Learn the seven benefits of using the Waldorf colors of the day in your home or classroom.
One of the many ways to create rhythm in our lives and our children’s lives is to observe the Waldorf colors of the day, where each day of the week has a corresponding color associated with it. Learn more about creating a daily rhythm or routine HERE.
What is the Color of the Day?
In Waldorf education, a color is assigned to each day of the week to help parents and educators bring a sense of rhythm and harmony to a young child’s daily life and world.
Creating household rhythms, and using the daily color, benefit the developing child in several ways. Add the colors of the week to your daily Waldorf rhythm and weekly routine to help decrease tantrums and conflicts at home or school, make daily transitions a breeze, and help your children learn, grow, and thrive!
What are the Waldorf Colors of the Day?
Here’s a list of the colors of the day–scroll down to see a color chart for each of the days of the week.
The Waldorf colors for the days of the week are:
- Monday = purple day
- Tuesday = red or pink day
- Wednesday = yellow day
- Thursday = orange or brown day
- Friday = green day
- Saturday = blue day
- Sunday = white day
Children and caregivers can both benefit when a basic daily rhythm is followed. The Waldorf colors of the day can help parents and educators create a sense of rhythm and order in the home or classroom.
A specific color is associated with each day of the week in Waldorf education, but every day is a rainbow day!
In other words, if you would like to follow the Waldorf colors of the day in your home or classroom, encourage your children to wear something with the day’s color. Because rainbow-colored clothing contains each of the colors of the day, you can wear rainbow-colored clothing any day of the week!
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Waldorf Colors for the Days of the Week
The graphic image below shows the daily color for each day of the week. Get your own printable copy in Home & School Tools for Kids. But first, grab your copy of the QuickStart Weekly Planning Guide (if you haven’t already) because new subscribers get a sweet deal on the entire Family Systems Toolbox!
7 Benefits of Using the Color of the Day
Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education, shared the importance of creating a strong daily rhythm and weekly routine with parents and educators worldwide. He believed that following daily, weekly and seasonal rhythms were important for supporting the healthy growth and development of the child.
There are several unique ways to observe or use the Waldorf daily color. For example, when my husband and I owned and operated a Waldorf-inspired childcare, we wore the day’s color, occasionally did art and craft projects using the color of the day, and allowed the colors of the week to guide us through our daily routines and rhythms.
As a result, we discovered the many benefits this had on the children we took care of–and how much easier it made our lives. We found seven benefits of using the Waldorf color of the day in our home, and maybe you can, too!
1. Getting Dressed is Easier When the Waldorf colors of the week are followed
I find it much easier to get dressed in the morning when I only have to choose between items with the Waldorf color of the day. Instead of seeing an overwhelming abundance of clothing options to choose from, they change each day to reflect the day’s color.
This makes my wardrobe look new again every morning, and there are fewer items to choose from since my selections have been limited to those with the day’s color. In the past, I struggled with what to wear every morning, but now it’s a no-brainer, and I enjoy getting dressed each morning–give it a try!
Fewer clothing options make it much easier to choose what to wear each and every day. Best of all, your wardrobe options will rotate daily to decrease wardrobe burnout, and less will become more. Even my mom and husband have joined the color of the day parade!
When we first started using the Waldorf colors of the week in our home, I gave my baby daughter two options each morning that contained the day’s color, and she pointed to one.
Today she jumps out of bed, knowing the day’s color, and excitedly picks out an outfit with the color of the day. Or, she selects an accessory with the daily color, such as a hair bow. Another great tool to help children stay in rhythm and on task are visual routine cards.
Related: Rainbow Art Projects and Craft Ideas
2. Kids know what to expect when you use the Daily Color.
When you use the color of the day and have a daily routine and weekly rhythm in place, children learn what to expect on any given day.
For example, when I operated a home-based childcare, we followed a Waldorf daily rhythm of rotating activities that corresponded with the Waldorf colors of the day.
And over time, the children in our care learned that we did an indoor activity following breakfast, and we went outside before lunch. So after breakfast, the children learned to start the daily activity while I cleaned the kitchen.
We wore clothes with the day’s color to remind the children of the Waldorf daily color, and we color-coded the shelves so the kids would know which activity to get out based on the color I was wearing. And it worked–it was a miracle!
After that, I was sold on the benefits of following a Waldorf daily rhythm and using the Waldorf colors of the week.
Implementing the color of the day, along with a daily and weekly rhythm, was the absolute best thing I ever did for my in-home childcare. The children thrived, and I kept my sanity–it doesn’t get any better than that!
Related: Nature Study for Kids
3. Following the Waldorf Daily Color can make transitions a breeze.
Children will learn the basic order of their day when you combine the Waldorf colors of the day with regular school and household rhythms. Okay, maybe it’s a little less than a breeze on some days. But most days are made easier when the colors of the week are followed.
When children know what to expect, they are better prepared for daily transitions so they won’t collapse at every turn of the stick. They will still throw a tantrum here and there, it’s unavoidable, I’m afraid! But following a solid daily rhythm can help lessen the impact and turn those no-good, terrible, very bad days into a thing of the past.
Using a visual routine chart with visual routine cards can also be very helpful for young children (toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, and young school-aged children) and children with special needs. And this list of self-regulation strategies for kids can also help make transitions easier and keep emotional meltdowns at bay.
4. Kids learn the names of colors quickly and easily when the Colors of the days of the week are used.
We never had to ‘teach’ our daughter her colors. She just picked them up naturally as we flowed from day to day and week to week using the Waldorf colors of the week.
She knew all the basic colors (and quite a few more) by the time she was 18 months old. And the other kids in our care learned their colors just as quickly and easily.
5. the Waldorf colors of the week can lessen conflicts at home and school.
Many conflicts at home and school can be averted, if not eliminated altogether, when the colors of the week, self-regulation strategies, and household routines are followed.
Getting dressed in the morning becomes a joy, daily happenings and chores become commonplace, and children fight much less often. Just make sure you wash the laundry at least once a week–and all will be well in the world–lol!
6. Young children can remember the day’s color much easier than the names of the days of the week.
Colors are much easier for children to associate with daily and weekly happenings than the odd names adults commonly use. In other words, it is much easier for toddlers and preschoolers to remember that we go swimming on “Blue Day” than on “Saturday.” And, when you wear the daily color, it makes it even easier for kids to remember what to expect and where they are in the week.
Children also begin to know that “Blue Day” follows “Green Day” much more quickly than they learn that “Saturday” follows “Friday.” If you tell your child on “Monday” that you will be going to Grandma’s on “Friday,” they have difficulty understanding what that means.
When you tell a child on “Purple Day” that we will be going to grandma’s house on “Green Day,” they will have a much better grasp of what that means because they can learn the color days much faster.
Related: Waldorf Alphabet Books for Kids
7. Your family will always be photo-ready when you follow the Waldorf colors of the day.
As we were heading out on our daily walk, my mother noticed that we all looked like we were heading to a photo shoot in our daily color. Ever since that day, we often laugh at how ‘photo-ready’ we are.
We love being photo-ready every day, and many of our daily candid shots are fantastic because of the Waldorf colors of the day.
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Related: The Best Art Supplies for Kids and Why Young Artists Should Use Them
How to Establish a Waldorf Rhythm in your Home or Classroom
- How to Establish a Daily Rhythm
- Visual Routine Cards
- Household Rhythms: The Power of Routine in the Home
- 10 Reasons to Make Rhythm and Routine a Habit
- Organize Your Entire Life with the Power of Rhythm
Adding the Waldorf colors of the day to your daily rhythm has many benefits. Using the Waldorf colors of the week can help lessen conflicts in the home, make daily and weekly happenings a breeze, and allow children to learn, grow and thrive. Give it a try today!
Learn more about Rhythms of Play HERE!
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I love structure myself and can see the benefits of raising kids in a structured form but I also let myself the freedom of choosing where to go out. We always go out in the mornings when kids don’t go to preschool but we decide on the spot where to go : park, library or any other places. What happens if it’s raining on a yellow or purple day and you can’t go to the park? Doesn’t this lead to a melt down?
This is a great point Stef. We have rainy day special activities that come out so we haven’t had a melt down about that yet. I really find being regular about when we do things supports my child and the children in my care. It makes our day run smoothly and we get a lot more done. With that said, what works for one child may not necessarily work for another. It’s important to learn what works best for our children and do our best to meet those needs.
This is such a sweet idea! x
Thanks Jess!
Wow. I never thought of doing this and it is so simple. I may have to try this with my family. Thanks
You’re welcome Alecia, it really works for us and is oh so helpful when dealing with a sensitive child like ours 🙂
This is a great idea. My littlest one does so much better when she has a schedule. And not just the kids even- this would help my mom cut out the 15 minutes she spends every day deciding what to wear to work, lol!
Thank you for every other informative blog!
Thanks, Mervin! So glad you approve!
great post and ideas thanks for sharing it with us
Your welcome! Using the color of the day makes life so much more colorful and fun! Enjoy!
I love this article and I understand why colours of the day are important. What I don’t understand is where the order of the colours came from? Why is Monday purple? Tuesday red etc? Does anyone know the origination of the choice of colours and why that order was chosen? I thought perhaps the colours were based on the planets, Tuesday, Mars so red but only two make sense this way to me! Any insights?! Many thanks.
Hi Nicola!
I have often wondered the same thing, and have not found an answer. I wondered why it did not go in rainbow order and searched for Steiner’s original thoughts to learn why, but never found them. I have also asked a few Waldorf instructors and so far, no one knows for sure. I do know that Rudolf Steiner studied color and worked to expand upon Goethe’s theory on color, and the placement on the color wheel may have something to do with it? If you ever find out, please come back and comment again to let me know!
The reasons the colors are as they are is actually based upon the names of the days of the week (but in Latin). The Latin days of the weeks were named for the 7 known “planets” visible to the naked eye (“planet” refers to a moving “star” or celestial “body,” because the ancient world did not see these bodies in the sky as they are now seen in mainstream/current times). The sun is white at high noon. The moon acts a lot like “black light” (those bulb often look purple; indeed it is largely “ultraviolet A”). Tuesday is “Mardi” in French and “Martes” in Spanish, named for Mars, the “red planet.” Etc. The symbolic significances are traditional to Western civilization. I’ve heard Steiner recommended different colors (than Westerners would expect) for different cultures (Hindu, Somali, etc.) because color symbolism is different. This symbolism “should” have made the memorization of the weekly colors easier for adults. If you knew the planets associated with the days, the color-associations would be more intuitive, perhaps even obvious! One of the more “philosophical” benefits of the “colors of the day” is that it can give “leaps” of insight into “why” a lot of things are the way they are, including why a play might be costumed and lit with a tri-chromatic color-scheme, or why certain colors might be used in a particular poet’s poem. Color is hugely versatile. You can keep it light and fun, or the more “broody” among us can turn to them to glean clues to “Life’s secrets.” I’m sorry I don’t have sources to cite for this information. I’ve worked amidst Steiner education since 2002, and I’m in the process of moving, so all my Steiner/Waldorf books are boxed up. I only found this blog as I was searching online for aprons to wear to work, and I thought it might be fun to see if any Waldorfy types made or sold such things… Just couldn’t help answering…
Just realized I didn’t explain “how” the moon “acts light (purply) black light.” Ever notice how white things seem to glow in full moonlight (as long as no artificial light is interfering)? Black light sure does the same thing to the white shoelaces on my sneakers, just even more so…
Thank you Charmane for your thoughtful comments. Your insights as a Waldorf educator are very informative. I am aware of the daily planets (and grains), but did not know that they were the reason for the colors of the week. That makes perfect sense, thank you! I always appreciate learning more about Steiner and Waldorf education by those that have been committed to it for as long as you have. Thank you for your awareness. Finding direct answers to the questions I seek about Waldorf education is often like finding a needle in a haystack. Sometimes I will read an entire lecture just to find the answer to one question that I have!
Thanks again for your comments,
Nell
Hello 🙂
I’m relatively new to both world of Waldorf and parenting.
I’m wondering the rationale/intentionality behind the the order of colors for the days of the week and why they are in a order than the colors of the rainbow. I imagine there is an answer, I just can’t find it ANYWHERE I have looked.
Thanks,
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
Great question, I have been told that the colors of the days of the week have to do with the planets, and have planned to research it a bit more myself. I will publish it here when I do!
Thanks for asking,
Nell