Crazy For Color

Mix-a-Lot

Squirt a few dabs of various colored paints into a quart-size plastic bag, seal it, tape to table or wall, and let her squish away. It's a great activity for neatnik kids -- and easy cleanup for parents!

Explore Shades

When children have mastered basic color concepts, they are ready to learn the subtleties of shades. A few ways to play:

1. Cut up paint-sample strips and have your child line them up from darkest to lightest.
2. Have your child create three different shades from the same crayon or pencil by using light, medium, and hard pressure.
3. With watercolors, kids can experiment with the number of times their brush is swirled in the paint before they take it to paper: two times for lilac and 14 times for plum.
4. Make lighter shades of any color paint by mixing in varying amounts of white in small cups.

Go To Pieces

Once your child fits the 96 pieces of this Siebensachen by Adam+Harborth puzzle together he'll see the full spectrum emerge. 6 years+, Colouring Colour Wheel Puzzle, $20; plasticastore.com

• Buy the Color Wheel Puzzle here.

Play by the Book

MoMA's The Color-Play Coloring Book features open-ended, oversize pages as well as child-friendly art lessons. 4 to 8 years, $17; chroniclebooks.com

• Buy The Color-Play Coloring Book here.

Colorful Cookies

Sweet, colorful rainbow cookies make a delightful, ROY-G-BIV-approved treat!

Tint Their View

Teach children 8 and older how colors mix by holding these translucent paddles up to the light (younger kids will just have fun creating shades). Set of 18 paddles, $10; homesciencetools.com

• Buy the Home Science Tools color paddles here.

Read in Full Color

This bundle of books provides a rainbow of vibrant words and stories.

• Find more color-centric goodies at Shop Parents!

Planting a Rainbow

"Every year Mom and I plant a rainbow..." begins this tale of a garden tended by a mother and child. 4 to 8 years, $18

• Buy Planting a Rainbow here.

TouchThinkLearn: Colors

This board book's unique format (scooped-out and raised cutouts) offers a touch-and-feel tome. 3 years+, $15

• Buy TouchThinkLearn: Colors here.

The Day The Crayons Quit

In this New York Times best-seller, a boy opens his crayon box and discovers the colors have resigned! Instead, he finds letters detailing their grievances, which he must address. 6 to 8 years, $18

• Buy The Day The Crayons Quit here.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Learn about animals and colors in this classic singsong story by Bill Martin, Jr., with collaged illustrations by Eric Carle. 2 to 5 years, $17

• Buy Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? here.

Matthew's Dream

In this colorful tale, the lovable mouse-child Matthew is inspired by a class trip to a museum, settles on "artist" as his vocation, and then sets about creating magnificent works to adorn his home. 3 to 7 years, $7

• Buy Matthew's Dream here.

Little Blue and Little Yellow

Little Blue and Little Yellow are friends, and when they reunite after a separation, they hug and turn green. Drama ensues. 4 to 8 years, $7

• Buy Little Blue and Little Yellow here.

Mix It Up!

In this new book by Hervé Tullet, author of Press Here, vibrant smears of color teach kids the basics of mixing hues. 3 to 5 years, $16

• Buy Mix It Up! here.

Spinning Shades

With this neat wheel kids can see how mixing two colors makes a new hue. 4 years+, Colorsaurus Color Wheel, $5; painting-crafts.com

• Buy the Colorsaurus Color Wheel here.

Through the Glass

Light looks white but it's actually made up of the seven colors of the rainbow. Hold a prism up to the light and let your child watch the color "bend." Glass prism, $6; homesciencetools.com

• Buy the glass prism here.

Twist and Turn

Preschoolers can explore the color spectrum by turning brightly colored, inter-connected wooden balls into endless configurations. 3 years+, Playable Art Ball, $30; momastore.org

• Buy the Playable Art Ball here.

App To It

Learn about colors digitally with Intro to Colors by Montessorium, a terrific app inspired by the lessons of Montessori. 5 years and under, $5; itunes.com

Originally published in the January 2015 issue of Parents magazine.

• Download Intro to Colors by Montessorium here.