Colour Treasure Hunt
Hunt around the house for small safe objects that match a colour card, then sort the treasure together.
Ages 3–4 years · Theme: Colours all around us
- Time
- About 10 minutes · 3 min preparation
- Parent involvement
- Stay nearby and join in sometimes
- Mess level
- No mess · Active energy
- Where
- Indoors or outdoors
What you need
- 4–5 pieces of coloured paper or card
- A basket, bowl or bag
Don't have it? Swap it:
- No coloured paper? Use a crayon mark on plain paper, or a coloured sock as the 'colour card'.
- No basket? A pillowcase or saucepan works just as well.
How to play
Lay the colour cards on the floor or table, a little apart from each other.
Say: 'We are treasure hunters! Can you find something red?' and hold up the red card.
Let your child hunt for one small object of that colour and place it on the matching card.
Keep going, one colour at a time, until each card has two or three treasures.
Finish by counting the treasures on each card together, then tidy them back where they came from.
Things to ask while you play
- “Which colour was the hardest to find?”
- “Can you find something red that is also soft?”
- “Where should this one go back to?”
Make it easier or harder
Easier
Use only two colours, and place one example object on each card first so your child can match rather than search from memory.
Harder
Add a rule to each round: something red that is soft, something blue that is smaller than your hand, something yellow from the kitchen.
Skills practised
Colour recognition · Sorting and matching · Following instructions
Safety note
Steer the hunt away from small objects that could be a choking hazard, and agree on 'no climbing' rooms before you start. An adult should always supervise this activity.