Retirement Oz - Does anyone have any creative ideas about teaching colors to preschoolers?

Does anyone have any creative ideas about teaching colors to preschoolers?

I created myself a special project at my school. There is a couple of children in one of our preschool classes that are having trouble with their colors and if they don't know so many at the end of the year they cannot graduate out of preschool. So, my main question is, is that does anyone have any fun creative ideas on how I can approach this without totally boring the kids to death, and just keep repeating the colors over and over again.

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You could use handkerchiefs of the primary colors and put them at the center, the kids around them and they go dancing with a music background and then you stop the music and you say, Go Green, and the kids have to get the color. You need as many handkerchiefs of the color as the quantity of kids you have.
Ah! Fun! Something I do is have a daily basic concept song time. Daily we sing an alphabet, number, shape, color, and theme song/activity...usually a song. I change them almost every week and I change the displays accordingly to keep interest. With this daily review/repetition they learn them quite quickly. I find that the activity is usually so quick that the others really aren't "bored" of it and the ones that don't know it, pick it up quickly. Quite possibly since it's only 2 children you want to include a daily activity/song like this for them in their small group or at the beginning of their free choice time. Here are some of the songs I use...if you need ideas about extending them and creating visuals and such, feel free to email me and I'll see what I can do. :-) So Many Colors Red is the color of apples in trees. Yellow is the color of bumblebees. Orange is the color of carrots in a line. Purple is the color of grapes on a vine. Blue is the color of a great big lake. Green is the color of a garden snake. Pink is the color of a little flower. Brown is the color of a sand castle tower. Black is the color of the sky at night. White is the color of the moon so bright. Take a moment to look around. There are so many colors to be found! Five Little Crayons Five little crayons, waiting in a row. The first one said, “I’m red, you know!” The second one said, “I’m green like a tree.” The third one said, “I’m blue like the sea.” The fourth one said, “I’m as yellow as the sun.” The fifth one said, “Being purple is fun!” Five little crayons, happy as can be, Coloring pictures with you and me! I’m a Little Crayon Tune: I’m a Little Teapot I’m a little crayon.(point to self) Straight and bright(stand tall with arms at side) Here is my wrapper(rub tummy) Here’s where I write(Tap top of head) When I get picked up, I shout hooray (Jump and give a silent cheer) I get to share my color today! (Wiggle body; wave arms overhead). Little Red Wagon (great song for a file folder wagon with different colored sheets inside the folder.) Bumping up and down in my little red wagon. Bumping up and down in my little red wagon. Bumping up and down in my little red wagon. Won’t you be my darling. Something Orange Tune: If Your Happy and You Know It If you see an orange pumpkin, touch it now. If you see an orange pumpkin, touch it now. If you see an orange pumpkin, If you see an orange pumpkin, If you see an orange pumpkin, touch it now! Marjorie Debowy Use with various colors. Did You Ever See a Lizard? Tune: Did You Ever See a Lassie? Did you ever see a lizard, A lizard, a lizard— Did you ever see a lizard All dressed up in green? With green eyes and green nose And green legs and green toes— Did you ever see a lizard All dressed up in green? Kim Heckert Use with various colors. Black Bat, Black Bat Black bat, black bat, turn around. Black bat, black bat, touch the ground. Black bat, black bat, reach up high. Black bat, black bat, touch the sky. Black bat, black bat, reach down low. Black bat, black bat, fly just so. •Change the color and animal. The Color Song (Tune: This Old Man) Red, red, red, touch your head. Blue, blue, blue, tie your shoe. Brown, brown, brown, touch the ground. White, white, white, take a bite. Black, black, black, touch your back. Purple, purple, purple, draw a circle. Pink, pink, pink, give a wink. Gray, gray, gray, shout hurray! Color Square Dance Blues, step forward, (have those wearing named colors do actions) Then turn around, Walk back to your place And jump up and down. Reds, hop to the middle And back again, Find the yellows And shake their hands. Now, greens, you slowly Turn around, Clap your hands And make a sound. Do-si-do, Around we go, All the colors Heel to toe. Jean Warren Color Rhyme If your clothes have any red, Put your finger on your head. If your clothes have any blue, Put your finger on your shoe. If your clothes have any green, Wave your hand so that you’re seen. If your clothes have any yellow, Smile like a happy fellow. If your clothes have any brown, Turn your smile into a frown. If your clothes have any black, Put your hands behind your back. If your clothes have any white, Stamp your feet with all your might! Jean Warren Colour Song (to the tune of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider") Orange is a carrot, Yellow is a pear, Green is the grass, And brown is a bear, Purple is a plum, Blue is the sky, Black is a witch's hat, And red is cherry pie. Wore it, All Day Long (sung to:This is the Way) child's name wore a red dress, red dress, red dress child's name wore a red dress All day long! child's name wore green pants, green pants, green pants child's name wore green pants All day long! ... (continue for each child) Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be? Oh dear, what can the matter be Oh dear, wha
what about coloring? have a picture of an apple for example and then a real apple. (so they know what color since they can be green yellow or red) they have to pick the crayon that matches, identify it and then they can color? you may have trouble with like... white. but all preschoolers like to color!
I think games are one of the best ways to teach colors, other than pointing them out in every day life. Play Candy Land, Bingo, Memory and an easy version of Twister. Place colored squares on the floor and have the children hop to the correct colored square. Children will move at their own pace, and it takes some longer to learn than others. Just remember to be patient and have fun!
The first thing I would suggest is to get to know the kids' learning styles. I would read up on Multiple Intelligences. Basically put, this is the idea that everyone, including children, learns differently. There is a concise and informative article here: http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm Once you have an idea what types of games will really mean something to those children (and each one may be different!) then you can choose games and activities that "teach" colors through the modes that the children learn best. As for ideas in particular, I swear by the Everything Preschool site: http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/colors/index.htm Some of the activities they have listed on their page include: - A version of hide and seek (great for bodily/kinesthetic learners) - Matching (great for logical learners) - Rainbow oil/water mixing (great for visual/spatial learners) - Mixing colors in ice cube trays - Songs (linguistic and musical learners) And there's more on that site. The best way to make sure the children aren't getting bored is to choose activities that challenge them without overwhelming them. Good luck to you and thanks for the dedication you put into helping our future!!!
I've used to focus on one colour for one week. Do all sort of activites that involve let's say red. We would do painting with ONLY red paint, red markers, red leaves, etc and have something of that colour, eg red as a maple leaf, or yellow as a duck, etc etc then the next week would be another colour Im talking about primary colours... There're also a bunch of activities that I've done with kids and seemed to enjoy quite a bit.... I also did some activities... I have a caterpillar round circle for a face and all the other parts are round circles that are all a different colour and you attach to it, just by gluing it. You can have your model with a few colours and have one for the kids to colour and create their caterpillar with certain colours. Also you can have different days of the week that's a different colour and all the kids need to wear that particular colour-let's say a green shirt. and have a "green day" green crafts or green cookies, green play dough... Here's a great website where I've taken lots of materials from. Best of luck! http://www.first-school.ws/theme/colors.htm
Show them picture books with objects and their colors.Colored construction paper and let them get a mini prize if they get the color correct.
bring fruits or snacks in that are different colors. ask them what color the snack is and if they get it right they can have that snack to eat. It is fun and they get a treat. ^_^
First of all, that is horrible that they can't graduate from preschool if they don't know their colors! That is crazy! My favorite activity to teach colors is making color collages. I tape clear contact paper to the table sticky side up. Then I gather tons of materials of a particular color or you could ask the parents to gather materials . Materials can be anything. Some ideas are ribbon, material, play money, paint samples, yarn, marker lids, crayons, bottle caps, straws, and much more. We make a collage for each color and then hang them up in our classroom. Make sure to talk about the objects and color as you make the collages and refer to them often.