This is SO easy to make and can be used again and again. I can’t stress enough how much of a learning opportunity this is for you and your child. Learning colors indoors or even from a book isn’t bad, but there’s something magical about watching the excitement from your child while he or she hunt around nature for all of the beautiful colors it has to offer. It also gives you the opportunity to teach your child more about nature, and with the fall colors on the horizon who wouldn’t be impressed?
Materials needed:
• Ice cube tray
• Colored paper or Colored foam for a fun texture
• Scissors
• Outdoor setting — A park, the river, a hiking trail, even your own backyard.
Directions:
• Cut a small piece of paper for each of the colors you’d like to hunt for. Make sure the pieces are big enough to line the bottoms of the ice cube tray. With younger kids you want to choose colors that you know are more likely to be found. Once the ice cube tray is full of colors to match you’re ready to go outside!
• Once you’re outside pick your first color to look for. Help your child look but don’t give anything away. If you see the color first and your child is having a hard time, try giving clues about where the color is. “I think there’s a match in this area. Do you see it?” Once the color is found, match it to the color in the tray and continue hunting.
• After you have collected all of your color matches, talk about each item. What is it? What does it do? How does it feel? This activity is good for so many things. There is so much learning going on here. Remember to be patient, have fun and enjoy the outdoors!
