A Color of his Own is a bright and colorful story that encourages a child to be satisfied with his own uniqueness. The little chameleon in the story tries to fit in and changes himself to blend in with other characters he meets, until he finds a friend just like him- a chameleon but with his own unique colors. Besides introducing children to the the concept of being content with who you are this story lends itself well to activities, crafts and snacks that will reinforce color recognition. Small book based unit studies are great and inexpensive way to introduce simple concepts to a wide age span of children-this particular study is great for a toddling baby to early elementary age. Check out the fun you can have with A Color of His Own Unit Study!
A Color of His Own Unit Study
Here are some fun activities to incorporate into your week, as you read A Color of his Own…
A Color of His Own Leaf Hop
Cut leaf shapes from various colors of construction paper, write the color name- this is especially helpful for older children learning to read. Spread colorful leaves around the floor and have children hop, skip, twirl, or walk to the colors as you call them out. Besides just calling out the colors you can also have them go to their favorite color, their shirt color, a color that starts with O, the color of the sun, etc..
Chameleon Change
Draw a chameleon shape on clear contact paper, self sealing laminating sheets, or page protectors. For the stick back items fold them in half before drawing on them to keep them clear and from becoming dirty. Have your child place it over different objects inside and outside to demonstrate how chameleons camouflage themselves to look like whatever they are on.
A Color Hunt
Give your child a basket or other container and a piece of paper the color you want them to search for ( You can reuse the leaves from the leaf hop if you made them) . Have them look around the house and gather items of that color- clothes, toys, books, shoes, etc.
A Color of His Own Snacks
Beautiful rainbow colors shown throughout this book are the perfect reason to serve your child a rainbow at snack time. Healthy choices like; purple grapes, green apples or honeydew, red strawberries, yellow banana’s or pineapples, and orange cantaloupe. If they are just learning their colors help them identify every color of the rainbow. Another fun option is Rainbow Seeds. You can let them just eat them, or have them sort by color!
A Color of His Own Crafts
Colorful Chameleon– Draw a chameleon on watercolor (slick paper is best) with a black marker, add a fun googly eye. Provide your child with watercolors and encourage them to paint a colorful chameleon.
Chenille Stem Chameleon– How fun is this cute little chenille stem chameleon? Grab a pencil, a couple googly eyes, a pipe cleaner, and your glue gun. Cut off 2” of chenille stem, cut this in half , bend each one, and set aside. Wrap pipe cleaner tightly around a pencil. Leaving 2” on each end. On one side bend the extra 2” in half to form his head, and curl the other end for a tail. Hot glue on your googly eyes and the two small pieces of pipe cleaner you cut as legs. You can create a colorful army of these creatures for small world play, to use as counters, or for color matching games with the leaves from the leaf hop game.
I’d love to hear what other ideas can you think of for the A Color of His Own Unit Study!
