Skip to main content

Colour Collectors

Go for a walk together, match bricks to the colours you see.

Download a fully illustrated pdf, or print this webpage.

Skills we will be engaging

  • SOCIAL — Sharing, encountering new people.

  • EMOTIONAL — Excitement, anticipation, self-regulation.

  • COGNITIVE — Making choices, linking real objects to abstract ideas.

  • CREATIVE — Using brick colours in different ways.

  • PHYSICAL — Awareness of outside space and nature.

You will need

  • A variety of different bricks of varying colours (30 - 50 in total).

  • 2 bags or containers.

    • 1 bag full of the bricks (30 - 50 of varying colours). This is called the BRICK BAG.

    • 1 bag that is empty. This is called the COLLECTOR’S BAG.

How to play

  1. Decide on a route for your walk. Get your 2 bags ready 1 full of bricks, the BRICK BAG; 1 empty, the COLLECTOR’S BAG.

  2. Say to the child: “We’re going to see lots of different colours around us as we go for our walk.

  3. Then explain:

First, we will look for the colours around us and name the colours we can see. Then we will find a brick of the same or similar colour from the BRICK BAG bag and put it into the COLLECTOR’S BAG. At the end of our walk we will have collected different colour bricks depending on what colour things we see on our walk.

4. Go out for your walk and be Colour Collectors together!

Go with the flow

If your child would like to change the route, go to the park instead, or stay in one location to spot colours that’s fine. Starting with a plan helps to get going but it doesn’t have to restrict what you do together.

Adapt the activity

Make it easier

  • Pick a brick out of the bag and try to find something of that same colour. Limit or extend the number of colours of bricks.

  • Children draw a map of the route for the walk with places they want to stop and look for colours. Just like a treasure map.

  • Adult can have his/her own Brick bag and/or Collector’s Bag alongside.

  • Play indoors instead and walk around the home finding colours to match with bricks.

  • Take a photo of what your child sees that matches the brick in the COLLECTOR’S BAG

Let's do a challenge

  • Make it into a competition, each family member has their own COLLECTOR’S BAG. The person with the most bricks at the end of the walk wins.

  • Use different shades of colours of bricks. For example, light blue, dark blue.

  • Give your child the role of ‘photographer’ for the Colour Collector activity.

Including others

  • Build in teams - Adults vs Kids.

  • Add in more players and take turns to spot colours.

Signs of Success

Sharing time outside in the fresh-air, in your local environment whatever that looks like can create positive connections. By noticing things around us, it helps to develop our visual attention and helps us to become more aware of our environment.