A rainbow of fun

With St. Patrick's Day approaching and rainbow sightings everywhere, March is the perfect time to talk about colors with your toddler!

Learning Stages


By Candace Lindemann

Children's Author & Education Consultant

Candace Lindemann is a published children’s writer and educational consultant. She holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. You can also find Candace blogging at http://NaturallyEducational.com. While Candace’s degrees prepared her for a career in education, she’s found that the best preparation for parenting is on-the-job training.

With St. Patrick's Day approaching and rainbow sightings everywhere, March is the perfect time to talk about colors with your toddler!

Try a simple color sorting activity--chop up pieces of fruit and then encourage your child sort the pieces into muffin tins. If your child eats some of the materials, no problem!  Continue your exploration by reading books about color. My 2-year-old enjoys reading LeapStart™ Preschool Shapes & Colors Activity Book with his LeapStart.

You can also use fruit cereal O's in this sorting activity or, if your toddler is beyond the mouthing stage, dyed pasta.

If you would prefer to play with something other than food, at No Time for Flashcards there are instructions for a building blocks sorting activity with a recycling theme.

Dyed pasta is also an excellent opportunity to talk about color mixing with older toddlers. Two and three year-olds will have fun grabbing handfuls of pasta, measuring and pouring in the vinegar, and then squeezing in droplets of food coloring.

You can also create a beautiful color-mixing activity--I like having your little artist try her hand at a watercolor triangle, or for tactile fun, try these color squishers.

Enjoy your rainbow of colors and I hope you find a pot of gold!