Color Activities: Purple

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First published in 1955, one classic book that always comes to mind when thinking about lessons for the color purple is this one, the start of a whole series featuring Harold and his purple crayon.  Here are some suggested lessons from the author's website.  We also like this one on KinderArt®.  The book's publisher also provides a coloring page and use your imagination to finish the drawing page.

More recent additions to literature on the color purple include:

The author's site has a downloadable coloring sheet of Lilly and her purple plastic purse and a maze.  Teaching Heart has a nice thematic unit crossing several curriculum areas, complete with many downloadable resources and PDF's appropriate for K-1 students. 

This titles continues on a popular book series started with Pinkalicious, but is recommended with some hesitation.  The teasing, bullying, and conflict portrayed in the narrative may be unnecessary to introduce to very young children, it does end on a possitive note but the reference to purple is minimal. 

As Allie from No Time for Flashcards stated in her post mentioning this title, "I think it’s better to let children know that they don’t have to be ashamed of someone is bullying them, to ask for help and to overcome it. This book can be a useful tool for that message."

This book was featured on the classic children's PBS show Reading Rainbow, but the video and teacher's guide is no longer available except by purchase.  Learn more about Amy Hest on her author's website.

Step By Step Childcare has a Purple Theme that includes: songs and fingerplays, arts & craft activities, thematic ideas, and quick starts for any color day.

Preschool Express and Childfun both have Purple Themes for early childhood aged students.

More Purple Activities:

Color Mixing: In two containers use food coloring to make water red and blue.  Use an eye dropper to add drops of the colored water into a third container containing clear water.  See how many drops it takes of each to turn the water purple.

Grape Prints: Students dip an empt toilet paper roll into a shallow container of paint.  Make circle prints onto paper, clustering them together into bunches of grapes.  When the paint has dried the circles can be colored in or filled with a variety of purple collage materials.  A stem and leaves can also be added.  You can also make a different version by painting the grapes with carrot rounds and purple paint.

Planting Purple Flowers: Make purple flower shapes out of purple construction paper.  Program each with either a numeral or dots to represent a specific number.  Tape to popsicle sticks.  Take an old shoebox, turn it over and cut slits in the bottom, the same number as you have of programed flowers.  Write a numeral by each, students have to place the correctly number flower into the slit.

Purple Snacks:

Plums
Purple Grapes
Eggplant, just be sure you look at it, touch, and smell it beforehand so everyone can see the lovely skin.
Purple Cabbage
Grape Juice to Drink or to Make Popsicles with
Grape Jelly on Crackers/Bread/Toast

Have you done a purple color activity?  Let us know in the comment section and share your link so we can all come see it.  Don't forget to enter our two great giveaways, links at the top of this column!

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