Overview: A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni is a colorful book about a chameleon who no longer wishes to change color, but who wants a color of his own. In his search for a color of his own, the chameleon finds a friend who teaches him that companionship is more important than color. The following activities were created as an accompaniment to the book. They are great for use in your literacy/learning center or art station.
Recommended Grade Level: Preschool, Pre-K, Kindergarten, First, Second
A Color of His Own Coloring Page --Print on heavy paper and allow students to paint the chameleon with watercolor to mimic the various colors of a chameleon. Let dry, cut out, and attach a popsicle stick to the lower backside. Students can then pair up with their chameleons to retell the story.
A Color of My Own Activity --For the chameleon in the story, being with a friend became more important than his own color. This activity prompts students to make connections with the chameleon in the story. Students first identify the color of their own bodies by coloring an image. Then, they are to consider how they are like a friend/classmate.
A Color of His Own Matching Game --This colorful handout can be used as-is or modified to create a few different games. First, print chameleons on heavy paper, cut out, and laminate to make individual cards. Students can then match chameleons simply by their color. Color words could also be added on each chameleon for emergent readers and ELL's (simply use a wet erase marker on top of the lamination). For an additional challenge, words from the story could be written (again, with a wet-erase marker) on each chameleon and matched as well. Some examples of words include color, own, striped, remain, turned, leaf, change, alike, together.
