Teaching colors to preschoolers can be fun and engaging. There are many activities to help them understand each color but books can be a great, repetitive way to practice colors with young kids.
Here are some fun, entertaining books to help kids learn about colors. Grab one or all of these to use with your preschooler(s) to learn and practice colors.
Great Color Books for Preschoolers
These are some of the best books about colors for preschoolers. Keep reading to find fun literary resources to add to your classroom or home library.
This is a great book about colors, with full-color illustrations on each page. The predictable pattern of words lets kids follow along easily and quickly be able to “read” along with you. The pictures match the words perfectly, meaning kids can easily recall which words go with each page.
In Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle, each animal sees another animal with a different color until ending the chain in a classroom full of children. The amazing illustrations by Eric Carle are perfectly suited to the words and will garner the attention of preschoolers. Use this to practice colors or to engage and entertain children of all ages!
In this story, a chameleon just wants to figure out how to be himself but every time he touches something, his skin changes to match. He tries to figure out a way to be himself and have a color that is unique to him but without much success.
That is, until he finds a friend who can change colors along with him. A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni follows chameleon on a journey to find out how to be himself and find a friend who understands him. This is a great text about colors, learning to be yourself, and finding someone who accepts who you are. It is a perfect addition to any curriculum.
What happens when you put animals, colors, and clothing types together? You get some well-dressed animals and one big “oops” throughout the story. This hilarious tale gives kids practice with colors, clothing, and seeing what happens when things don’t quite end up where they should.
Preschoolers will laugh their way through the story as turkey somehow can’t get it right no matter how hard he tries. Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton features primary colors (along with one mention of purple) and kids will quickly pick up the easy text paired with fun pictures. Don’t hesitate to get this silly book for your preschooler!
The teeny, tiny mommy asks her teeny tiny mouse to name colors in their. The sing-song repetitive wording will engage preschoolers and allow them to “read along” with the story and point out objects the tiny mouse misses, along with locating items in their own surroundings.
Teeny Tiny Mouse: A Book About Colors by Laura Leuck will be a hit in your home or classroom and is great for color curriculums or just to help preschoolers practice. Get this book to read aloud, and be ready to ask, “Do you know all the colors in YOUR teeny tiny house?”
For an interactive color mixing lesson, this book is excellent! Each page lets kids touch, smear, smush, and rub colors together to make new colors. Teach your preschooler how to make orange, purple, and green, as well as make colors lighter or darker.
Kids will think the colors are moving and changing based on their actions in Mix It Up by Herve Tullet. The more moving and hands-on activities kids do, the quicker they learn, so get this book today and let your preschooler start mixing colors. Consider having some paint on hand so they can make their own fun designs, too. This will work for a color curriculum, art projects, or just as a family favorite.
This story teaches kids how to plant a rainbow in their garden. From tulips and poppies to delphinium and asters, this book has so many beautiful flowers featured throughout. Each illustration depicts the beauty and color of each flower as well as shows the different depths the bulbs should be planted.
Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert will make preschool kids eager to plant their own colorful garden, so be prepared with a few seeds, if possible. This is a great introduction to planting, colors, or flower identification. After reading, plant your rainbow or take a walk to see how many flower varieties you can find around your home.
The Colors of Us by Karen Katz explores the subtle variations of skin colors, reminding us that people come in a variety of beautiful colors. The shades of brown are equated to wonderful tastes, smells, and foods.
This story reminds us of the rainbow of skin colors that make up the people around us and helps us look at them a little closer. At the end, the child paints pictures of many of the beautiful people in her life, taking the time to really find the right shade to match each person. It also talks about how to mix various colors to create many different shades of brown, which can help children move beyond the basic primary colors. Use this book for an inclusive look at the differences in our appearances, to delve deeper into colors, or just to show kids how each of us is beautiful.
If your preschooler thinks certain colors belong to boys or girls specifically, this book will challenge their thinking. Pink is For Boys by Robb Pearlman reminds us that colors are just colors and are found all around us. There is no set color that equates to only boys or only girls.
Preschoolers will see the colors appear in a variety of places and on both genders, showing them that each color is beautiful and welcome for every person. They will love tearing down stereotypes and who knows, reading this book might just permit them to have a new favorite color. It also shows kids in non-traditional gender activities to show them it’s okay to be who you are and like the things you like, regardless of your gender.
Swatch loves colors, all colors. She is wild and likes to tame them. Until one day, she realizes she can put them into a jar and keep them at home to look at them. But when she goes after one last color, she discovers that touching, hearing, smelling, and tasting the colors out in the world is so much better than keeping them in a jar. The illustrations are vibrant and beautiful, showing the diversity of color shades.
Preschoolers will love Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color by Julia Denos as they discover descriptive color names and match them to objects along the way. The discovery at the end will help young kids understand that they can’t hide away all the things that are beautiful because it makes them less special and exciting. Read this book to kids as part of a color introduction or curriculum or just add it to your daily library.
10. Dog’s Colorful Day: A Messy Story About Colors and Counting
Laugh along with Dog as he goes from having one spot to having 10 spots of all different colors. Preschoolers will love seeing jam, paint, grass, and more make a rainbow of dots on their bodies. Kids love animals and this silly dog somehow gets into everything!
Not only will kids get to practice their colors, but they can also count along with you as Dog gets one spot after another on his back, turning him into a rainbow dog. You can even print out a picture of a dog and let kids add colored dots as you go through the story. Dog’s Colorful Day: A Messy Story About Colors and Counting by Emma Dodd is a great way to practice both skills any time of the day and is a great at-home or classroom read-along.
Conclusion
When working on colors with preschoolers, using stories and books is sure to engage and entertain even the youngest kids. Books can be read over and over and quickly become favorites that kids will recall on their own, allowing them to “read” the books themselves.
Recalling stories, rhymes, and characters will help them identify colors more quickly and feels less like learning and more like fun. Thanks for stopping by!
