We just love being outside. And anytime that I can bring the academics with us, I will! My 3-year-old is working on color matching and recognition right now. One of the best ways to play with colors is to find them in the world around you.
I created this cute little board from a piece of cardboard and used paint pens to make it fun. Let’s break it down:
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Materials
- Cardboard
- Paint Pens
- Outdoor colors!
How To
This is a super simple set up that you can do the night before. Here’s how:
- Grab your cardboard and cut it down to the desired size. Mine is the size of a standard piece of paper (8.5 x 11), but you can make yours whatever size you would like.
- Decide what colors you would like to include in your color hunt. A good place to start is to look around your yard and identify things your child could add to the board. Ex. grass, flowers, rocks, feathers, etc.
- Grab those paint pen colors and draw a box with each.
- Show your child how to find an item that matches one color box. Ex. grab a piece of grass and ask your child which box it matches.
- Let your kiddo go and explore those outdoor colors!
Enjoy!
This activity is super simple to set up and can be done as far in advance as you want. I actually kept our board, and we use it again and again! Another fun way to use this activity is by bringing it on a walk. Whether you are walking around your neighborhood or exploring a forest preserve, bring it with you! It is such a fun and concrete way for your little to explore colors in the world around them.
And this activity isn’t just for the littles. Even my 9-year-old enjoys finding items to match the colors. It is a great way to draw attention to the various colors we see in nature at any age!
Thank you so much for reading, sweet friend! You can find us on Pinterest and see what we are up to on Instagram. Looking for another way to play outside? Check out this winner!
