October 23, 2021

A Spanish Color Word Guide

Learning Spanish through themes is one of the best ways to make language learning concrete. When I first started learning Spanish with my daughter I started with color words.

Color is an easily accessible theme to start with since the idea is so familiar to everyone – children and adults. Colors are literally in the world around us and they have a strong 1:1 relation between word and concept, so new language learners pick them up quickly.

In this article we’ll go through the basic Spanish words and phrases used to talk about colors and then I’ll share several Spanish resources that can support further work with color vocabulary in Spanish.

One way that you can start talking in Spanish right away is to set aside time every day to talk about the colors on their clothing. Their clothing will have different colors each day and it’s something concrete that you can start doing right now.

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Table of Contents

Spanish Color Words and Phrases

Here are some common Spanish color words that you can start to practice with your child. Eventually you’ll want to add more targeted words depending on what you want to describe. This list can get you started with describing basic things and their colors!

los colores (the colors)

rojo (red)

naranja/anaranjado (orange)

amarillo (yellow)

verde (green)

azul (blue)

violeta (violet)

morado (purple)

marron (brown)

negro (black)

gris (gray)

blanco (white)

La hoja es verde. (The leaf is green.)

oscuro (dark)

rojo oscuro (dark red)

claro (light)

azul claro (light blue)

transparente (transparent)

¿Cuál es tu color preferido? (What is your favorite color?)

Mi color preferido es… (My favorite color is..)

Spanish Color Quick Start Guide

There’s a lot of color vocabulary and it can be overwhelming at first. I created a “Quick Start Guide” with some phrases, questions and answers that are already conjugated to help you start talking in Spanish right away.

You can refer to this guide for yourself if you’re learning Spanish as well. It can also be used as reference for your child. When they are first learning to talk about colors, they can point to the relevant picture or read the Spanish translation.

For another Quick Start Guide, check out this one on Spanish Weather Words and Activities!

Talking About Colors With Children

“¿Cuál es tu color preferido/favorito?” or “What’s your favorite color?”

Tell your child that they can respond with,

“Yo prefiero…” or “Me gusta…” (I like…). Even if they don’t know the color word in Spanish they can practice that phrasing,

“Me gusta red!” If their favorite color is on the Quick Start Guide, encourage them to find it and use it, “Me gusta rojo!”

You can continue to talk about colors by pointing to things that you see and asking,

“¿Cuál color es?”

Your child can respond with,

“Es…” or “Es de color…”.

The more that you work with the phrases and practice using them around the house, the more that they will become automatic and you and your child will have them memorized!

As you become more proficient you can research more Spanish color vocabulary to support your talk about colors.

In order to boost your Spanish language time, it’s important to hear and engage with as much Spanish language as possible.

If you stick with the color theme there are several songs and websites that can support your vocabulary and learning.

Spanish Color Songs

When you’re learning a new language, listening to music can be a great way to increase your language input time. There are several Spanish color songs that are great for supporting your work with color words and vocabulary. Here are some of our family favorites that we’ve enjoyed:

Little Baby Bum: This is a great source for Spanish nursery rhymes and translated songs in Spanish. Here’s one of their color songs that we’ve included on several of our Spanish playlists – La Cancion De Los Colores .

De Colores: This is probably the most well known Spanish color songs. “De Colores” is a traditional Spanish folk song that is well known in most Spanish speaking places. Even though it doesn’t actually list the names of the colors, it’s a great way to incorporate Spanish culture and music into your learning. This is our favorite version by Jose – Luis Orozo.

Guia Infantil – This site is made for Spanish families looking for resources in Spanish for their children, so if you can’t read Spanish well, it may be hard to navigate their site. However, they have great resources and most of their materials are originally created in Spanish and are not translations. It has some great color songs and videos with “Oso Traposo”. Here’s a link to one of the color songs that we’ve enjoyed – Aprende Los Colores Con Oso Traposo

Websites With Spanish Color Resources

When you’re working with a theme, you’ll want to be able to access a variety of resources. Here are two other websites that have good Spanish color resources that you can use for learning with your family.

Spanish Playground– There is a whole resource page dedicated to color activities. It includes book lists and printables for working with colors in Spanish.

Spanish Mama– This site includes a mini starter course in working with colors. It includes song lyrics and a variety of activities that you can try at home with kids.

Spanish Color Books

Reading in Spanish is a great way to include Spanish comprehensible input into your day. There are so many great Spanish books that work with color words that you can use to support your Spanish theme work. Here are a few of our favorites that we have and read at home.