Teach Colors in Mandarin With a Song: A 45-Minute Beginner Lesson Plan

Colors are one of the first topics almost every Mandarin course teaches, and one of the easiest to teach badly. A flashcard drill, a coloring sheet, done. Two weeks later half the class still says "hóng" for every color in the box.

Here's a 45-minute beginner lesson plan that teaches six colors through one short song, a game and a worksheet. It works for lower primary through middle school, and it needs nothing more than a box of crayons and a whiteboard.

Which colors should beginners learn first?

Six is plenty for one lesson. Start with these:

• 红色 (hóngsè), red
• 黄色 (huángsè), yellow
• 蓝色 (lánsè), blue
• 绿色 (lǜsè), green
• 白色 (báisè), white
• 黑色 (hēisè), black

Leave 橙色 (chéngsè), 紫色 (zǐsè) and 粉红色 (fěnhóngsè) for lesson two. And point out the gift hiding in that list: 红, 黄, 蓝 and 白 are all second tone. Four of six colors share one rising tone, so this is a perfect place to practise it. Add the question 这是什么颜色？(zhè shì shénme yánsè, what color is this?) and you have a complete lesson.

What's a simple Chinese song about colors you can teach in ten minutes?

You don't need a new tune. Use 两只老虎 (Two Tigers), the same melody as Frère Jacques, which most of your students already know. Swap in a color and two classroom objects:

红色红色，红色红色，
在哪里？在哪里？
我的书是红色，我的笔是红色，
在这里！在这里！

Hóngsè hóngsè, hóngsè hóngsè, zài nǎlǐ? zài nǎlǐ? Wǒ de shū shì hóngsè, wǒ de bǐ shì hóngsè, zài zhèlǐ! zài zhèlǐ!

Each verse changes only the color. Students hold up something of that color on 在这里, which keeps every hand busy and tells you instantly who understood. If you'd rather use a ready-made colors song, search "colors" on the Song Topic Finder, which sorts Mandarin songs for kids by topic.

A 45-minute Mandarin lesson plan for colors

1. Crayon hook (5 minutes)

Hold up one crayon at a time and say the color twice. Don't explain anything. Then hold one up and wait. Someone will try it. Praise the tone, not just the word.

2. Six colors with tone gestures (7 minutes)

Write the six colors on the board in a tone-sorted column: 红 黄 蓝 白 together, then 黑 and 绿. Students trace the tone in the air as they say each one: a rising hand for the second-tone group, flat for 黑, a chop down for 绿. More gesture ideas in Tone Practice That Doesn't Kill the Room.

3. Teach the song (10 minutes)

Sing verse one twice while students listen and point at red things. Sing it again with them on 在哪里 and 在这里 only. Then the whole verse. Run three verses (红色, 蓝色, 绿色), and on each 在这里 everyone holds up a matching crayon. By the third verse most of the room is singing.

4. 萝卜蹲 with colors (8 minutes)

Give six students a color card each. The first squats and chants 红色蹲，红色蹲，红色蹲完蓝色蹲! and the blue student has to carry on. Miss your turn and you hand your card to someone watching. It's loud, fast, and every round is a listening test. Full rules, plus a flyswatter variant that works just as well with colors, are in 12 No-Prep Mandarin Classroom Games.

5. Printable worksheet (10 minutes)

Now the quiet part. A one-page colors worksheet with three tasks:

• Color by character: a simple picture with 红, 黄, 蓝 and 绿 written in the spaces.
• Lyric gap-fill: the song verse with the color word missing, and a word bank.
• Draw and label: draw your bag, color it, and write 我的书包是____色.

Because they've just sung the words, the sheet feels easy, which is why students actually finish it. The other song-based formats in Printable Mandarin Worksheets That Actually Get Used plug straight in.

6. Survey and exit ticket (5 minutes)

Teach one more question: 你喜欢什么颜色？(nǐ xǐhuān shénme yánsè, what color do you like?) Students ask three classmates and tally the answers. On the way out, each student holds up a crayon and names the color. If they say it with the right tone, they're done.

How do you adapt the colors lesson for different levels?

• Kindergarten: four colors, the song and the crayon exit only. Skip the writing.
• Upper primary: add 橙色, 紫色 and 粉红色, and have students write their own verse with a new object: 我的鞋是白色.
• Middle school: add 颜色 as a character to learn and a short paragraph describing their room.
• Homeschool: do the song while sorting laundry or Lego by color. It's the same lesson with better props.

For more ways to keep a song going all week, see 5 Fun Ways to Use Chinese Songs in Your Mandarin Classroom.

Where can you find more colors songs and worksheets?

If you'd like ready-made song worksheets for colors and every other beginner topic, Club Lǎoshī has them, and Song Club has the song videos. To try a sample first, the free Basic Greetings Classroom Pack has five printable PDFs.

Six colors, one tune they already know, and a box of crayons. That's a lesson that sticks.

More classroom song videos and printables live at www.chinesebuddy.com.

Tim is the original founder, creator and dreamer of all things on Chinese Buddy. He can be contacted here.

Cover photo: Aaron Burden, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons / Unsplash (cropped).

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用一首歌教中文颜色：45分钟初级课堂教案

颜色几乎是每门中文课最早教的主题之一，也是最容易教得很平淡的主题之一。闪卡练一遍，涂色纸发下去，就结束了。两周以后，班上一半学生看到盒子里每支蜡笔都说"红"。

下面是一份45分钟的初级教案，用一首短歌、一个游戏和一张练习纸教六种颜色。适合小学低年级到初中，只需要一盒蜡笔和一块白板。

初学者应该先学哪些颜色？

一节课六种就够了。先教这些：

• 红色
• 黄色
• 蓝色
• 绿色
• 白色
• 黑色

橙色、紫色和粉红色留到第二节课。注意这份词表里藏着的好处：红、黄、蓝、白都是第二声。六个颜色里有四个是同一个上扬的声调，正好用来练第二声。再加上问句"这是什么颜色？"，一节完整的课就有了。

有哪首简单的中文颜色歌十分钟就能教会？

不需要新曲子。用《两只老虎》的旋律（和 Frère Jacques 一样），大部分学生都会唱。换上一个颜色和两样教室里的东西：

红色红色，红色红色，
在哪里？在哪里？
我的书是红色，我的笔是红色，
在这里！在这里！

每段只换颜色。唱到"在这里"时，学生举起一样那个颜色的东西，每个人的手都有事做，你也马上知道谁听懂了。如果想用现成的颜色歌，可以在 Song Topic Finder 搜索"colors"，它按主题整理了给孩子的中文歌。

45分钟颜色课教案

1. 蜡笔导入（5分钟）

一次举起一支蜡笔，把颜色说两遍。什么都不解释。然后举起一支，等着。总会有人试着说。表扬声调，不只是表扬词。

2. 用声调手势学六个颜色（7分钟）

按声调把六个颜色写在白板上：红、黄、蓝、白放在一起，然后是黑和绿。学生说每个词时在空中画声调：第二声那组手往上扬，黑是平的，绿往下一劈。更多手势方法见《不让教室冷场的声调练习》。

3. 教歌（10分钟）

先唱两遍第一段，学生边听边指红色的东西。再唱一遍，学生只跟唱"在哪里"和"在这里"。然后唱整段。唱三段（红色、蓝色、绿色），每次唱到"在这里"，大家都举起对应颜色的蜡笔。到第三段，大部分学生都在唱了。

4. 颜色萝卜蹲（8分钟）

给六个学生每人一张颜色卡。第一个人蹲下喊："红色蹲，红色蹲，红色蹲完蓝色蹲！"拿蓝色卡的学生接着喊。没接上就把卡交给一个旁观的同学。热闹、快速，每一轮都是听力测试。完整规则，还有同样适合颜色的拍苍蝇玩法，都在《12个零准备中文课堂游戏》里。

5. 打印练习纸（10分钟）

接下来是安静的部分。一页颜色练习纸，三个任务：

• 看字涂色：一幅简单的图，空白处写着红、黄、蓝、绿。
• 歌词填空：歌词里的颜色词空出来，附词库。
• 画一画、写一写：画自己的书包，涂上颜色，写"我的书包是____色"。

因为刚唱过这些词，练习纸感觉很简单，所以学生真的会写完。《真正用得上的中文打印练习纸》里其他基于歌曲的形式都可以直接套用。

6. 调查和离场卡（5分钟）

再教一个问题："你喜欢什么颜色？"学生问三个同学并记录答案。下课出门时，每个学生举起一支蜡笔说出颜色。声调说对了，就可以走了。

怎样根据不同程度调整颜色课？

• 幼儿园：四种颜色，只唱歌和蜡笔离场，不写字。
• 小学高年级：加上橙色、紫色和粉红色，让学生用新的东西编自己的一段歌词："我的鞋是白色"。
• 初中：加学"颜色"两个字，再写一小段话描述自己的房间。
• 在家学习：边按颜色分衣服或乐高边唱这首歌。同样的课，道具更好。

想让一首歌用上一整周，可以看《在中文课堂上使用中文歌曲的5个好玩方法》。

哪里可以找到更多颜色歌和练习纸？

如果你想要颜色及其他初级主题的现成歌曲练习纸，Club Lǎoshī 都有，Song Club 提供歌曲视频。想先试试样品，免费 Basic Greetings 课堂资料包里有五份可打印的PDF。

六种颜色，一首学生早就会的曲子，一盒蜡笔。这样的课，学生记得住。

更多课堂歌曲视频和打印练习，见 www.chinesebuddy.com。

Tim 是 Chinese Buddy 的原创创始人、内容创作者和梦想实践者。如需联系，可在此留言。