Teach COLORS in Pre-K in 9 EASY Days Using Brown Bear
Let’s dive into COLORS! As a Pre-K teacher, you know the importance of keeping your little learners engaged and making the learning process filled with fun. Bill Martin, Jr.’s classic children’s book “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” is the PERFECT option to use to teach colors in Pre-K this year. Focus on a different color each day for 9 days and watch the sparks fly in your favorite little minds!
Brown Bear Unit
If you haven’t before, you NEED to plan a Brown Bear unit this year! This book is a must-have in your Pre-K library for so many reasons. Its rhythm and predictable text are perfect for increased reading fluency and confidence.
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Plan to take 9 teaching days to do all things Brown Bear, and make each day the color of the animal as they appear in the story: Monday = Red (bird), Tuesday = Yellow (duck), Wednesday = Blue (horse), etc.
Encourage your kids to dress in the color of the day. Sing color songs. Color coloring pages, and do a fun color activity to make each day full of fun!
To get your week started, you’ll definitely need at least one copy of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and some simple Brown Bear coloring pages to use throughout the unit.
Teach Colors in Pre-K in 9 Days
Day 1: Red
Grab this cutting & gluing practice freebie from my friend, Angie at Glitter and Glue and Pre-K Too for Red Day.
Provide strips of red construction paper and glue sticks, and let your students practice important fine motor skills as they cut and glue the red pieces onto the paper.
Day 2: Yellow
For Yellow Day, you’ll need copies of the star page from Angie’s year-long fine motor pack, yellow construction paper, and glue sticks.
Encourage little ones to rip the paper and carefully fill the pieces in the star. Their pincer grasp and hand-eye coordination skills will be working hard with this activity!
Day 3: Blue
On Blue Day, create a rain craft together. Stretch some cotton balls for clouds and glue them to the top of a piece of paper (cardstock or construction paper works best). Use a q-tip or fingers to dot blue paint to make rain.
This is a great fine motor and concentration activity because it encourages kids to use the dotting motion instead of smearing paint all over the paper. That’ll still happen, though.. so embrace it!
Day 4: Green
Increase letter and name recognition on Green Day!
Put together your students’ names with magnet letters, letter erasers, or anything that can be used as a stamp, and let your students play with their letters with green paint.
Some students will stamp their letters in order to make their names, and some students will stamp their letters all over. Either way, they are getting exposed to their name in a fun way!
Day 5: Purple
On Purple Day, practice tracing lines with purple dot stickers. Stickers are a great fine motor building activity because they require students to pinch their little fingers as they pick up and stick down each sticker.
Download this FREE tracing page from my Google Drive right now!
Day 6: White
Grab a few cans of shaving cream for White Day.
Squirt shaving cream on your tables and let students simply play! Many of them will naturally start to draw letters and shapes, but most importantly, they’ll use their imagination to make some creative things!
Day 7: Black
Sing “Baa Baa Black Sheep” a few times then make names with “wool” (aka cotton balls).
Give each child a strip of paper with their name written on it. The goal is for them to stamp the cotton ball along each letter, but some kids will smear it along the lines too.
PRO TEACHER TIP: Make painting with cotton balls or pom-pom balls SUPER EASY by pinching them with clothespins for students to hold onto.
Day 8: Orange
On Orange Day, make orange handprints and turn them into happy goldfish. Hang a demonstration and encourage your students to draw their own faces, bubbles, and seagrass.
These are not only a super simple handprint activity to do, but they turn out so cute and make for a precious keepsake for families!
Day 9: Brown
Finish the unit with this Brown Bear Retell Craft on Brown Day.
While completing this activity, students will practice story comprehension and retelling, following directions, cutting, gluing, and coloring!
More Ways to Teach Colors in Pre-K
Your Brown Bear Unit really doesn’t need to be stressful at all! There are so many fun Brown Bear activities you can choose to make each day easy for you and engaging for your students.
Find the Room: Colors Activity
Use this BRAND NEW color activity to reinforce learning with your little ones.
Prepare it at the start of your Brown Bear Unit and use it throughout the week. It’s super low prep but guarantees a high-engagement way for students to practice color identification.
Hide the color cards around the room, lay them facedown on a table, or put them in a sensory bin for your students to find. After little ones find cards, they color the matching picture on their recording page.
Use corresponding coloring pages for each day of your Brown Bear Color Unit to make planning your week a breeze! Pink & gray are included too for extra color learning and fun.
Sprinkle these 10+ other Brown Bear activities throughout your 9 days of color, and your Brown Bear Unit will be set!
I hope you’re feeling confident and inspired to create a BEARY fun week of colors for your students this year!
You might also be interested in:
11 Best Brown Bear Activities for Preschoolers
HOW TO Teach the Alphabet to Preschoolers
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