Colours are one of the most satisfying things to teach in any language. They are bright, everywhere you look, and students pick them up fast. This is a complete, no-prep Japanese game you can run in about fifteen minutes, and it gets every student listening, speaking and having fun. The printable colour flashcards you need are free to download below.

Free printable: Japanese colours flashcards

Ten bright cards with the colour swatch, the Japanese word in hiragana, the pronunciation and the English. Print, cut and play, no login needed.

Download the free flashcards (PDF) →

The colours you'll need

The whole game runs on these ten colours. The pronunciation is written in our alphabet next to the Japanese, so you can say each one with confidence.

JapaneseEnglish
あか  akared
あお  aoblue
きいろ  kiiroyellow
みどり  midorigreen
しろ  shirowhite
くろ  kuroblack
ちゃいろ  chairobrown
ピンク  pinkupink
むらさき  murasakipurple
オレンジ  orenjiorange

How to play "Nan iro?" (What colour?)

The aim is simple: hear a colour called out in Japanese, and be the first to grab the matching card. It takes two minutes to explain and students pick it up instantly.

1
Give each small group a full set of the printed colour cards, laid face-up so every colour is visible. Keep one master set at the front for yourself.
2
Say a colour out loud, for example aka for red. Start slowly and repeat each colour a couple of times while students learn the words.
3
The first student to snatch the correct colour keeps the card, but only if they say the word aloud to claim it. That way everyone gets speaking practice every turn.
4
Keep calling colours at a quickening pace. After a few rounds, the student with the most cards in each group wins. Shuffle and play again, it is always requested.
Teacher tip: if the grabbing gets too lively, switch to "point, don't snatch", where students simply place a finger on the correct colour. Same learning, calmer classroom.

Three bright ways to level it up

A
Colour hunt: call a colour in Japanese and students race to touch something that colour in the room. A brilliant way to get everyone moving.
B
Nan iro? quiz: hold up an object and the class calls out its colour in Japanese. Great for quick recall.
C
Memory match: print two sets and play pairs face-down, saying each colour aloud on every flip.

Why this game works

Colours are concrete and visual, which makes the vocabulary stick fast. Students hear each word many times without it feeling like drilling, the snatching adds just enough excitement to keep everyone focused, and saying the colours aloud builds pronunciation and confidence. Fifteen minutes of this does more for recall than a worksheet ever could, with almost no preparation.

If your class loves it, explore more Japanese with our ideas for Japanese culture in the classroom, our guide to teaching hiragana, or the beginner's guide to teaching Japanese.

Want the full Japanese program?

Our Japanese resources include print-and-go worksheets, hiragana practice, no-prep lessons and a full-year program, mapped to Kindergarten through Year 6 and the Australian Curriculum.

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