Colour collecting

This activity will encourage learners to explore their outdoor space using colours, thinking about why they might find different colours and shades around their site. Children and young people will also learn how to respect nature, only taking what they need and encouraging them to nurture the world around them.

Learners will explore their outdoor space with a piece of double-sided tape, collecting as many different colours as they can. It is important to remind children to only take a small sample of the colour, so as not to harm plants in the space.

This activity will encourage children and young people to observe the differences in bright and dark colours, and how other living things interact with these colours.

Getting to know your space

< 30 minutes

EYFS

KS1

Preparation

What you'll need

Plain sheets of paper
Double sided tape (or masking tape doubled over, to avoid plastic)

Location

Outdoors

Useful guidance

Resources

Colour Collecting Activity Guide.pdf 825.72 KB

Step by step

Before starting the activity, ask the children to form a circle and try to guess how many colours they might find in their outdoor space, and what colours they might find. What colours are they familiar with already? Are there certain colours they see lots of?
Give each learner a sheet of paper with a strip of double-sided sticky tape attached.
Take learners around the outdoor space, asking them to collect as many different colours as they can on the tape.
Prompt learners to think like a living thing (for example a bee, butterfly, bird). Which colour might attract this animal? What could you change in your outdoor space to make it more attractive to this animal?
Discuss why different colours exist in nature. Use ‘I wonder’ statements to prompt discussions. For example ‘I wonder where we found the most green’; ‘I wonder if there were any colours we didn’t find?’; ‘I wonder what colours we would find in a different seasons’.

Reflection

Were all the bright colours you found in the same space, or spread out? Was there anywhere where you couldn’t find any different colours? What could we do to change that?

Curriculum links

This activity can be used to support curriculum knowledge and skill development in understanding the world and art, alongside enhancing nature education, with age appropriate adaptations.

What to try