Color Matching Wheel

Sweet Pea is 25 months.

From: This  from Carissa’s Learning Wheel idea at 1+1+1=1.

Materials:

• 1 piece of heavy white paper or cardstock.
• 6 different colors (red, blue, yellow, purple, green, orange) of cardstock or construction paper.
• A laminator or press and seal lamination pockets. (Optional, but good if you want to do this activity multiple times).
• Glue.
• Sharpie or other Marker (optional).
• Scissors.
• Tape.
• A basket or non-breakable bowl.

Procedure:

• Cut the heavy white paper into a square or circle.  Make sure it will fit into your lamination pouch.
• Cut 2 1-inch squares from each color of cardstock.
• Glue 1 square of each color in a circle around the outside edge of the white paper.  (I stuck with the traditional color wheel order of  Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Purple and Blue.)
• Write the word “Colors” in the center of the white paper.
• Laminate the color wheel and the remaining individual colored squares.
• Cut out the color wheel and each of the colored squares.  Make sure there are no sharp edges.
• Make a loop of tape and put it on the back of each colored square and put the squares into a small basket.
• Introduce your tot to the color wheel by demonstrating how to stick a couple of the colored squares onto the appropriate colors.
• Name each of the colors as you match the correct pieces.
• When your tot has the idea, hand them the color wheel and pieces to try on their own.

Observations: Sweet Pea was 23 months the first time I introduced this activity (when these pictrues were taken).  She did the entire wheel a couple of times, but it didn’t hold her interest as long as I thought it would.  She has used the color wheel a few times since then, but never for more than a few minutes.  I think that this specific activity might be too easy for her since she doesn’t actually have to know the names of the color and just has to match the same exact squares together.  In fact, the fun part for her seemed to be playing with the taped pieces by taking them off and getting the squares lined up in the exact right position.

I sort of  wish I would have introduced this at an earlier age to see if she liked it more then.  However, I think with some modifications, this activity might work out now.  I am planning on printing out the color words written in the appropriate colors and see if she can match those (RED, BLUE, PURPLE, etc).  I also think I might print out some pictures of pretty colored birds  (Blue Jay, Cardinal, American Gold Finch) and see if she can match those to the right colored square on the wheel.  Anyone know of a mostly purple colored bird?

Notes from the Trenches: This isn’t hard to put together, but you probably won’t be able to do it with your tot sitting on your lap trying to grab the scissors.  Also laminated corners can be very sharp.  It is really important to round off the pointy corners before giving it to your tot.

Rating: 2 Stars * (Independent, Frugal if you own a laminater or don’t use one.)