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Color Hunt Around the House

Pick a color; child finds 5-10 things of that color around the house and brings them to one spot.

Cartoon illustration of a parent and child at home doing Color Hunt Around the House.
  • Age2 to 5 years
  • Time5 to 15 minutes
  • EnergyModerate
  • CostFree
  • WhereIndoors or out
  • PrepNone

Pick a color together, then your child searches the house for things that match it and brings them all to one spot. Practices color recognition by hunting rather than drilling.

How to do it

  1. Pick a color together: or let your child pick. Say "Today we're finding everything [color] we can."
  2. Give your child a basket, tray, or blanket as the "collection spot" where they'll bring everything they find.
  3. Let them search. Follow along and ask "what did you find?" about each item rather than correcting: if they bring a questionable match, ask "what made you pick that one?" and accept the answer.
  4. When they've found 5-10 things (or slowed down), spread the collection out and count what they found together.
  5. Ask "what should we look for next time?" to set up the next round with a different color.

What you need

  • Basket or tray

Signs it is working

Your child finds at least 5 objects of the target color without needing prompting to keep looking. They name the color unprompted when you ask about each find. They stay interested through counting the collection at the end

If it is not quite clicking

Child doesn't know the color name yet: That's fine: hunt alongside them and name each item as they find it ("yes, that's orange too!"). Child brings wrong colors: Ask "what color is that one?" and move on without correcting; the hunt is more important than precision at this age. Child loses interest quickly: Shrink the target to 3 items and celebrate finding those. Child finds everything in one room immediately: Challenge them: "Can you find one more in the kitchen?"

Make it yours

Younger, 2-3 years: Pick just one room, set a goal of 3 items, and hunt together rather than having them hunt alone. Older, 5-6 years: Give them two colors to find at once and sort into two piles; or set a timer and see how many they can find before it goes off. Outdoors: The same game works in a garden, courtyard, park, or neighborhood walk: find things that are green, find things that are brown, etc.

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