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Help the Puppy

Hide a paper bone under one of several colorful houses. Name a color, match a color card, and help the puppy search for its missing bone.

  • 2 years
  • Some prep
  • At home
  • About 15 minutes
Focus
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Developmental benefits

  • Language：Hearing color words repeatedly while searching for the puppy’s bone helps your child connect more color names with what they see.
  • Cognitive：Comparing a color card with the paper houses gives your child practice matching objects that are the same color.

Preparation

What You’ll Need

  1. 1

    Colored cardstock cut into several house shapes, plus one rectangular color card for each color

  2. 2

    a toy puppy

  3. 3

    a bone shape cut from white paper

Step 1

Find the Bone

Begin with a few house colors your child already knows. Hide the paper bone under one house and pretend the puppy cannot find it. Name a color and ask your child to look beneath that house. If the bone is not there, name another color and keep searching until the puppy finds it.

What to notice

  • Responds to game words such as “bone” and “house” Vocabulary
  • Finds the house in the color you name Emergent Mathematical Thinking

Tips

  • If your child cannot find the named house, show the matching color card as a visual clue.
  • To skip the house craft, use plain rectangles of colored cardstock large enough to cover the bone.

Step 2

Add New Colors

Add several house colors that are new to your child and name them together. Then show one color card at a time, say its color, and ask your child to find the house with the same color.

What to notice

  • Asks what an unfamiliar color is called Communicating and Speaking
  • Matches a house to a color card Emergent Mathematical Thinking

Tips

  • Adjust how many new colors you add to your child’s pace. Add another only when the current choices feel manageable.
  • The color card makes the match visible even before your child remembers the color word, keeping the search within reach.

Step 3

Find It Without the Card

Once the new colors are becoming familiar, hide the bone again. Name one of the new colors and let your child search without seeing the color card first. If they forget what the color looks like, bring out the card as a clue. Celebrate each time the bone is found.

What to notice

  • Finds a newly introduced color without seeing its color card Vocabulary
  • Celebrates after finding all the colors Sense of Identity and Belonging

Tips

  • After the colors are familiar, add a number or letter to each house and use the same search game to explore those symbols.
  • Repeat the color name after each choice: “Oh, the bone isn’t under the purple house.”
  • Use the color cards less often as the names become familiar. Let your child think first, then offer the matching card if they still need a clue.

Better Parenting Content Team · Updated September 11, 2026