Kids interact with many different colors as they play and learn. Explore color and how it changes with this fun preschool science and sensory activity.

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Colors are everywhere in kids' surroundings, both indoors and outdoors. Kids see colors in their clothing, in toys, in foods, and in nature. They begin to identify and name objects according to color - green grass, blue sky, red socks!

A color viewer activity prompts kids to view their surroundings in a different light. Kids can name and compare colors both with and without the color viewer.

Color viewer preschool activity

Kids use their sense of sight to recognize familiar things, as well as to make new discoveries.

• dark clouds appear in the sky before it rains
• colorful flowers bloom from tiny buds
• a new paint color emerges when two or more craft paints are mixed together

The color viewers - or wands - you make in this tutorial engage the sense of sight in a color changing activity, promoting sensory and fine motor skills.

Supplies for color viewer

• cardboard
• plastic sheeting or sandwich baggies
• tape
• glue

Instructions

All sizes are approximate and can easily be adjusted according to preference or available materials.

1. Cut two equal size pieces from cardboard: 5 inches (12 cm) wide x 8 inches (20 cm) long including handles. 

2. Cut away sections of each piece of cardboard leaving a 1 inch (2.5 cm) border around the viewer opening and a 3 inch (7.5 cm) long handle.

3. Rub glue stick over the cardboard border of the opening on one piece of cardboard.

4. Place colored plastic over the opening. Rub glue stick over the edges of the plastic.

5. Place the second viewer on top of the plastic.

6. Wrap tape around the edges to decorate. This also strengthens the viewer.

You might think of other ways to decorate, with crayons, markers or even stickers, to engage creative skills along with fine motor and sensory skills.

Easy to make and so much fun to use! Look through a viewer to see how the landscape color changes.

What happens if you put one viewer over the other?

This activity provides an opportunity for scientific exploration.

• The color you see through a viewer will vary depending on how many layers of plastic you use in the viewer. We used 2-3 layers of each color. The green is sandwich baggies and the blue is a transparent plastic drop cloth.

• Place one viewer over another to observe changes.

• Hold the viewer close to an object and then far away to observe changes.

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