Teaching Colors (mga kulay) in Tagalog:
One of the early basic concepts we teach children is colors. No matter what language your family speaks, color is such a universal concept because our world is surrounded by color. From the food we eat, to the toys they play with, to the color of their hair and clothes, colors are something that children interact with daily.
Because colors are easily found around us, it can easily be applied in daily conversation and to apply the Tagalog vocabulary.
Our featured Filipino children’s book is:
Oh My Kulay! is a vibrant, well-composed concept book that teaches Tagalog words for colors, fruits, and vegetables.
This adorable book was written by Dr. Jocelyn Francisco and illustrated by Jamie Lee Ortiz. The pages have an easy-to-read and clear font for kids and bright pictures of fruits and vegetables. It is a wonderful bilingual concept book for little ones!
Virtual Storytime of Oh My Kulay!
- Watch and listen to a read-aloud of Oh My Kulay! on Bahay Book Club here. (It requires signing up for an account, but there is a free plan. AND there are even more episodes of other Filipino children’s books!)
See more of Joy Franisco’s books in her Filipino children’s series for at thelittleyellowjeepney.com.
Tagalog Colors/ Mga Kulay Audio Glossary
- Red = Pula
- Orange = Kulay dalandan
- Yellow = Dilaw
- Green = Berde
- Blue = Bughaw
- Purple = Lila
- Pink = Kulay rosas
- Brown = Kayumanggi
- Black = Itim
- White = Puti
- What color is this? = Anong kulay nito?
- What color is that? = Anong kulay iyan?
- What is your favorite color? = Ano ang paborito mong kulay?
Other books about colors:
There are a few Tagalog children’s books as resources but here are a few that we found:
Colors in Tagalog (by Mary Aflague and illustrated by Gerard Aflague)
Caroline’s Color Dreams (written by Tanner Call and Joshua Timothy) is a bilingual book about a girl named Caroline who has a colorful dream and learns about the color wheel.
Here are some other suggested activities to teach and reinforce colors:
Sing songs about the colors in Tagalog
Here is a video that teaches colors and other educational concepts in Tagalog.
Below are two Fil-Am Learners original songs for individual colors.
More songs to come in the future …
Sort items by color
(e.g. sorting laundry, sorting toys, food, things out in nature, or anything that interests your child). 
Printable activities
- Use the printable mini-booklet “Mga Kulay/Colors” below to practice writing the color words, and drawing a picture to represent each color.
- Below is a lesson activity packet reviewing colors in Tagalog. It is geared for preschool through elementary age children and can be used to practice in class or at home.
Playdough Playmats
Playing with playdough is an engaging sensory activity for kids. There are so many ways to use playdough to learn and use your creativity. On the playmats, the kids will be able to:
- Shape the playdough to spell the color word in Tagalog.
- Create an object of that color using the playdough.
- Use their creativity to make their own playdough creation with the same color.
(Helpful tip for playmats: Print on cardstock and laminate each page for durability & for repeated hands-on fun!)
You can buy playdough or find playdough recipes online. To get you started, here is a list of 20 playdough recipes (from Paging Fun Mums)
Alternative to Playdough: Playfoam
If you aren’t a big fan of playdough, Playfoam is another option to build creations. It’s squishy and easy to sculpt. A huge benefit is that it never dries out. Learn more about Playfoam here.
Head over here to get access to your Tagalog Colors (Mga Kulay) Playdough Playmats
There are so many interactive ways to teach colors in a new language! What are some ways you incorporate teaching your children colors? Please share more ideas not included in this post or let us know if you’ve implemented any of the ones we shared.