Have you ever wondered why we place so much emphasis on teaching colors and shapes in early childhood and preschool? I mean, why put so much emphasis on colors and shapes rather than letters and numbers?
Between the ages of 18 and 36 months, most children begin to distinguish and identify colors and shapes. This is a big step forward because colors and shapes are important ways to talk about and organize the world around us.
Color recognition begins between the ages of two and three. They will initially concentrate on the primary colours (red, green, blue, and yellow). Once these basic colours are recognized, other colours will be introduced gradually. Learning to name colours can be difficult for some children. The concept of color remains abstract, which adds to the difficulty. The guidelines below will help you understand what to expect:
- By around 2 years of age, children can name 1-2 colors (often their favorites).
- Between the ages of 3 and 4, children can sort objects by color.
- Between the ages of 3 and 4, children can name the primary colors.
- By age 4, they can name more complex colors.
- Around the age of 5, they begin to understand that each color can exist in a variety of shades (dark and light colors), but this concept can sometimes be difficult to understand.
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Which Colors To Teach First?
Young children typically enjoy bright colors. The rainbow has many colors, but first. Begin with bright, eye-catching colors.
- Red
- Green
- Blue
- Yellow
Some tricks that can help:
1. Start Simple
Don’t use too many colors at once to confuse your toddler. Concentrate on two at a time, gradually integrate another color once the previous one dominates.
2. Sort with small, colorful objects
Colors and counting can be learned with fun, simple objects. Toddlers adore little pompoms because they are soft, and they will be delighted to learn alongside them.
3. Separate contrasting colors
To avoid confusing your toddler, use colors that are not at all similar to each other. When they’re learning, items with contrasting colors will stand out more.
4. Use the same items
Make sure you use two identical objects to point out color differences to help them understand the concept of color. Showing your child a red car and a blue block, for example, will lead her to believe that you are naming them differently because the objects are different.
5. Color with crayons
Buy a basic box of crayons and a coloring book. Focus on one color at a time and say its name over and over as your child colors to help them learn the connection between the color and its name.
- You can ask them, “Which color do you want?” If they don’t already know, tell them which one they chose: “That’s red. What do you want to be red? balloon? That balloon is now red. “
Instead, use a blue block and a red block to distinguish the differences.
Colors are best taught through playful experiences in everyday life. Many children readily learn colors when their parents and caregivers point out the color attributes of objects in their environment when they are developmentally ready (for example, “Throw me the green ball” or “Do you want the red or the yellow shirt?”).
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Worsheets for Coloring
You can also ask your children to color match objects using this material. Alternatively, when creating artwork, write down the colors chosen by the child or ask her to name the colors in her drawing.
Color Games to play with Older kids ‘I spay’
A perfect game to spot colours, when they are old enough (around preschool age), is :
“I spy.” Play, “I spy with my little eye, something that is…Red!” Your child must look for red objects in the room. They continue to guess until they get it right. Then they’ve ‘won.’ It’s now your turn to spy!
Playing games makes color learning enjoyable and practical. It aids in the brain’s retention of this information. It also allows you to spend quality time with your little one.
Playing games makes color learning enjoyable and practical. It aids in the brain’s retention of this information. Not to mention that it allows you to spend quality time with littleone .
‘This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla.’
Image source : Canva
Now I understand I was doing it all wrong. I was trying to burden her with all the color.
Beautifully explained thank-you so much .
Children and colours are synonymous. Children’s innocent and playful nature is reflected in their love for colours. It is not surprising then that children are fascinated by rainbows. A rainbow is one of the most beautiful and majestic natural phenomena. It is also a potent symbol of hope. The beauty of a rainbow lies in its colours. Each colour of the rainbow has Its significance. In the same way, each child is the most beautiful and unique creation of God. Both bring joy and hope into our lives. The worksheets will further enhance their cognitive skills. I remember the game from my childhood… The child who plays ‘Den’ would call out “tipy tipy tap” others would respond by asking, “which colour you want” . he would then say a colours name and all would run around to find anything with that color else he would be out.
After reading this beautiful and informative content the first thing that I recalled is my work education teacher of 10th standard. In practical exam she asked me 1 question… which color babies like the most … out of guess I answered RED ….. As yes it was correct. My mam told be the brightness of RED color attract babies by default more.
Identification of colours is probably one of the first learnings that toddlers are subjected to. Colour recognition is one of the first steps in their overall development. You have discussed some really nice ways to enhance this learning.
Very interesting and useful information. I taught my kids color while in nature. They love being around plants so I made it a point to playfully teach them when they are enjoying nature and play at the same time.
This is such an interesting post, my cousin brother is the same age will definitely try these with him
Thank you for sharing this
That’s such a helpful post for the new mommies. I remember my sister teaching colors to my nephew. I think she also used some of these ways.
The great times with my daughters learning colours may have long gone but I would recommend all the ones you’ve highlighted to parents who have toddlers right now. Those are also the ones that I’ve used for my girls to learn their colours years back.
Even though the great times I had teaching my son colors may seem like they happened a long time ago, I would still recommend all of the ways you highlighted to parents who have toddlers right now. I used all of those methods when teaching my son colors, and they worked great.
My son spoke late and the first thing he said was ‘purple’! It amazed us that once he started speaking he knew all the colours alphabets everything!
Colour recognition is the first step they teach in kindergarten and is great for their cognitive development.
Colours is something kids can pick up even before words cause its visually appealing. I loved the ideas that you shared on how to introduce it to toddlers.
Trust me, color and shapes help a lot when kids are growing because it makes conversation easy especially when they try to explain something it surprises you how they include shapes and colors to explain something.
This is an informative post. I remember starting with Primary colours like red, blue and yellow. Then moved to secondary ones like green or orange n so on. That way my daughter even learnt to colour and mix them.
I remember this is how my kids school taught them colors. Much helpful and effective technique to teach them the basics.
Nice post Anjali… there’s a whole science behind teaching children colours… wow! my kids are big now n although I am trying hard to recollect I don’t remember how they learnt colours😛. Your post will be very helpful for new mommies.
With a toddler at home, I relate to this post very well. My little one does enjoy identifying colours and she likes to identify them in various places. Your post is a good guide for all new mothers for sure.
A wonderful blog post. Making kids learn about colours can be an interesting activity for them. Your post can be really very helpful for new mommies.
Your post reminded me of when my kids were younger. My son used to love playing I spy. You are correctly about introducing the colors slowly and not all of them in one go. That confuses the child.
Very well written Anjali. I do the same thing with my child when she was baby. Now she is 8 year old but still we love to play I spy game. I love to play with her and she love to find out colorful things. Will start now with my baby and your post really helpful for me. Thank you.
I didn’t know any of this when I had my babies. Brought them up by instinct. You ladies are lucky you have all the information now. it sure must be wonderful raising kids in the right way.
These are great tips. I am sure parents of toddlers will benefit from this post. Some of the suggestions reminded me of my childhood too.
Red yellow and green are the colours that children notice and learn quickly. This isn’t helpful, going step by step helps them learn easily.
Loved the level of detail you have addressed in this post, especially the bit about how we understand and organize the world using colors and shapes. Such important learning!
Colours and kids are like synonyms. My son all of 4 has great interest in colours. At 2 he would say Purple is his fav and with time colours like Peach and Indigo came into his palette! This post is a great resource to enjoy colours with kids! 😊
Loved this article and will be sharing it with my sister who has a 5-month baby. And she has just started to see bright colours…
Colors and shapes are the initial phases of learning for kids. Mostly all kids understand and capture the color RED instantly. This post is very helpful for new parents in their teaching phase.
Colours. Aren’t they the most fascinating part of our lives? The toddlers get so attracted to them. Love how you explained how to teach them colours. Somehow my kids learnt very easily.
Actually, I have a patient who has a body of 21 yo but a mind of 4 yo. Your tips are effective as you have explained. But can it be tried on him too?
A very useful post. I used to teach craft to kids and have used that to teach them colors, hand-eye coordination, to read time etc
Great post! Thanks for sharing the worksheets!