Color Words Worksheets for Kindergarten and First Grade Readers

Every square holds a color word, so a pupil reads red, blue or brown before picking up a crayon.

Sample list: All 11 color words. Type or paste your own words to replace it.

Name Date

Color by word: Stacking rings

Read the word in each square, then color it by the key. white means leave the square white.

whitewhitewhiteredredwhitewhitewhite
whitewhitewhiteredredwhitewhitewhite
whitewhiteorangeorangeorangeorangewhitewhite
whitewhiteyellowyellowyellowyellowwhitewhite
whitegreengreengreengreengreengreenwhite
whitebluebluebluebluebluebluewhite
purplepurplepurplepurplepurplepurplepurplepurple
purplepurplepurplepurplepurplepurplepurplepurple

To color on screen, choose a color in the key, then tap the squares.

Stacking rings, 8 by 8, 6 colors, 11 words in the list.

Answer key: prints on page 2.

More options
Pictures, with the words each one takes
Size

One for each color, so type at least as many words as the picture has colors. Up to 40, of 8 letters or fewer. Saved in this browser only.

The link carries the picture and the settings, never your words.

Print gives a blank worksheet, and the colored answer key on page 2 when that box is ticked. Colors you fill in on screen stay on screen. By keyboard: the arrow keys move around the grid, Enter colors a square and Backspace clears it.

Next step Find the same color words in a word searchPut sight words in the squares instead

How it works

These color words worksheets put a color word in every square of a pixel picture. The first sheet is the Stacking rings, 6 color words and white. Choose from 15 pictures, keep all 11 words or pick a shorter list.

Read the full guide

Pick the picture, then the list

The 15 pictures are sorted by the color words they need, and 4 of the shorter lists carry the same names. A list that lacks one of the picture's colors is refused, so choose the picture first. Eight crayon colors and white fits 12 of the 15 pictures, every one without pink or gray.

Swatches on, swatches off

The key prints a patch of color beside each word, so a pupil can match the look of a word without reading it. For read and color worksheets, untick Color swatches in the key and the key becomes words only. The lists hold the 11 basic color words of English; white means leave the square blank.

  • Untick A word in the white squares too and the easy Flamingo drops from 64 words to 22.
  • Type is sized to the longest word. A sheet without orange, yellow and purple, 6 letters each, prints larger.
  • A share link reopens the picture, size and ready list, never words you typed; those stay in this browser.

Questions and answers

Are these color word worksheets kindergarten level?

Start with the fewest words. The Orange and the Flamingo have 2 color words each plus white, on 64 squares 21 mm wide; the Stacking rings have 6. If your reading program sets an order, follow it. Afterwards, try the color word search.

Which pictures practice blue, black and brown?

The Bluebird, Blue jeans and Backpack. Each needs only blue, black and brown, 3 words with one first letter, and blue and black both start bl. On the Koala the word pink is in 2 squares only, and on the Earthworm black is in 1.

Can the sheet say grey, or use Spanish color words?

Grey, yes: type grey in Your words and it goes to the gray squares, spelled your way. Spanish is not matched. A word the tool does not know is dealt to a color at random, so rojo may land on the blue squares.

All 15 pictures

Red, yellow, blue 3

  • Building blocks Toy blocks in a stack, one yellow, one red and one blue on the easy grid and six on the detailed one, each with a white window in the middle. Every color gets the same number of squares, so no word gets more practice than another. Easy 8 by 8, 36 squares to color: yellow 12, red 12, blue 12. Detailed 12 by 12, 72 squares to color: yellow 24, red 24, blue 24.
  • Party hat A striped party hat with a yellow pom-pom on top and a yellow brim. The stripes make a pupil read the word again on every row. Easy 8 by 8, 34 squares to color: yellow 12, red 12, blue 10. Detailed 12 by 12, 68 squares to color: yellow 22, red 18, blue 28.
  • Sand pail A red sand pail with a blue rim and a yellow handle. The detailed grid adds a blue shovel beside it. Easy 8 by 8, 36 squares to color: yellow 8, blue 8, red 20. Detailed 12 by 12, 79 squares to color: yellow 10, blue 33, red 36.
Show all 15 pictures (12 more)

Orange, green, purple 3

  • Eggplant A purple eggplant with a green cap and stem. The detailed grid leaves two white squares of shine on the skin. Easy 8 by 8, 35 squares to color: green 7, purple 28. Detailed 12 by 12, 80 squares to color: green 16, purple 64.
  • Monster A friendly purple monster with orange horns, green spots and green feet. Its eyes and mouth are white squares. Easy 8 by 8, 40 squares to color: orange 6, purple 28, green 6. Detailed 12 by 12, 80 squares to color: orange 10, purple 60, green 10.
  • Orange An orange with a green leaf on its stem. The fruit and the color share one word, and the sheet has only two color words, which makes it a gentle first sheet. Easy 8 by 8, 40 squares to color: green 4, orange 36. Detailed 12 by 12, 95 squares to color: green 7, orange 88.

Blue, black, brown 3

  • Backpack A blue backpack with a black handle and zipper and a brown front pocket. The detailed grid adds black side straps. It leaves the fewest white squares of any picture here. Easy 8 by 8, 54 squares to color: black 8, blue 38, brown 8. Detailed 12 by 12, 108 squares to color: black 22, blue 64, brown 22.
  • Blue jeans A pair of blue jeans with a brown belt, a black buckle and black shoes. The detailed grid adds two brown pockets. Easy 8 by 8, 42 squares to color: brown 4, black 8, blue 30. Detailed 12 by 12, 88 squares to color: brown 18, black 10, blue 60.
  • Bluebird A bluebird on a brown branch, with a black eye, a black beak and black legs. All three color words start with b, so the first letter is no help. Easy 8 by 8, 37 squares to color: blue 25, black 4, brown 8. Detailed 12 by 12, 73 squares to color: blue 54, black 5, brown 14.

Pink, gray, black, brown 3

  • Earthworm A pink earthworm arching out of brown soil. The word black is in a single square, a dot on its head. Easy 8 by 8, 40 squares to color: pink 16, black 1, brown 23. Detailed 12 by 12, 84 squares to color: pink 39, black 1, brown 44.
  • Flamingo A pink flamingo with a long neck and a black tip on its beak. It has the fewest squares to color of any picture here, so it suits a short session. Easy 8 by 8, 22 squares to color: pink 20, black 2. Detailed 12 by 12, 50 squares to color: pink 46, black 4.
  • Koala A gray koala face with a black nose, black eyes and pink inside the ears. The word pink is in two squares only, so it is the one to hunt for. Easy 8 by 8, 44 squares to color: gray 36, pink 2, black 6. Detailed 12 by 12, 88 squares to color: gray 78, pink 2, black 8.

Four colors or more 3

  • Parrot A red parrot with a yellow beak, a blue wing and a green tail. The detailed grid adds a yellow band on the wing. Easy 8 by 8, 36 squares to color: red 20, yellow 3, blue 7, green 6. Detailed 12 by 12, 77 squares to color: red 43, yellow 12, blue 13, green 9.
  • Stacking rings A toy stack of six rings in rainbow order, red at the top and purple at the bottom. Six color words on one sheet, the most of any picture here. Easy 8 by 8, 40 squares to color: red 4, orange 4, yellow 4, green 6, blue 6, purple 16. Detailed 12 by 12, 94 squares to color: red 10, orange 12, yellow 16, green 20, blue 24, purple 12.
  • Traffic light A black traffic light with red at the top, yellow in the middle and green at the bottom. Each light is four squares on both grids. Easy 8 by 8, 48 squares to color: black 36, red 4, yellow 4, green 4. Detailed 12 by 12, 64 squares to color: black 52, red 4, yellow 4, green 4.

How this list was compiled: Own original pixel pictures, drawn square by square for this page on 8 by 8 and 12 by 12 grids. Each uses only colors named by the 11 basic color words of English, and the pictures are grouped by the color words they practice. The descriptions say what is drawn and make no claim about the real animal or object. Licence: own work

All 11 color words

All 11 color words 11

  • black 5 letters. It starts with bl, as blue does, and ends in ck.
  • blue 4 letters. One of three color words that start with b. It starts with bl, the same two letters as black.
  • brown 5 letters. One of three color words that start with b. The ow says the sound it has in down.
  • gray 4 letters. Spelled gray in American English and grey in British and Commonwealth English. Type either one and the tool reads it as the same color.
Show all 11 color words (7 more)

All 11 color words, continued

  • green 5 letters with a double e. It starts with gr, the same two letters as gray, so a pupil has to read past them.
  • orange 6 letters. The fruit and the color share the word. One of the three longest words here, so it sets the type size on a sheet.
  • pink 4 letters. It starts with p, as purple does, and it has the word ink inside it.
  • purple 6 letters. It starts with p, as pink does, and the letter p comes back in the middle.
  • red 3 letters, the shortest of the 11 words. It sounds out letter by letter: r, e, d.
  • white 5 letters. On these sheets white means leave the square blank, so it is in every ready list. It starts with wh, as when and what do.
  • yellow 6 letters with a double l. The only color word here that starts with y.

How this list was compiled: The 11 basic color terms of English described by Brent Berlin and Paul Kay, checked at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_term on 2026-09-19. The shorter lists are our own groupings, and each includes white because a blank square is labeled white on the sheet. This site is not connected to any crayon maker. Licence: own work

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