You’re home with your child and you don’t know what to do next. You want something educational, but fun, and you’ve watched far too much Paw Patrol. We get it! Though you can’t come to the library for one of our awesome programs, we can bring library ideas to you. Each week I’ll post a new themed lesson that’s easy for you to do from home. Do as much or as little as you’d like. Have fun with it – and have fun with your kids!
This week’s theme is colors.
Start by asking your child a few questions:
- What’s your favorite color?
- What colors do you see in the room?
- What color is the grass? What color is my shirt? What color is Elmo?
Next, read a book on colors.
Any book! If you don’t have a book that’s specifically about colors, read a book that’s colorful and point to the colors as you go. (e.g. The dog is white! The hat is blue!)
Now let’s move!
Either sing this song to your child, or have them watch the video and move along.
“Red, Yellow, Blue and Green stand up
Red, Yellow, Blue and Green turn around
Stech up high above your head
Red, Yellow, Blue and Green sit down”
Repeat! Repeat again!
Want to keep moving?
Okay, let’s play Red Light, Green Light. Have your child stand on one side of the room (or, ideally, go outside and stand on one side of the yard). Yell out “green light” for them to run, “yellow light” to slow down and “red light” to stop. Keep going until they’re tired. If you want to test their ability to identify colors, hold up pieces of construction paper of the color, so they have to pay attention and watch.
Ready for some science? Let’s make some color mixing fizz.
Supplies:
- food coloring
- baking soda
- vinegar
- cupcake tin or other container
- something to pour out vinegar (I use an old baby Tylenol syringe)
Instructions:
- Put a few drop of food coloring in each cupcake compartment
- Cover with baking soda
- Let kids put vinegar (via syringe or other pipette type container) on top of each to make it FIZZ and also see what color it is!
- After, they can mix it all together in a bigger bowl and continue watching the fizz
- OPTIONAL MATH: Have them tally how many times each color appeared
Now, let’s get crafty! Let’s make a rainbow!
- Draw a rainbow and have them color each part in the correct order. Use paint, crayons, markers, dot markers, stickers, anything that represents the colors.
- Glue cotton balls on the bottom for clouds
Last, make your own color book!
- Staple some papers together and have each page represent a color.
- Write (or have your child write) “I see a ____ _____” (e.g. I see a blue hat)
- Illustrate! (Draw, color, cut out pictures from magazines, print out pictures, etc.)
These are all suggestions to help you have an educational and fun time with your child. Let us know how it goes!
