Are you taking any road trips this summer? If you are, here are four fun games to play with your younger kids to help them practice color identification.
These games will keep your little ones engaged while you’re driving, which keeps them from complaining or whining as much!
They’re all simple to learn, and require no materials. Here’s how you play…
1. BINGO!
No, this game doesn’t have anything to do with a farmer and his dog! 😀 My little sister Katie introduced me to this one back when I was in high school.
The goal is to find 10 yellow cars. Each time you see a yellow car, you yell, “BINGO!”
When I played with my sister, we decided that school buses, moving trucks, semi-trucks, and delivery vans didn’t count. Neither did tractors. So we threw out all commercial rigs.
But with my young kids, everything counts. It’s a fun way to keep them looking out the windows as we drive.
We’ve also occasionally changed up the color. We might play “Red Bingo” or “Blue Bingo.” Pick a color you’re working on, and go with that.
Of course some car colors are very popular, so the length of the game varies based on what color you pick.
You can even make teams and have teammates work together to watch both sides of the road. We often do boys vs. girls.
2. I Spy
The classic car game I’m sure almost everyone has played! One person secretly picks an object (inside the car works best so you don’t drive right past it!). Once selected, the person then says, “I spy with my little eye something ______.” They fill in the blank with the color of the object.
The other players take turns guessing what the secret object is.
Once someone guesses correctly, have another player pick the object. Some families play that whoever guesses gets to go next, but we found this prevents the youngest kids from ever getting a chance. So we typically go youngest to oldest regardless of who guesses.
3. Find the Rainbow
Can your kids find something red?
Then yellow?
Continue calling out colors for them to find until they’ve found the whole rainbow. Then you can throw in some extra colors like pink and silver too!
4. Color Category
Pick a color, and have your kids name as many things as they can that are that color. For older kids, you can have them focus on a single category (name all the orange vegetables for instance).
Here’s how it works:
One person names a color. Then everyone takes turns naming objects that are that color.
So if the color is pink, you might hear:
- The sunset
- cheeks
- A shoe
- My shirt
- That blanket
- A pig
When you’re out of ideas, give another color a try.
Do you play other car games that reinforce color?
I’d love for you to share them in the comments below.
And since these car games are best for younger kids, here are some other car game posts for you to check out for your older kids.