Teaching Colors

I've been looking forward to doing this activity for some time. The Montessori Color Tablets caught my attention right away when I was looking for activities to do at home. The ability to see color and differentiate shades of colors is a very special gift. Could you imagine a sunset in shades of gray? Or a theater production lit only with white lights? Color is such a huge part of our world!
Since I'm only working with one child and in a home enviroment buying all the nice sets for montessori activities is not an option for us. In this case we have opted for a well-known substitute for the color tablets - paint samples.
I have to admit here that I don't know where in Tokyo to get similar samples so I picked them up while in the US last summer. I'm sure they can be found here too - I just don't know where.
These are paint examples from a homestore that I laminated to make a bit more durable.

I started by introducing the red, yellow and blue colors first. The little guy grasped the idea so quickly that I didn't even get a picture of it!

This is the "basic" set that I made. It was too easy in that the little guy barely had to think to do it and lined up all the colors correctly on the first try. Next time I'll introduce shades of color to him.

Margaret Homfray showing how to use the color tablets: