My five-year-old came home from school with a list of things to review at home. One of them being color words. So how does a parent take a review list and put it into practice to help support what their child is learning? You come here. (yeh, that was a personal plug) All jokes aside, this Kindergarten color word activity is hands-on, playful, and fun. – just what our children need for information to stick! Activities for kids are my jam, and you’ve come to the right place.
RELATED: Have a Kindergartner at home? Here are 30 Kindergarten activities.
- How do you teach color words to kindergarten?
- The problem with memorizing color words
- Tell me about this kindergarten activity!
- Supplies
- How to set up this Kindergarten color word activity
- How to help your child learn through play
- More color word activities for kids!
- FAQ
- Kindergarten Color Word Activity
How do you teach color words to kindergarten?
Many years ago, teachers were trained to teach color words by memorizing what the word looks like. We would show the child a flash card and hope for mastery. We referred to these words as sight words.
But boy, have we come a long way with understanding this was doing more harm than good.
When we teach color words to kindergarten, we want to look at beginning, middle, and ending sounds. We want to move our fingers across the word as we read it slowly.
The problem with memorizing color words
When children memorize words, they memorize the shape. Memorizing the shape of a word does not help children when they come across a word they have never seen before. If they are taught to memorize words, they have no idea what to do as they come across the new text.
We must teach children how to decode words; phonemic awareness is one part of this puzzle.
I wrote this article, a Parent’s Guide to Phonemic Awareness, to help families understand what to say and do. Phonemic awareness simply means sound awareness.
I encourage you to listen to Sold a Story if you enjoy podcasts. It will give you insight into how teaching reading has changed over the years and what to ask for as you enter grade school.
Tell me about this kindergarten activity!
Now that I am off my soapbox let’s take a closer look into this kindergarten color word activity. Here, I am turning something my five-year-old enjoys into a way to reinforce color words.
It is important to keep kindergarten activities hands-on and include movement, like my preschool activities. Doing two things at a time helps extend pathways in the brain. Here is an excellent article about how movement builds a child’s brain.
As your child moves the race car around the paper, they also prepare for pencil grip and forming letters. The lines and curves are similar to the letter symbols we write.
Wondering what letters to teach kids? Read this helpful article I wrote about letter recognition.
VARIATION: Have a toddler or preschooler? Write the color words with the actual color. Now your child is color sorting – another important skill to practice through play.
Supplies
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White Paper Roll
Keep this white paper roll at home for all things kid activities.
Markers
Do I keep a pack of markers for myself? I certainly do. If no one puts the caps back on, I must set myself up for success. Also, what is better than a brand-new marker?
Hot Wheels
Ready to start your collection? This is a fun starter pack for kids.
How to set up this Kindergarten color word activity
If you have been here a while, you know that setting up easy ideas for the morning is what we are all about. These activities are called Breakfast Invitations and have drastically influenced my children’s play. It starts the day with connection and creativity.
Try setting this Kindergarten activity up the night before and have it ready on the kitchen table in the morning.
- Tape down the white paper to the table.
- Draw a long squiggle line on the paper.
- Add rectangles with color words written in black. Variation for younger children, write the color words in the color for a sorting activity.
- Place a race car for each letter to the left of the paper.
- Invite your child to move the cars into the matching color word parking spot.
RELATED: Here are some of our favorite kindergarten read-alouds.
How to help your child learn through play
As your child begins to find the matching color word, take a minute to sound out each word. Take a look at the beginning, middle, and ending sounds.
And remember, kids, don’t always appreciate our help as parents. This is normal! I like to stand across the table rather than hover and pick one or two words to focus on rather than the entire list.
We want to give our children a little insight into how to decode words and then feel them out for how much more they will let us “teach” them. If we are done after taking a close look at the word red, call it a win and allow your child to take the lead. Chances are they have a strategy they need to test out.
RELATED: Here are 30 brilliant color activities for kids.
More color word activities for kids!
Why, yes. We have a few more color activities that I know your toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy!
FAQ
Reading Readiness is when your child shows signs of interest in learning how to read.
Before reading the words on paper, we must step back, deepening our awareness of the sounds we hear. This is called phonemic awareness. Here are five easy ways to include reading readiness into your day at home with kids.
Move beyond memorizing sight words. Sight words are commonly used words in print that are practiced again and again to help keep the early reader moving along. A sight word activity for Kindergarten might include ‘and’ and ‘the.’ Sight word activities engage children so they can learn through repetition. Remember memorizing words is different from sounding words out phonetically, and we want to show children how to decode the words they see. Read How to Decode Sight Words to learn more.
Color activities require ZERO worksheets.
