Exploring Color

The first weeks of preschool are always an adventure.  There is SO MUCH  for everyone (teachers included) to learn! The backdrop of the first week of our preschool class is color exploration.  While we're figuring out how to let mom go for a few hours, learning new names and routines, we also talk about colors.  Do we know the names of all the basic colors?  What's your favorite?  Can you draw a rainbow?  Can I find all the matching colored objects?  What happens if we mix different colors?  

Here are some of the activities we explored: 

Color Sorting Trays:  For color "mats" I glued a color name onto a matching piece of construction paper and placed each "mat" into a page protector.  Then, I collected a box of random toys, objects and flash cards to sort.

Each day we concentrated on a few different colors.  The day we learned about purple and orange we also learned about scissors (I love the "fringe" that new scissor users make - it seems to be a pretty universal step in scissor use : )

What do you see?  I found this looking glass template in a Mailbox Number's book.  I photocopied it onto card stock, cut it out, and taped colored cellophane in the middle

Mixing it up - I think using paint during the first week of preschool is crazy - but I found a way to incorporate it successfully.  We added two colors of paint into a Ziploc bag, taped it shut and squished away - no mess!  AND you get to create new colors!

Sensory Box: Various sizes and shapes of paper mixed with raffia and colored bowls for sorting.  The favorite activity at this center was creating pictures from the shapes.