Preschool Easy Color by Number 1-5

You know how important coloring skills are, but don’t know where to start? Check out these easy preschool color by number 1-5 worksheets.

The other day my toddler picked up crayons and with a perfect pencil grasp, colored in his Dollar Tree coloring book for several minutes.

My chin hit the floor.

Both my older children struggled with writing and coloring. We had to really work at it.

And here my toddler had just kind of effortlessly picked up on it.

Adults tend to think of coloring as a low-level skill. But there are actually tons of motor skills that a child uses while coloring.

Plus, coloring is an important step in writing development.

Whether your child is struggling to color or a preschool pro, simple color by number worksheets can help your child develop those skills. These cute and easy color by number 1-5 worksheets are a fantastic tool for your child.

Easy Color By Number 1-5

Number recognition and identification are important skills for children. But it’s best to start with a small amount of numerals when your child is just getting started.

You’ll find six free color by number worksheets pdfs in this post. They have the numbers 1-5.

This way your child can get a lot of practice with just a few numbers. They will build mastery more quickly.

Related: Color by Code Worksheets

What are color by numbers?

Color by number worksheets are a coloring sheet that has to be completed in a specific way. A child colors it according to a key.

The key in a color by numbers printable lists the colors and the numbers that represent them.

Color by numbers for 4-year-olds tend to be very simple with just a few numerals.

Related: Color by Letter Worksheets

Is color by numbers good for kids?

Preschool color by numbers worksheets are great for kids. They help children understand that squiggles on a piece of paper hold meaning.

In color by numbers printable pdfs, the numerals don’t have anything to do with a specific quantity. Instead, they symbolically carry meaning.

When children can develop this type of symbolic thinking, it is a foundational skill for learning to read, write, and do math.

What skills do color by numbers work on?

Color by numbers works on many skills including:

number recognition and identification
color names
task persistence
coloring within a line

Number Recognition and Identification

Recognition comes before identification. Often it is when an adult says, “Four,” and the child can locate the numeral 4.

Identification comes after a child recognizes it. Internally they see the numeral four and are able to produce the word four.

We take these skill for granted as adults but these “low level skills” are the foundation for being able to develop number sense and higher level math skills.

Color Names

Like it or not, children need to be able to recognize color names long before they can decode them. If we wait to teach children words like “orange” and “green” when they learn those phonics patterns, they will wait until 2nd grade.

School requires children be famiilar with color names earlier than that. So using an easy color number worksheet helps children learn to read the color names.

Task Persistence

Let’s face it – most preschoolers have very short attention spans. Many of them have low frustration tolerance, too.

Using an easy color by number worksheet, they have the chance to practice paying attention for longer periods of time.

Coloring within the Lines

Learning that the lines represent a boundary is an important skill for children. Since there is a key to follow, children have to adhere to coloring within the lines for the worksheet to appear correctly.

Free Easy Color by Number Worksheets

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Easy Color by Number for Preschool

These are perfect for preschoolers. They have big, bold pictures with crisp, clear lines that make them easy for little kids.

They include these pictures:

butterfly
flowers
dog with a book
stack for books
schoolhouse
cupcake

Each printable also has a key with 3-5 numerals for the numbers one through five. The keys have a crayon with a color name.

Using Easy Color by Numbers 1-5 Worksheets

These cute color by number preschool worksheets are simple to use. Here is my recommendations for using color by numbers worksheets with your preschooler:

Just do one worksheet at a time.
Fill the crayons in the key with the correct color with your child.
Explain which number represents each color.
Ask your child to find the numeral one somewhere in the picture.
Refer back to the key so your child knows which color to use when they see the numeral one.
Show them how to fill in the first section with the correct color following the key.

After that, just offer praise like “you’re focusing hard,” and “I see you filling the space nicely.” You can mentally note the mistakes your child is making.

Then the next time you do a worksheet, you can coach your child ahead of time on the skill you see they need to develop. You could say something like, “Oh here is the number 2, let’s look at the key again to see what color 2 needs to be.”

More Preschool Worksheets

Besides coloring, your preschooler needs to learn a bunch of other academic skills before kindergarten. In addition to color by number for four year olds, these preschool worksheets develop many skills like: