Color-Themed Summer Activities for Kids

Each year my daughter Catie hosts a Kids Camp! Inside this post you'll find low prep and super simple color-themed summer activities for kids that she came up with for her Color Day at camp.

Nothing says summer like a splash of color! Whether you're planning a Kids Camp "Color Day" or just looking for a fun themed afternoon at home, these seven activities (plus a story time list to match) are simple, low-prep, and guaranteed to bring out big smiles and maybe a little bit of glitter and glue. Grab your favorite hues and let's get started!

Color Themed Summer Activities

In this post, you'll find 7 hands-on color themed activities perfect for a camp day or backyard adventure:

1. Watercolor Coffee Filter Art
2. Mod Podge Tissue Paper Lanterns
3. Colorful Pasta & Kinetic Sand Sensory Bin
4. Colorful Fizzy Drip Science
5. Magnetic Tile Garage Door Mural
6. Colorful Fruit Pizza
7. Build-and-Race Colorful LEGO Cars
8. Color Week Story Time

Each activity includes a simple materials list, step-by-step instructions! Let's get started!

Toddler Approved is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more about these links in my Disclosure Policy.

Watercolor Coffee Filter Art

There's something almost magical about watching watercolor bleed and bloom across a coffee filter. This activity is mess-friendly, budget-friendly, and makes for gorgeous "stained glass" style decorations when the sun shines through them.

Materials:

• Coffee filters (flat, not the cone-shaped kind)
• Watercolors paint
• Paintbrushes
• An easel or fence to hang the coffee filters
• Painters tape
• Clothespins & twine or flat surface to dry them on

Instructions:

1. Stick coffee filters flat on an easel or fence with tape.
2. Let kids paint onto the filter.
3. Once finished, let dry.
4. Once dry, filters can be used as suncatchers, butterfly wings, or simple wall art.

Pro tip: I drip water onto the watercolor palette with a pipette to make the colors wet so that they're easy for kids to paint with.

Mod Podge Tissue Paper Lanterns

These colorful lanterns are a fun twist on a classic craft and make a beautiful display when hung in a window for the sun to shine through.

Materials:

• Paper lanterns
• Colorful tissue paper, torn or cut into small pieces
• Mod Podge (or a mix of glue and water)
• Paintbrushes

Instructions:

1. Brush a layer of Mod Podge onto a small section of the lantern
2. Press a piece of tissue paper onto the glue, smoothing out any bubbles.
3. Continue overlapping pieces of tissue paper until the lantern is fully covered, then seal with a final coat of Mod Podge.
4. Let dry completely (an hour or more), then hang up your colorful lanterns to display.

Colorful Pasta & Kinetic Sand Sensory Bin

A sensory bin is the perfect low-key activity for little hands that need something to do while the big kids are busy with other projects.

Materials:

• Dyed dried pasta in assorted colors (pasta + rubbing alcohol + food coloring, dried overnight, or you can buy it pre-dyed)
• Kinetic sand in one or more colors
• A large bin or tray
• Scoops, cups, and small tongs for extra fine-motor practice

Instructions:

1. Pour the kinetic sand into the bin as a base layer.
2. Mix in handfuls of the colorful dried pasta.
3. Add scoops, cups, and tongs, and let kids scoop, sort, and build to their hearts' content.
4. Store any leftover kinetic sand and pasta in a sealed container to reuse.

Colorful Fizzy Drip Science

Part science experiment, part art project, this one never fails to get a round of delighted gasps.

Materials:

• Baking soda
• White vinegar, divided into small cups
• Food coloring (a different color per cup of vinegar)
• Eyedroppers or pipettes
• A shallow tray or baking sheet lined with paper

Instructions:

1. Spread a layer of baking soda onto the tray, about a quarter-inch thick.
2. Color each cup of vinegar with a different food coloring.
3. Using the eyedroppers, let kids drip colored vinegar onto the baking soda and watch it fizz and spread into colorful patterns.
4. Encourage them to experiment with layering colors and drip placement to create new designs each time.

Magnetic Tile Garage Door Mural

If you have a metal garage door, you already have the perfect (giant, vertical) canvas for this one.

Materials:

• Colorful magnetic building tiles
• A metal garage door (or any large magnetic surface)

Instructions:

1. Set out the magnetic tiles within easy reach.
2. Let kids build a mural directly on the garage door — patterns, rainbows, houses, or free-form designs all work.
3. Step back periodically to admire the growing art piece as a group.
4. Snap a photo before tile-down time, since these masterpieces tend to be one-of-a-kind.

Colorful Fruit Pizza

A sweet, colorful treat that doubles as a kid-friendly cooking lesson in knife safety and food prep.

Materials:

• Sugar cookie dough (store-bought or homemade), baked into small individual cookies
• Cream cheese frosting
• Assorted fruit: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, grapes
• Small kid-friendly (dull-edged) knives
• Paper plates

Instructions:

1. Bake the sugar cookie dough into individual cookies and let cool completely.
2. Spread a layer of cream cheese frosting over the cooled cookie (or let the kids do this themselves)
3. With supervision, let kids use kid-friendly knives to slice strawberries, halve grapes, and prep other fruit.
4. Encourage kids to arrange the fruit in colorful rings or patterns on top of the frosting, then eat and enjoy!

Build-and-Race Colorful LEGO Cars

Combine building and racing for an activity that keeps kids engaged from construction all the way through the finish line.

Materials:

• LEGO baseplates
• LEGO wheels and axles
• Colorful LEGO bricks & minifigures
• A rain gutter (or two) to use as a race ramp
• A stack of books or a stand to prop up the ramp

Instructions:

1. Have kids build a simple car using a baseplate as the base, attaching wheels and axles underneath.
2. Decorate the car with colorful bricks and minifigures — the more colorful, the better for a "Color Day" theme.
3. Prop the rain gutter up on a table to create a ramp.
4. Race the cars down the ramp one at a time (or side-by-side with two gutters) and see whose car goes the farthest or fastest.

Story Time: Colorful Books to Read Together

Wrap up your Color Day with a cozy story time featuring books that celebrate color. A few favorites to look for at your library or bookstore:

• Mix It Up! by Hervé Tullet
• The Color Monster by Anna Llenas
• Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
• A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni
• Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
• Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
• The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
  

Reading a book or two that matches the day's theme is a simple way to tie everything together and give everyone a relaxed moment to recharge before the next activity.

However you mix and match these seven activities, a Color Day is an easy way to fill a summer afternoon (or a full camp day) with hands-on fun, a little bit of learning, and a whole lot of color.

Color Day Activity Plan

Want a Printable Color Day Activity Plan to use as you plan your own camp?

RELATED: Love a good themed activity plan? Grab a year's worth of simple themed activity plans for toddlers and preschoolers here.

Have your own Color Day activity to add? Share it in the comments below!