Purple Pre-school Theme Day

Toddler and Pre-school Theme Days

Purple Day

Having colour theme days is a great way to introduce/teach/reinforce the colours to your toddler.

When my youngest son was 2 ½ he showed no interest in learning his colours. We read him a few books about colours and used his colour sorting toys but he still mixed them up. Once we started these theme days he caught on quickly and started to proudly exclaim what colours he was wearing or what colours were on his toys without prompting. He even named what Colour Day he wanted to do next.

My eldest son was a little jealous about his little brother getting special theme days so we started to wait until he got home from school to do the colour hunts.

Print out the Family Theme Day Planner and decide which activities you’d like to do.

PREPARATION:

Go through your crayons, markers, paints and construction/craft paper and remove all the purple ones to use for this theme.

Set aside any dishes (cups, plates, bowls, plastic spoons etc.) you may have that are purple and use these for snacks, lunch, dinner etc..

Set aside purple clothes for your child to wear that day (and yourself, too, if you’d like).

SONG:

Download from your favourite music provider the silly song “Purple People Eaters” and have fun dancing around the room together.

SCRAPBOOK ACTIVITIES:

COLOURING PAGES:

Go online to your favourite search engine to find colouring pages of purple things or favourite purple characters like Barney the dinosaur, or Henry the Octopus and Jeff from the wiggles. Use purple crayons and purple markers to colour. Help your child cut the pictures out to glue in your Family Theme Day scrapbook.

CRAFTS:

PURPLE COLLAGE:

Materials: Purple paper, old magazines, child-safe scissors, washable glue stick, damp facecloth for sticky fingers.

· Step 1: Look through old magazines with your child and have him/her point out anything Purple he/she sees.

· Step 2: Help your child cut out the purple pictures from the magazine to make a pile of Purple pictures.

· Step 3: Show your child how to glue the pictures onto the purple sheet of paper to make a collage and then let him/her glue the pictures on the paper however he/she likes.

· Step 4: When the collage is dry display (fridge, bulletin board, child’s door) or glue into Family Theme Scrapbook.

PURPLE BOOKLET:

Materials: Purple crayons and markers, sheet of purple paper, child-safe scissors, glue stick, stapler, my Purple Things Colouring Page, a facecloth for sticky fingers.

Step 1: Sit with your child as he/she colours each object on the colouring page purple.

Step 2: Help your child cut out the individual pictures.

Step 3: Fold the sheet of purple paper into three parts (as if you were going to put it in an envelope) and cut along the folds to make three purple rectangles.

Step 4: Fold each of these three purple pieces of paper in half and cut along the folds to make six small sheets of paper.

Step 5: Have your child apply glue to each coloured picture and glue each one to a small sheet of purple paper.

Step 6: Help your child staple the sheets together to make a little book.

Step 7: Read the book together to review the colour purple.

BOOKS:

Search through your child’s books to find any that teach the colours and flip to the purple pages.

Go to the library before hand to find some colour books. Many libraries allow you to go online and search for titles based on subject (type in “Purple” or “Colors” and Children’s Books). Reserve them if you can to save time.

Try some of these titles if you can find them:

· Purple Is Best, written by Dana Meachen Rau and illustrated by Mike Cressy, Children’s press, 1999 – Sue likes blue and Fred likes red but guess what happens when their paint mixes?

· Purplicious, written by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann, and illustrated by Victoria Kann, Harper Collins Publishers, 2007 – A sequel to Pinkalicious, this time the little girl becomes very sad when all the girls at school make fun of her because she likes pink, thankfully she meets someone who shows her how powerful pink really is by turning blue into purple.

· A Tale of Six Colors, by Koshiro Toda, Intercultural Group Inc, 1992 – With simple illustrations this odd little book shows how orange, purple and green are created by having a snake swallow the different combinations of yellow, red and blue.

FOOD:

SNACKS:

Purple grapes, blackberries and chopped plum make a purple fruit salad.

If your child’s a salad lover try some purple cabbage or coleslaw mix with purple cabbage in it.

Grape juice is an easy purple treat.

LUNCH OR DINNER:

I couldn’t think of much that was child friendly, but if you have a child that doesn’t mind trying new things you could roast some eggplant and put that on some buns for a nice sandwich: to roast eggplant, slice it first, then sprinkle with salt and put in a colander, leave for 15 minutes then pat dry, put on a greased cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper or any other dried herbs you like and roast for approximately 20 minutes at 400ºF, turning after ten minutes.

DESSERT:

Purple (Grape) Jello—Make this in the morning or early afternoon so it will be ready for dessert at dinnertime. Follow package instructions.

Purple popsicles are an icy purple treat that takes no preparation if pre-bought.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

PURPLE HUNT:

Materials: purple squares of paper in a sandwich bag (optional) or a purple crayon or marker, glue stick, damp facecloth for sticky fingers, print out of the List of Purple Things worksheet.

· Step 1: Explain to your child that you are on a hunt for the colour purple.

· Step 2: Walk around the house and/ or outside to look for purple things.

· Step 3: When your child finds something purple you will write the name of the object etc. on a slip of purple paper (or directly on the chart) and your child will glue the purple square on the sheet (or colour the square with a purple crayon).

· Step 4: At the end of the hunt sit down and count out loud together how many purple things were found. Review what you found by reading the chart out loud.

TOYS:

Search through your child’s toys together to find any that are purple and play with them together.

Play with purple play dough or modeling clay.

GAMES:

Play “I Spy With My Little Eye” only searching for purple things.

SCIENCE:

Mixing Paint:

Show your child how purple can be made by mixing red and blue paint (or for a different shade mix pink with blue) and then have fun painting pictures (don’t forget to set out newspaper or a plastic sheet before hand and to wear old shirts or art smocks).

EXTENDED ACTIVITIES:

AUDIO VISUAL:

Search through your child’s DVD/ video collection (or visit your local library before hand or the Video Store) to find shows with purple characters like Barney or with the theme of teaching colours.

Try this title for a perfect toddler show that highlights many colours:

· Baby Einstein: Baby Van Gogh – World of Colour

END OF THE DAY:

Don’t forget to eat your purple Jello.

Give your child a purple bath with bath tablets like those from Upper Canada Soap and Candle Makers.

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