"Inside every child is a rainbow waiting to shine."
Anonymous
Colour has a language of its own. Colour has the ability to draw us in, connect us to our inner being and inspire us creatively. There are the dancing pastel colours of a morning sunrise, the brilliant blue of the sky and of course the marvellous magic in discovering the colours in a rainbow. Nature provides us with a multitude of tints and shades of colours to explore with children.
Children are naturally drawn to colour exploration. It is an important aspect of creative thinking when working in the art studio and inviting children to become familiar with colour theory is exciting. One of the many important concepts we teach a toddler is to identify colour. Children delight in engaging their curiosity during colour investigations. Offering children materials to spark their thinking about colours can lead to wonderful questions and thinking about colour theory both scientifically and within the children's art experiences with creative materials.
Today, I am sharing five of my favourite storybooks that will delight your child as they explore the wonderful world of colour. When children engage with storybooks during their play they gain inspiration, develop critical literacy skills, imaginative thinking and make visible their understanding of the world around them. So without further ado, let's start with the book number one:
"My Color is Rainbow"
by: Agnes Hsu
This is a beautiful book that shares the story of Little White Arch. While searching for what colour he should become we are invited to explore how colours are connected to our personality and how colours make us feel. Little White Arch takes us on a journey where we celebrate the wonderful diversity of life, people and the complexity of oneself. I have used this book within many learning proposals for the children. The addition of the rainbow peg people , wooden rainbow and small world play mushrooms allows the children to create their own story as they are inspired by the book. You can connect with Agnes Hsu on Instagram @hellowonderful_co to learn how to purchase her book. I highly recommend you do this book will certainly become a treasured favourite.
"Colors"
By: Petite Boutique
This gem of a book is perfect for our youngest learners as it is a sturdy board book. Each colour has its own page with illustrations that represent the colour. What I love about this book is that the primary colours of red, yellow and blue each have a transparent circle page where children can discover the secondary colours of orange, green and purple as they turn the pages in the book. A great addition would be a flashlight so that your child could explore further their thinking around light and colour with the book.
"Color Blocked"
By: Ashley Sorenson
This clever book invites the reader into the text as we not only learn about colour mixing but try to unblock the colour machine. For example, "Maybe that's too much. Turn the book sideways to dump some yellow out." Children will love the interactive nature of this book and the explosion of colour created by the colour making machine. Place Color Blocked in your maker space, block centre or art studio to ignite innovation and creative thinking. I would love to see what the children create inspired by this book. Perhaps a colour blocked town would emerge.
"Pantone Colors"
By: Pantone
Both the book, "Pantone Colors" and their oversized colour cards pair nicely with our rainbow peg people. I love both these colour resources as they allow the children to discover the many values of a colour. Yes, there is yellow but which shade or tint of yellow do you see? A colour hunt is a great way to discover the world of colour around you. Comparing colours and grouping colours leads to mathematical thinking and problem-solving. One of my favourite moments was when one of our little learners matched the colour of their tongue to the shade of pink in the Pantone Colours book.
"Vivid"
By: Julie Paschkis
The delights of poetic words as they describe colour and the lovely illustrations in this book by Julie Paschkis are sure to lead to much inquiry. Each colour also includes an informational note in the text of the story that shares some of the history of that colour. A very interesting read for both child and adult. The cover of this book inspired me to select the translucent shapes and wool felt balls to pair with the peg people. I look forward to sharing this book with the children and placing it at the light panel with the translucent shapes. I see lots of shape and colour exploration in response to sharing this book with them.
I would love to hear about your favourite storybooks for rainbow and colour play.
Leave a comment below and add to the list.
P.S. My favourite colour is purple!
What is yours?
Wishing you many colourful explorations!
