This free printable color matching gross motor game is the perfect way to get your preschooler or kindergartner moving while they practice their colors. This set includes 11 color posters in Spanish and English that can be used with or without the dice to support learning in your home or classroom.
Research shows that movement helps kids learn. By incorporating movement into this fun coloring matching game, you can help your little learner get their wiggles out and improve their ability to recognize and match their colors.
This free printable color matching game includes differentiated instruction cube inserts, printable dice templates, and color posters in Spanish and English. This preschooler-approved gross motor activity will keep your little learner engaged for a surprisingly long time!
My three year old will literally play this game for an hour as long as I take turns rolling the die with her. An hour! Now that’s a great way to get some active time, even if you’re stuck at home.
Because 11 colors are included in this set, but the die can only show 6 colors at a time, it’s easy to make changes that keep this game fresh and engaging. I hope your little learner enjoys as much as mine does!
* We are a bilingual household. If you want to introduce Spanish to your child, be sure to check out these additional free Spanish preschool printables. *
How to prepare and use the gross motor color matching game
This list of materials may look long, but you probably already have virtually everything you need at home. I like to offer explanations and alternatives to make sure everything is as clear as possible.
Materials needed:
- Free printables. The download information is lower down in the post. In the PDF, the English language color posters are grouped together, followed by Spanish language color posters. This makes it easy to print the pages you want.
- Printer and paper. I recommend 32 lb paper because it’s sturdier and bright white for vibrant colors. Brighter colors will make it easier for your little one to know which color is shown – red and orange can look very similar if paper or print quality are low.
- Laminator or heavy duty page protectors. If you want your game to last more than 10 minutes, put the posters in thick page protectors! My daughter gets very excited about running to the colors and tagging them. The posters will become damaged quickly if they’re not laminated or in page protectors.
- Tape or poster putty. I recommend painter’s tape because it comes off easily without removing paint. Taping the posters up is a great way for your child to get fine motor practice, too!
- Scissors or paper cutter. You’ll need scissors, not a paper cutter, if you’re using the printable dice templates. A paper cutter is faster and easier for the gross motor cube inserts.
- Differentiated instruction cubes. Optional. You can use the provided printable color dice, instead.
- Clear tape and glue, if you’re making the printable dice. I recommend Aileen’s Tacky Glue because it has an instant tack that will make constructing the dice easier.
As mentioned above, this set includes 11 colors. Because two dice have 12 available faces, there is also a “you pick” insert card/face on one of the printable dice. Your child can color this with a favorite color or pick a different color each time this picture is rolled.
I am American, but I learned how to read in Great Britain. That’s why I’ve included both “grey” and “gray” as separate color posters. I personally use the spelling grey, but gray is more common in America.
And, of course, the color posters all have a Spanish language version, too! Like English, Spanish is a polycentric language. This means there is no one global official Spanish. This set of Spanish color posters uses “morado” for purple and “anaranjado” for orange because those are the words we use most often in our family.
How to prepare the color matching gross motor game
First, grab your printable from lower down in the post. Print the pages you need.
Laminate your color posters or place them in heavy duty page protectors. I decided to use page protectors so it’s easy to store the posters in a three ring binder when they’re not in use. (Sorry the photos are so dark – it was pouring rain when I made this game to have something active for my daughter to do inside!)
Prepare your color dice. Cut out the cards and place six in a differentiated instruction cube or build one, or both, of the printable die templates.
To make the printable dice:
- Cut out the template.
- Crease the folds firmly.
- Fold the template to make a cube, tucking the tabs inside. Use a tab of glue on each tab and press it in place. I recommend Tacky Glue because it runs less and holds better than other PVA glues (white glues).
- Tape along the outside edges for durability. I recommend folding a piece of tape over each edge. You may even want to “laminate” the whole thing with clear packing tape to make it sturdier. The dice faces are about 2″ wide, so they’re a perfect fit for standard packing tape.
Hang the posters. This is a great opportunity for fine motor practice because your little learner can help hang the posters with painter’s tape or poster putty. They won’t be perfectly positioned, but that’s okay.
Play!
How to play run to the colors
Play is fun and easy.
Players take turns rolling the die. If you’re using a gross motor cube, you can get your child’s entire body involved by encouraging various throws like bowling, granny bowling, tossing the die in the air, etc.
Players run to the color shown and tag the poster. If there are multiple players, you can decide whether everyone runs to the color, or just the person who rolled that turn.
To mix things up and keep it interesting, players can pick a gross motor movement to preform instead of walking/running. Movements might include:
- Bear crawl
- Hopping
- Skipping
- High knees
- Crab walk
- Walking backwards
- Galloping sideways
We also sometimes pick a noise we’re going to make the next time we tag a poster. For example, we might moo, quack, or meow. It doesn’t really add to the educational value of the game, but it makes things more fun and extends play.
Free printable color matching game and color posters download
Like all free preschool printables on The Artisan Life, these are licensed for personal and single classroom use. This includes use with a Scout groups, therapy clients, library activities, etc. as long as you are personally organizing the activity.
You are not licensed to redistribute the files or printouts to other adults for use with their children/students. Please just refer your friends and coworkers to this post so they can download their own copies.
If you agree with this license, access the download below:
I hope your little learner enjoys this color matching game! Be sure to download additional free preschool learning resources while you’re here on The Artisan Life:
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Natasha Núñez is a former classroom teacher with a Masters of the Arts in Teaching. She also is a registered yoga teacher & holds a certificate in natural skincare formulation from the School of Natural Skincare. She shares her passion for education, positive parenting, free printables, and recipes for DIY bath & home products. Learn more about Natasha and where she’s been featured.
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