Popsicle Stick Color Matching Activity

This popsicle stick color matching activity is an easy DIY activity! Here are the instructions.

Supplies Needed:
Popsicle sticks in a variety of colors
A small box
Construction paper that corresponds in color to each popsicle stick color
Scotch tape
Scissors
Craft knife

Cut the different colors construction paper into strips that will fit on the top of the box. Secure the construction paper strips in place using tape or glue. (See the photo above.) Using the craft knife, cut a slit that a popsicle stick with fit through through each different color of construction paper as well as the top of the box. 

Have fun matching!

 

Simple Color Sorting and Matching Activity

 

Supplies Needed:

 

Small plastic cups or bowls in different colors

A spoon

Pom-poms in a variety of colors

This fun sorting activity is a great way for your child to work on color recognition, color matching, and naming colors. It’s also good for fine motor skills, such as grasp and release, crossing midline, and scooping with a spoon. Simply put the pom poms in a container and place the smaller cups next to the container. Your child can begin by transferring the pom-poms from the container to the small cups while naming each color and matching the pom-poms to the corresponding-colored cup. Once your child has mastered this, introduce the spoon and demonstrate how to scoop a pom-pom and place it into the matching-colored cup.

 

Pom Pom Color Matching Fine Motor Toddler Activity

This DIY pom pom activity is easy to make and will keep your toddler entertained while learning lots of different skills. 

Materials Needed
- Pom poms in various colors
- Toilet paper or paper towel rolls
- Construction paper in a variety of colors
- Scotch tape
- A small box
- Sharpie

If using paper towel rolls cut each paper towel roll in half or use toilet paper rolls. Wrap each roll/tube in a different color of construction paper that matches a pom pom color. You can number the tubes if you want to work on counting skills. Tape the rolls to the back of the box side-by-side. It's time to play! Your child can work on color matching, naming, and counting. This is a great activity to work on grasp and release skills, and as your child's skills advance, they can even add a spoon and work on scooping!

Fun Color Matching Fine Motor Activity

This is color matching DIY activity is simple to make, and it's a great for working on fine motor and bilateral skills which are important for writing, typing, and cutting with scissors. 

It’s also a great activity for teaching a child how to recognize and match colors. All that you need are several different colors of construction paper or poster board cut into circles and paper clips of corresponding colors. Instruct the child to place the paper clips on the circle that is the "same" color. It may be helpful to demonstrate at first, but it won't take long for them to catch on!

The project above was completed by one of our Master's of Occupational Therapy students at 

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center and posted with permission.

 

Fun Color Sorting & Matching Activity

I just love this color sorting activity! It’s great for teaching a child to recognize and match colors, and it can also improve skills such as reaching, grasping, transferring from one hand to another, and eye hand coordination.

The cups are also stackable which is fun for toddlers! The set is available on Amazon!

Teaching Colors Using Multi-Sensory Instruction

If you are working with a student who is having difficulty learning his colors, implementing a multi-sensory approach might be effective.

Pair each color with a song. The following songs are nice because each color song has a different tune:

Black Color Song
Red Color Song
Yellow Color Song
Blue Color Song
Green Color Song
Purple Color Song
Orange Color Song

Pair each color with a scent. (The child can even smell the appropriate scent while she sings each color song). Scented markers are great and are available at Amazon.

Black- Licorice                Red-Cherry             Blue-Blueberry
Yellow-Lemon                Green-Mint              Orange-Orange
Brown-Cinnamon         Purple-Grape          Pink-Melon
Turquoise-Mango      Dark Green-Apple    Magenta-Raspberry

Photo Credit Salvatore Vuono @ freedigitalphotos.net

Connect the color with something meaningful. "Goldfish snacks are orange. The ball in the therapy room is blue." Food is especially good because it pulls in the sense of taste...."lemons are yellow, orange juice is orange."

Here's an example of an approach I used in therapy:

The student sits on the red therapy ball and tosses several red balls into a red bucket as I sing or play the "red song". Then we move to a table and the child colors a picture of a red firetruck  using the red scented marker while the "red song" is playing in the background.

Eventually, the pairing should not be necessary, but initially the goal is to help the student associate the smells, songs, etc. with the particular colors. At some point, when the child sees the color green, the song & smell for green should come to mind and this will help them remember "that's the color green." 

 

Matching Colors AND Improving Fine Motor Skills!

The parent workshop was a great success. I was so excited to share ideas and suggestions that parents will be able to carry out with their children to work on a variety of skills. I could tell that the parents were eager to learn as much as possible, and that really excites me, because I'm a true believer in working together as a team for the children.

There is a cute activity that I shared in the workshop that addresses fine motor skills and coordination, while also teaching a child how to match various colors. All that you need for this project are an ice cube tray, a small bag of glass gems (found at dollar stores or Amazon), sticky back foam sheets (found at craft stores or Amazon), tongs, and a pair of scissors.

Cut narrow strips of foam and line the inside of each ice cube "slot" with a different color (see photo). Cut out small circles of corresponding colors and stick them on either side of a gem. If you don't want to use gems, you can use different colors of pom-poms.

Once you have lined all of the "slots" with foam and covered the gems with corresponding colors, it's time to have some fun. Give the child a pair of tongs, and have her pick up each gem and find the matching color in the tray and place the gem in the correct slot. You may need to provide some verbal cues at first, but it won't take long for your little ones to catch on!

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