How to Teach a Toddler Colors with 20+ Fun Activities

Inside: It’s easy to teach a toddler colors while they explore! This collection includes over 20 easy and fun activities that invite young children to learn about colors in a hands-on way.

Around the age of two, toddlers begin to grasp the names of some colors and begin to excitedly point out which names they know.

A great way to encourage this color learning is to incorporate hands-on activities into your classroom and home.

Through fine motor, large motor, and sensory activities, your preschoolers will enjoy interacting with these color learning activities!

Sorting

Bear Sorting – Sort colorful bears into their matching dens made out of painted paper bowls.

Button Sorting Cups – Cut slits into the tops of colorful cups for toddlers to sort large buttons into the correct color. (About Family Crafts)

Sticker Sorting – For a fine motor activity, place colored paper on the walls and have toddlers peel and stick the same color stickers on the paper. (Busy Toddler)

Magnetic Color Sorting – Create magnets of colorful objects such as grapes, flowers, and trees and have toddlers organize them into the correct color. (The Activity Mom)

Stamp Sorting – Toddlers will sort the velcro stamps onto the envelope with the matching color. (Look! We’re Learning)

Sensory Bin

Color Cube Sorting – Sort cubes by color and put into matching bowls. Strengthens fine motor, too!

Rainbow Fish Water Bin – Catch fish with nets and learn their colors.

Gear Color Match – If you’ve got gear toys, add them to a sensory bin for some fun color recognition. (Moments Enriched)

Sensory Bin Color – To teach specific colors, create a sensory bin involving only objects in that color for toddlers to interact with. (Everyday Chaos and Calm)

Literacy

DIY Color Book – Gather paint swatches of different shades and bind them to create books of colors for preschoolers to flip through. (Craftulate)

Alphabet Color Sorting  – Grab those colorful letters and invite your toddler to sort them by color! (Busy Toddler)

Large Motor

Lego Hunt – Go on a hunt for Lego pieces and sort by color.

Color Hunt – Pick one color and hide objects of that color around the room for toddlers to go on a color hunt. (Busy Toddler)

Color Hop – For a large motor activity, draw large circles in various colors outside and have toddlers hop on the color that you say. (Learn Play Imagine)

Outdoor Scavenger Hunt – Go on a nature walk with color bags, finding one object that matches each color on the bag. (I Heart Crafty Things)

Science

Color Viewers – Use tinted sandwich bags or plastic to make ‘color viewers’, allowing toddlers to see everything around them in that color. (Preschool Toolkit)

Color Mixing Cubes – Freeze ice cubes with food coloring and have two colors melt together to see what color it turns into. (Gift of Curiosity)

Color Mixing Bottles – Create sensory bottles with two different colors for toddlers to shake them up and mix the colors together. (Preschool Inspirations)

Art

Cardboard Rainbows – Press rainbow colored pieces on top to create a hanging rainbow!

Yellow Sun Collage – Download the free printable sun and find small yellow pieces to glue on top.

Spin a Rainbow – Dust off that salad spinner and learn about color mixing.

Object Rainbow – For a group activity, preschoolers will glue colorful objects onto the matching color line on the rainbow. (Teach Pre K)

Outdoors

Leaf Hunt – Collect leaves on a walk and create a sorting chart to put them on. (Hands On As We Grow)

Fine Motor

Rainbow Suncatchers – Use the fingers to press colored tissue onto sticky paper.

Color Mixing Bags – Fill a bag with 2 colors of paint and press on top to make a 3rd color.

Pom Pom Sticks – For an easy color matching activity, draw colorful dots onto large popsicle sticks and have preschoolers sort matching pom poms onto them. (Natural Beach Living)