Learning Colors Through Nature

I love the crunch and crackle of nature walks in October and the way the autumn wind carelessly blows my hair into my eye lashes. My hands, perfectly wrapped in the warmth of my child’s fingers, can’t be bothered to brush it aside.

Today we carried our Color Match Cards into the woods to play and learn. Eggplant Purple. Ballet Pink. Army Green. Robin’s Egg Blue. When we found a match, Owen gently dropped the object into his pail. What a wonderful way to learn colors through nature!

Later at home, I placed colorful felt rectangles onto the picnic table. Owen sorted his nature collection and matched items to the correct felt rectangle. As he did this, I stated the color and asked Owen to repeat it.

The rare colors to find were pink and blue. With some prompting, he finally noticed that the undersides of the red maple leaves were pink.

Not only did this activity reinforce basic colors for Owen, but it provided him with an excellent sensory experience: soft milkweed, prickly pine needles, smooth rock, bumpy acorns. I stated the adjective and named the object as Owen held it in his hands.

Children don’t need a fancy classroom or expensive toys to learn. They simply need a caring, patient adult who wants to take time to teach and share. And as for the classroom, Nature can take care of that one for you!