you need to pick your colours.  Three are usually enough.  Make three coloured dots on the bottom end of the coffee filter and then add water.  Either dip the filter into water or use something to drop water onto the bottom.

Within seconds the coloured dots will spread and the majority will split into different colours.  This is a trial and error process at times because some pens are better than others with some colours working better than others.

You can get some amazing results and can even fill the coffee filters completely and use them for some other arts & crafts.  The filters make great butterflies if you split them in half.

One of the important things to do when you have a project going on is to show off your work! Make a poster to hang up in the group or outside where the parents can see it or make something for the kids to take home.

There are more colour ideas to come!  Feel free to add your ideas to the comments!

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