Months ago I saw a similar project over at Teaching Tiny Tots and made a mental note to try it. My son’s fine motor skills were good but not quite ready yet. The other day, he was making a clothespin bite things and I knew it was time for paint chip color matching! Here is how we did it.
- Gather your materials. I used 2 of each color paint chip (8 in all), 4 clothes pins, 1 strip of cardboard (side of a cereal box), and some double stick tape. I am far too impatient for glue.
- Cut your paint chips to fit onto the cardboard.
- Tape them down well.
- Using the 2nd paint chip, cut small strips to go on the top of the clothespins.
- Tape them down.
- Start playing with paint chip color matching!
Books
“Brown Bear Brown Bear” by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle is a classic, it is genius in its simplicity. So often we think things have to have fancy bells and whistles to keep toddlers and preschoolers interested. This book proves us wrong yet again. I haven’t met a child who hasn’t responded well to this book about colors and animals!
“Lemons Are Not Red” by Laura Vaccaro Seeger is a clever book each page offers a sneak peek at what it next, which my son thought was genius and I have to agree. Soon my son was making his own predictions about what object would be revealed when we turned the page. The book offered so many chances for me to step in and ask my son questions about what we were reading without stalling the momentum of the book.
Stacy says
Can I just say that I love your blog? Your ideas are so simple and clever. I’ve been inspired to do fun things with my kids again, and they’re in craft heaven. Do you have a really great library to find all these books?
I had an idea that you might like. I’ve been cutting out the cereal name from cereal boxes so my daughter can practice writing. They letters are so big, they’re just like rainbow letters, if you’ve heard of them.
Beverly says
Such a great idea!
Jennifer says
Good idea. I did this with letters, instead of colors, when my son was in Kindergarten. He needed the fine motor practice. Keep the good ideas coming!!
katherinemarie! says
Love this color match idea!!! SUPER! WONDERFUL! GREAT! thanks!
Can’t wait to try…
MaryAnne says
Both of your book suggestions today are huge favorites at our house!
teachingtinytots says
we love clothespin games! glad you liked it!
MaryAnne says
oops I should say all three books!
Where's The Aspirin? says
Another fantastic idea!
peach_pi says
I love this idea. I did something similar with juice lids (the metal part) for my three year old. I put about 5 little stickers around the edge of each lid and then a matching sticker on the clip. We did about 5 lids worth.
Allie says
Oooh that is a great idea!
Thanks Shannon for the inspiration 🙂
Annette says
You have a blogging award waiting for you over at my blog!
Pink & Posh says
Hi! I just wanted to stop by and let you know how much my 2 year old son & I love recreating your projects. So much in fact that I presented you with a blog award on Pink & Posh. Go to my site to pick it up.
keep the fun crafts coming!
ModernMommy says
WHat a great idea with the clips I will have to try that! I know my dd will love it.
I LOVE Karen Katz, especially that book.
Tara @ Feels like home says
I love this idea! I’m going to stop by my local hardware store tomorrow for some paint chips. We always look at the paint chips when we’re there anyway, so this will be a great excuse to bring a few of them home. 🙂