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Welcome to the Learning Colors, Shapes & ABC’s through Science preschool series!
My goal is to introduce my preschooler to his colors, shapes and letters through scientific activities. My hope is that this will increase his observations skills and make learning these basic facts more interesting. We will also be adding in art activities, books, notebook pages and other motor activities, which I’ll share with you along the way.
What I share in these posts is my plan, some weeks we will actually do all of these activities, most we won’t. The idea is that each week, I’ll have a buffet of activities to pull from to introduce my son to these fundamental concepts. You can read more about my plans for this series in the Learning Colors, Shapes & ABC’s through Science introduction post.
We are going to start our year learning about colors and shapes, so these first nine posts will be on those. After that, we will move onto the ABC’s. This week our focus is the color red and circles.
Red Apple Observation
Let the student observe an apple. Ask questions like:
- How does it feel?
- Is it soft or hard?
- Is it smooth or rough?
Next, cut the apple in half width wise (so that the seed pods create a star in the center. Show the students the different parts of the apple (the skin, flesh, seeds, stem). Talk about how an apple is a fruit that protects the seed, which has the ability to make a new plant. You can also point out to the students how the shape of an apple is a circle. Let them trace the outside of the apple to see if they can make a circle. Once they are done observing the apple, let the students take a bit of the flesh of the apple (not the seeds) and ask them how it tastes.
Take if Further: Do the “Color as you Cook” activity in More Mudpies & Magnets on pg. 145. If you use red beets or radish skins, your eggs will be pink or red depending on how long you allow them to steep.
Book List
Here are several books on the color red.
- The Little Red Hen by Diane Muldrow
- Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
- Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
Disclosure: These links are to Amazon, but they are not affiliate links.
Additional Activities
These ideas will help you to reinforce the theme color and shape.
- Art: Make apple prints with red paint using one half of the apple you cut up.
- Math: Cut out ten red circles and use them to practice counting to ten.
- Fine Motor: Have the students move at least 12 red pom-poms from a bowl to the cups in an egg carton using a pair of red tongs if possible.
- Notebook: Create a page in the student’s notebook for the color red and the shape of a circle. On each page place stickers or pictures that match the color or shape.
- Movement: Play the Stop/Go game using a big red circle to signal stop for the students.
- Snack: Eat red foods such as strawberries, tomatoes, cherries or red jello.
Our Experience
My son is 3 and a half at the time of this post. The highlight of his week was when we played the Stop/Go game, which really surprised me. He did enjoy examining the apple closer with a magnifying glass, but painting the apple was the real highlight for that day. He also love making a page for the color red. We used stickers, stamps, and made little red fingerprint ladybugs which you can see in the picture.
Although he can count to ten when he feels like it, have him count with circles did not go over well at all. On the other hand he was very happy to count the pom-pom balls as he put them in the egg carton. I’ll never completely figure out the preschooler psyche!
I hope you and your students enjoy the activities above. Please feel free to share your experiences or link to a blog post that shows what you guys have done in the comments below!
