Love to Laugh and Learn

Fun and interesting learning activities to do with the children in your life

Learning Activities for the Color Blue

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 Learning Activities for the Color Blue
with free printable






Let’s laugh and learn about the color blue today. There are so many wonderful blue things around us; the sky, blueberries, your comfy pair of blue sweatpants or blue jeans. Here are some fun learning activities for the color blue.

Content:

Clothing
Toys
Craft:
Blueberry Pie
Snacks
Story Time
Related Posts

Clothing

Dress you child in something blue; a blue shirt (I have a Thomas the Tank Engine Shirt…remember, I taught preschool), a pair of blue jeans etc. Be sure to join your child and wear something blue too.

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Toys

Go through your child’s toys and pick out the blue ones to play with; Thomas the Train, Cookie Monster from Sesame Street, blue legos or duplos, blue wooden blocks etc. Use these toys for playtime today.

I used sensory bags in my classroom, which the children enjoyed a lot. Take gallon sized ziplock bags and fill each one with something different. Put blue jello or jelly in one bag. There used to be a version of oatmeal that turned blue when you mixed it up; I would use that in one of the bags. If the blue oatmeal isn’t available you could add blue food coloring to regular oatmeal.

Material Used for Oatmeal Sensory Bags

I would run a bead of glue along the “zipper” and let it dry before I let the children play with the bags to help discourage them from opening the bags and making a mess. They can then squish the bags in their hands or lay them on the table and use a finger to “write” and draw; kind of like finger painting without the mess.

B is for Blue and Bowl

Another addition to the sensory experience would be to let them play with the oatmeal bags while the oatmeal was still warm. Discuss the differences between the feel of the bag with the oatmeal and the bag with the Jello.

Blue Oatmeal Sensory Bag

Put the bags in the refrigerator when you are done so you can bring them out and play with them again another day. They should last a week or more before you need to toss them. Please share any other ideas, that you might have, of things to put in your sensory bags.

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Craft

Blueberry Pie Craft

Supplies for Blueberry Pie Craft
Supplies for Blueberry Pie Craft

Materials Needed:

Piece of Pie Coloring Page
Blue paint
Pencil with eraser or Q-tip
Small paper plate

1) Print Piece of Pie Coloring Page
2) Put a small amount of blue paint on the paper plate.
3) Use the Q-tip like a stamp. Dip it in the paint and make “blueberry” dots on your piece of pie.

 

Blueberry Pie Craft with Q-tip: Learning Activities for the Color Blue

I used one of those really large pencils with a big eraser for the next piece of pie. I found the pencil at a Dollar Tree Store. You could also use a regular sized pencil.

Blueberry Pie with Large Eraser: Learning Activities for the Color Blue

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Blue Foods for snack or meal time

Blueberries, blue Jello, blue tortilla chips

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Story Time

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Reading Level: Ages 5 and up
This is a cute story that I always read to my preschool classes when we were learning the color blue. The story is about a little girl and a little bear cub that follow their mothers to the blueberry patch. Read this adorable book with your child to find out about the funny mix-up that happens at the patch.

Blue’s Clues books by several different authors
I love Blue’s Clues because it gives your child opportunities to think and reason. There are several wonderful titles to choose from.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
Reading Level: Ages 4 and up
I love Dr. Seuss rhyming books. This book works for the colors blue and red as well as numbers.

Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton
Reading Level: Birth to 4 yrs old
This is a simple little book but so much fun. It covers several colors and has a very silly turkey that will make your child giggle. You can also encourage observation skills as you discuss with your child the problems that the turkey is having.

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
Reading Level: 3 yrs old and up
Ok, I am a sucker for a rhyming book but this one is doubly cute because not only does it rhyme but you get to make a lot of fun sounds while reading it to your child. You will also find out how it pays to be nice to your friends. You may need their help some day.

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Related Posts:

The Lessons – Overview
Colors – Overview
A is for Apple: You Can Learn More Than Your ABC’s from Apples
Pumpkins are Orange; and Other Learning Concepts
Learning Activities for the Color Red
Learning Activities for the Color Yellow
Learning Activities for the Color Green
Learning Activities for the Color Purple
Learning Activities for the Color Orange

Learning Activities for the Color Red

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Learning Activities for the Color Red





Here are some learning activities for the color red. Remember to have fun learning and laughing together.

Clothing

Dress you child in something red; a red shirt, red pants, etc. Join in the fun and wear red too.

Toys

Go through your child’s toys and pick out the red ones to play with; red legos or duplos, red wooden blocks, a fire engine, Strawberry Shortcake, Elmo etc. Use these toys for playtime today.

Make or buy red play dough. Play dough is great for sensory play. If you have plastic colored cookie cutters to use with your play dough, just get out the red ones today. Click the words, play dough, to find a couple of recipes to make your own play dough at home.

Craft

Torn Paper Apple Craft

Learning Activities for the Color Red: Materials Needed for Torn Paper Apple Craft
Learning Activities for the Color Red: Materials Needed for Torn Paper Apple Craft

Materials Needed:

1. Red & green construction paper
2. Small white paper plate
3. Glue
4. Foam applicator or paint brush
5. Scissors

Instructions:

1. Give your child a small white paper plate and a red piece of construction paper.
2. Have him/her tear the red construction paper into pieces. (I just used 1/2 piece of construction paper.)

Learning Activities for the Color Red: Torn Paper Apple Craft
Learning Activities for the Color Red: Torn Paper Apple Craft

3. Squirt some glue onto the small paper plate.
4. Give your child a paint brush or foam applicator to apply the glue to the plate with. (My favorite is the foam applicator. It covers large surfaces quite a bit easier than a paint brush.) Have your child spread the glue all over the plate. Make sure to get the edges.

Learning Activities for the Color Red: Torn Paper Apple Craft
Learning Activities for the Color Red: Torn Paper Apple Craft

5. Then apply the torn pieces of red construction paper one piece at a time. Cover up all the white.

Learning Activities for the Color Red: Torn Paper Apple Craft
Learning Activities for the Color Red: Torn Paper Apple Craft

6. Have a stem and a leaf cut out and ready so your child can glue them to the top of the apple. If your child is a little older let them cut out their own stem and leaf.
7. Some of the red construction paper was sticking over the edge of the plate so I trimmed that off to give the apple it’s circular shape back.

Learning Activities for the Color Red: Completed Torn Paper Apple Craft
Learning Activities for the Color Red: Completed Torn Paper Apple Craft

Red Foods for snack or meal time

Strawberries, cherries, watermelon, raspberries, red pepper, apples

Finger Play

Ten Red Apples

Ten red apples growing on a tree
(hold both hands up and out to make a tree)
Five for you and five for me
(shake one hand, then the other)
Help me shake that tree just so
(act like holding tree trunk and shaking it)
And ten red apples fall down below
(lower hands while fluttering fingers)
One, two, three, four, five
(count fingers on one hand)
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
(count fingers on other hand)

– Author Unknown

Story Time

“Apples Here!“ by Will Hubbell
Reading Level: Ages 3-8
I would encourage you to read this to your child before you do the Torn Paper Apple craft. It gives a very simplified story of how apple trees and apples grow. The simple theme is that “there are apples here”; whether looking at buds or blossoms or tiny little knots on the branches, there are apples growing there.

“Clifford The Big Red Dog” by Norman Bridwell
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Several generations of children have fallen in love with Clifford the Big Red Dog. Norman Bridwell has written many different adventures for Clifford and Emily. I’m sure that you will find plenty of adventures that you and your child will love.

“The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear (Child’s Play Library)” by Audrey Wood and Don Wood
Reading Level: Ages 5-8
The Little Mouse wants to save his strawberry from the Big Hungry Bear. Do you like strawberries? Maybe you can help the Little Mouse. Read this cute story for some smiles and expect to have a craving for strawberries.

Music and Singing

Little Red Caboose

Bumping Up And Down In My Little Red Wagon

Related Posts

Colors – Overview
A is for Apple: You Can Learn More Than Your ABC’s from Apple
Pumpkins are Orange; and Other Learning Concepts
Learning Activities for the Color Blue
Learning Activities for the Color Yellow
Learning Activities for the Color Green
Learning Activities for the Color Purple
Learning Activities for the Color Orange

Teaching Your Child Colors

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Teaching Your Child Colors




Teaching Your Child Colors

Learning colors is a concept that can start at birth. Just by talking with your child you are teaching them. As you get them dressed you say things like, “Let’s get this red shirt over your head.”

A lot of the teaching of concepts to young children does not have to be in a formal setting. That is one of the things I love so much about teaching preschool. The learning comes through playing and it should be the same way in your home. Don’t stress about teaching formal lessons, just have fun playing and talking with your child. You will find out that they are learning through your playtime together.

A suggestion for a fun time with your child would be to have a special color day. Use part of the day or the whole day and dedicate it to one of the colors. I start with the primary colors. Although I didn’t teach the term “primary colors” until they were in pre-kindergarten, I like to start with the basics so I begin with red, blue and yellow. By the way, always be watching for signals that your child is ready for the next learning concept. For instance your child may ask, “How do you get the color green.” That is your clue that you can introduce the learning concepts of primary and secondary colors.

In the subsequent posts I will give different ideas of activities you can do for each of the colors. Use all of them in one day or use the different activities over several days. Just enjoy the time with your child and the learning will follow.

Related Posts:

The Lessons – Overview
A is for Apple: You Can Learn More Than Your ABC’s from Apple
Pumpkins are Orange; and Other Learning Concepts
Learning Activities for the Color Red
Learning Activities for the Color Blue
Learning Activities for the Color Yellow
Learning Activities for the Color Green
Learning Activities for the Color Orange
Learning Activities for the Color Purple

The Lessons – Overview

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The Lessons – Overview


 

As I stated in my very first post, some of the first learning concepts I will be sharing will be geared more to younger children. I have taught 3 & 4 year old classes and pre-kindergarten classes so these initial concepts come from the lessons that I used at that time.

My Child Is Younger Than 3 yrs old

Even if your child isn’t within the above mentioned age ranges, be sure to read through the lesson because there may be parts of it that you can use. If your child is younger (birth – 2 yrs old); you can just read them the books that are being used in that lesson. It is never too early to start reading to your child.

Depending on the child, they may be ready to do the craft, even if they are under 3 years old.

My Child Is In Grade School

Still read through the lesson. Maybe your child likes arts and crafts and would enjoy the craft associated with a particular lesson. Possibly reading through the lesson gives you an idea of another activity you could do with your child to reinforce the concept.

Please Share

If you have any ideas that you would like to share, please do. You can use the comments at the bottom of the blog or share an idea on the Love to Laugh and Learn Facebook page. I look forward to hearing from you and chatting with you.

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