This week we learned all about the color YELLOW! It was a week full of sunshine, lemonade, and buzzing bumble bees! There is something about the color yellow that just makes you happy. Our week of play seemed to feel happier and lighter as we explored this bright and summery color.
Week 3: The Color Yellow
This is what our week of yellow looked like:
Yellow Books of the Week
Super Submarines by Tony Mitton & Ant Parker
This is a great story if you have a little one that loves vehicles! We listened to “Yellow Submarines” by the Beatles a lot this week, so out of curiosity I wanted to see if there was a book about a yellow submarine. And there is! This is not only a perfect yellow-themed book to read, it is also very informative. The authors go into great detail describing the purpose of a submarine and the different parts! If you do not have access to get a copy of this book, there is a great read-aloud version on Youtube.
Yellow Copter by Kersten Hamilton
This one is another great yellow-vehicle story! There even is a mention of a crane, which is one of H’s current obsessions. It is a perfect book for babies and little ones with shorter attention spans! There are very few words and the images are bright and engaging. It is a simple storyline with a happy ending of the yellow copter saving the teacher that is stuck in a ferris wheel. This would be another perfect book for yellow week. If you do not have a copy easily accessible, there is a read-aloud version for this story as well.
We also read a couple books this week that had yellow characters and objects in them. Spot’s Birthday Party by Eric Hill or any of the Spot books are fun ones to read and point out how Spot and Sally are yellow doggies.
Any of the Curious George books would also be great to read during this week with the bright yellow book covers + the man with the yellow hat!
Monday Morning: Yellow Sensory Bin
For this week’s bin, it was not difficult to find an abundance of yellow things!
This week’s bin consisted of: Yellow blocks, balls, pegs, train tracks, big lego blocks, plastic coins, stars, shapes, giraffe, toy pan, plastic cheese, finger puppet chick, pom poms, popsicle sticks, feathers, foam shapes, textured material, tractors, a Lego Duplo submarine, and a few other random yellow things.
I have noticed that H has not been very interested in playing with the bin throughout the week, but I still think creating the bin with him is a great way to teach a specific color. This week I included him in the process of helping mama find all the yellow things in our playroom. He seemed to really enjoy this!
Monday Afternoon: Yellow Bubble Foam + Vehicle Play
In the afternoon, I made some yellow bubble foam. There are tons of recipes and play ideas out there for bubble foam. I was inspired by Bored Toddler’s recipe and setup. Bubble foam is super simple to whip up, literally!
All you need is:
- ½ cup bubble bath (tear-free)
- ¼ cup water
- A few drops of food dye for color
I added some yellow food coloring drops to make it go along with our color week and then simply whipped it up with a hand-blender. I put the setting on high and it quickly became a thicker consistency. I would recommend whipping it in a bowl and then pouring it into the bin you plan to have your children play with.
Hudson got super excited when he saw the yellow foam. He started clapping his hands and jumping up and down. I threw in some small yellow tractors, which got him even more excited. After playing with the bubble foam and tractors for a bit, he quickly became uninterested.
To make the activity last a bit longer, I created a “Yellow Truck Wash.” I set up a bucket with soapy water, handed him a sponge, and he loved it. Just make sure the trucks you let your little ones wash are okay with getting water on them!
Tuesday: Apple Star Stamps + Lemon Moon Stamps
This craft did not turn out exactly how I imagined, but it still fun to show H how when you cut an apple in half, a star shape is revealed.
To create this star stamp: Simply cut apple in half to create two parts, the top and the bottom. I then cut away the edges to make a smaller square shape. This proved to help make the star more visible when stamped.
To create this moon stamp: Simply cut a lemon in half. Then, cut a way a small chunk to give it a more moon-like appearance.
Other materials you will need:
- Black construction paper
- Yellow paint (if you are doing this project with a baby that still puts things to their mouth, try a safe-taste paint recipe).
- White chalk to create a title or to let you little one draw on finished product
- Glue and glitter to add a final touch!
Quite honestly, H was not super into the stamping process. It was mostly me showing him how to do it. However, he did really enjoy dripping glue everywhere and shaking on the glitter. Especially when you do crafts with little ones under 2, it is definitely not guaranteed they will be into it. I still believe a craft is a success if there is a small part they find interest in! For this one, it was the glue + the glitter.
Wednesday: Lemonade and Lemon Bar Picnic + Lemon Scoop Activity
Naturally, when you are learning about the color, lemonade and lemon bars must be on the list!
Grammy brought over an entire bag of lemons and we ended up using the entire bag for both the lemonade and lemon bars.
We used this lemonade recipe. We used an electric juice squeezer that made it easy for H to help squeeze the lemons. H and his auntie squeezed all the lemons together! After we made the lemonade, we enjoyed some sunshine and sipped our lemonade in the backyard!
Before we squeezed more lemons for the lemon bars, we made a fun game out of the remaining lemons. This Lemon Scoop Game is SO simple and H literally had the best time. I simply but a bowl of lemons on one side and an empty bowl on the other side. I gave him a big serving spoon and had him scoop the lemons and race them over to the empty bowl. I made it feel like a race and said on your mark, get set, go! Everytime he got all the lemons into the bowl, I cheered and he got super excited and asked for more.
Thursday: Toilet Paper Roll Bee Craft
For this craft, you will need:
- Toilet paper roll
- Yellow and black paint
- Card stock paper (we used yellow)
- Googly eyes (we used extra big ones)
- Pipe cleaners (again, we used yellow)
This bee craft turned out SUPER cute. The process, however, was a bit more tedious. I realized mid-craft this was a bit more challenging for H to get involved. I was planning on having him paint the yellow stripes on the bee, but that proved to be too challenging for him. He was more interested in wildly painting on the yellow construction paper. I let him to do this with the yellow and black paint. I then took this artwork and cut out two oval shapes for the wings. It made the wings look super unique and it was a great way to showcase H’s artwork.
After the stripes were painted, I cut out a cicle for the head, and glued all the parts together! We glued big googly eyes on the head and I drew a nose and smile. For the antennas I cut pieces of yellow pipe cleaner and used scotch tape to attach to the back of its head.
Even though H was not super into this craft, he loved the final product! This craft created even more play and imagination as I ran around the house chasing him with the bee. The toilet paper roll makes it the perfect finger puppet too!
A fun book to pair with this bee craft that we love: Orville: The Bumble Bee Who Didn’t Belive He Could Fly. This book has beautiful illustrations! It is a sweet story of a bumble bee that through the encouragement of his friends eventually comes to believe that he can fly, even with small wings.
Friday: Turn the Baseballs into Softballs Painting Activity
Our Friday was super full, so I did a super simple paint set up on the easle board. I simply drew three baseballs on white card stock. I then gave H a paint brush and some yellow paint and told him to paint the baseballs yellow. I also had a white baseball and yellow softball displayed for him to show him the difference!
Once your little one is finished painting the baseballs yellow, you could cut the circles out and let them play with the dried product!
Saturday: Yellow Collage Activity
Our week was pretty full, so this collage activity fit into our week better as a Saturday morning project. This would be another great setup for really any early morning activity. H is usually more fresh and willing to go along with my different crafts and activities earlier in the day!
For this collage we used the following yellow materials: feathers, popsicle sticks, pom poms, origami paper cut into squares, pipe cleaners, foam shapes.
At this stage with H, projects like this are definitely still a team effort. Similarly to the bee project, even when he doesn’t in the moment seem super into it, he loves the final product. In his playroom, I have been displaying each collage with the appropriate color flashcard. He loves seeing his artwork displayed at eye-level!
Ideas We Did Not Get To:
- Sun Craft
- Lion Craft (using picked yellow flowers as mane)
- Griaffe Craft
- Yellow Fire Hydrant Scavenger Hunt
- Paint the M yellow on Waste Management Trash Truck
- Drop off sunflowers to neighbors with a sweet note
This Mama Needs Grace 
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