One of the reasons that colors are so difficult to understand is because they exist all around us all the time and in such great variety. It’s much easier for children to distinguish between two distinct shapes than it is for them to compare two different colors. [4] X Research source The more examples your child has, the more likely they are to understand a color. So, even if they don’t get specific colors early in their development, repeated exposure to a color like red through verbal identification and active lessons (like sock matching and finger painting) will help them refine the concept as they grow. [5] X Research source You can start teaching colors from infancy using everyday conversation. For example, if your baby reaches for the red ball in a ball bin, you can highlight that action by saying “You chose the red ball! That ball is red. ” This offers the baby the language for the action and item they chose. [6] X Expert Source Bianca Solorzano, M. Ed. Infant Development & Montessori Consultant Expert Interview. 1 November 2021.
All children learn differently, but it’s generally a good idea to introduce no more than one new color per week. You can have fun with this by assigning colors for each week–Blue Week, Red Week, Yellow Week, and so on. Gear your activities towards the week’s color. Serve blue foods; have them wear blue clothing; give them blue paint to play with, etc. Even if you’re focusing on one color, it’s helpful to start by having another color for comparison. Your child will be more likely to understand what “green” is if they have an example of what green is not. You might, for instance, present them with two balls and say, “This one is green; that one is not green. ”
For instance, you should use a green block and yellow block of the same size to help your child distinguish between the two colors. Don’t use a green block and a yellow ball because the child might get distracted or confused by the difference in shapes.
For instance, if you use orange and red fruit snacks for a lesson, your child can interact with the objects on many different sensory levels. Being able to touch, smell, and taste the learning tools will make their learning more active, which helps the lessons sink in. If you’re trying to get your child to remember the names of various colors, try introducing a video that teaches them a song. That way, their verbal memory will be activated by exciting sounds and visuals. If you want to combine dancing with catchy rhyming lyrics, try The Teaching Station’s “Color Song. ”[11] X Research source If you want to go color by color, try The Busy Beaver’s popular collection of “Color Songs” that run from red to “grandma’s purple car. ”[12] X Research source
For instance, your youngster is more likely to understand blue as blue if you say, “This block is blue,” than if you say, “This is a blue block. ” Keep this mind while you give any lessons about color, and your kids will retain what they’ve learned much better. [13] X Research source
You can even introduce bath toys to match the weekly bath color. Let them play with a rubber ducky during Yellow Week or a blue boat during Blue Week.
If you’re focusing on a particular color, serve them food of that color. If it’s red week, give them strawberries and beets. If it’s blue week, have blueberries for dessert. For more advanced learners, you can use a cereal like Fruit Loops to your advantage by having your child name the colors. Pick out a single loop in their spoon, and ask your toddler: “Can you tell me what color this is?”
Remember to start easy, with socks that are solid colors. You want the learning to be challenging but not frustrating for your toddler. For another version of this lesson, try making the family’s socks into a game. You can put out two baskets, one with a pair of white socks and one with a pair of colored socks. As you roll each new pair, have your youngster toss it into the basket where they think it belongs.
For instance, you can tell them, “Put on a green shirt,” “Put on a red skirt,” or “Put on a yellow necklace. ” If you’re focusing on a particular color, ask your child to dress themselves in that particular hue. A simple morning lesson could be: “It’s Blue Week; Ashley, can you pick out some pants that are blue?” Be sure to help them with each selection until they’re confident enough to do it themselves.
You can start simply, by only using two blocks. “This block is red. This block is not red. Which one is red?” Once your child is able to consistently identify the red block, ask them to pick out the other red blocks from among the set.
You can ask them, “which color do you want?” When they select one, be sure to say which they picked if they don’t already know: “That’s red. What would you like to make red? The dog? Now that dog is red. ”
Be sure to limit the mess by using large sheets of paper and putting newspaper or butcher paper underneath. You can brew up your own kid-safe paint at home by boiling a half a cup of cornstarch in two cups water. When it reaches the desired consistency, divide it into dishes and add food coloring to make it the color(s) you’d like. [19] X Research source
Try iPad’s Speak Colors app to help children learn how to say color names aloud and use them in full sentences. Color Me Pete for the iPad is an excellent tool for helping kids visually recognize colors in their immediate environment. It uses the tablet’s camera by challenging children to locate a particular color in the space around them. When your child thinks they’ve found a match, they can snap a pic, and the app with tell them if they’ve correctly identified the color or not.
