2 year old knows colors
This is how I taught my toddler to identify colors | by Karen Williams | Modern Parent
I couldn’t wait to introduce the beautiful world of colors to my toddler.
Generally, children learn to identify colors by 18 months. They can name different colors by the age of 2.5–3 years. However, sometimes it can be frustrating for parents as teaching colors is not as easy as other activities, say like teaching numbers.
Credit: Unsplash“Max can speak 1 to 10 and few alphabets, but when it comes to color identification, whether I show him a blue object or green, he always defaults all objects as blue” says my colleague, Melissa, who is a mom to three-year-old Max.
Teaching your toddler to identify a toy, shoes, or names of the vehicles may seem less complicated than teaching colors as the latter is an abstract concept. Color is a visual perceptual property of any object.
When it came to teaching my son colors, I decided to adopt the following methods:
I started teaching my son colors as soon as he turned two. Toddlers usually love bright colors. I started with the basic colors first: Red, green, yellow, blue. The primary goal was to let him understand the concept of these basic colors before going beyond.
To stimulate these young brains is a tedious task and demands patience and creativity.
I involved my two-year-old in cooking and shopping at par with his age level.
While cooking I usually kept a few raw vegetables in front of my son. He loves to touch and play with different vegetables.
When he would ask me which vegetable that is, I’d say the name of the vegetable with its color. Say, red tomato.
As I served different foods, I introduced the food items with their color. Like green vegetables, white rice, brown bread, red pepper, yellow lentil soup, etc.
According to studies, there’s a strong influence of music on a child’s development.
That’s what I did!
I created a YouTube playlist of audio-visual animated songs and rhymes teaching shades and watched them with my son.
Children tend to remember rhymes easily as it provides a practical example to a certain extent. This exercise worked wonders for my son!
Your toddler is still learning new words every day. If you compare two different objects while teaching color, you would make the process more complicated.
It will be easier for a child to distinguish the colors of a red ball and a green balloon/ball than a red ball and green sweater. Comparing two identical objects will make the differentiation between the colors more clear.
So that’s what I did! I compared two tops, with the color — red shirt, white shirt. My son started to distinguish colors quite effectively with this exercise.
Credit: UnsplashOther things that are close to children’s hearts are games and toys. I got my son a few attractive and brightly colored toys, puzzle games, alphabet blocks, color matching, and memory games, etc.
I let them play and explore the world of colors while learning alphabets, numbers.
This is a very passive but effective way of introducing colors during playtime.
How interesting would it be to give a modern touch to traditional learning! On weekends, I often asked my toddler to collect the objects of the same color and then ask him to draw them in a color picture book.
We even took the photo prints of the objects with the same color and organized them in our little scrapbook. My kid will definitely love to see this self-made book again and again.
Toddlers learn by touching various objects, more interestingly, of different colors.
Credit: UnsplashTo enhance my son’s sensory skills and creativity, I engaged him in finger painting and hand painting.
This pulled his attention to different bright colors and he was more interested to learn them.
I would drape a clean vinyl cloth on the table where he would be painting. This would help me rinse the place easily and quickly.
I would let my son pick the crayon of his choice and scribble with it on the paper, then label his art with the name of the color.
This would keep him engaged in a fun (screen-free) activity while teaching him about the world of color!
I took advantage of the ‘favorite dressing’ phenomenon of my child and tagged his favorite dressing with names of their colors.
My son loves a red tee and blue pants. Whenever he points out his favorite clothes, I always tell him that even today you will wear the same red tee and blue pants. With repetition, he has learned at least these two colors very easily.
Whenever we are outdoors, my son loves to observe various things and animals around and asks me bundles of questions.
I don’t miss this opportunity to teach him many new things. He often points out and asks me the colors of the dogs on the street and this way he learns colors when outdoors.
Getting closer to nature is another beautiful way to teach colors to your kid. It is one of the biggest modes of teaching I used for my son. I started off by introducing the colors of leaves, tree trunk, green grass, colorful butterflies, and various birds like a green parrot, grey pigeon, and so on.
Slowly and steadily, my son started to understand the colors around him.
You could also try this with the help of an activity learning kit such as Flintoclass@HOME.
Credit: Ashley IziksonFlintoclass is a research-based learning program that provides hands-on activities and pre-recorded guidance sessions to children between the ages of 1.5 to 6 years. All the materials are shipped directly to your doorstep!
The Flintoclass@HOME curriculum is research-driven, child-centric, and aims to ensure that every child is provided with the best resources during the vital stages of development. In fact, the curriculum is a culmination of methodologies including Playway, John Dewey, Waldorf, and Multiple Intelligence.
As a member of the team, I can vouch for the number of parents who absolutely love this program for their children. Here’s how it works:
Flintoclass@HOME follows a blended learning approach with pre-recorded interactive sessions and hands-on activities. The monthly kit gets delivered with daily activities, instructions, revision materials, and a parent dashboard to track a child’s progress.
The activities in the box can help your child develop many skills while learning about a variety of concepts including colors, shapes, numbers, and more!
Related: Everything you need to know about Flintoclass@HOME Learning Program
These were the 10 sure-shot fun learning ways that I adopted to teach my son colors. They also helped improve his motor skills, hand-eye coordination and control, and language.
How did you introduce colors to your toddler? Let me know!
When Do Toddlers Learn Colors? Experts Say There's Not A Hard Rule
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by Cat Bowen
Children are constantly awash in a world of brightly colored toys and clothing designed to pique their visual interest from their infancy through childhood. Learning to differentiate between these shades is a huge developmental milestone, but when do toddlers learn colors? It feels essential that they recognize their bright red overalls as bright red, or that marker they've been sleeping with for three weeks as the perfect shade of yellow, right?
Like almost all of the major developmental milestones, it will happen in its own time, but there is a range that is considered average.
Board-certified developmental and behavioral pediatrician Dr. Eboni Hollier from Houston, Texas tells Romper, "Around 18 months of age, many toddlers begin to recognize colors." That's not to say that they're suddenly going to be strolling through Target with you, demanding that you buy them the turquoise socks instead of the green ones (that comes later). Hollier says, "It is typically a bit later that toddlers are able to name colors. Most children can name at least one color by the age of 3 years."
Even between my own children, there was a pretty vast difference between when they each learned their colors. My son was able to group and name colors from the moment he developed the language to do so. Meanwhile, my daughter took her time, and instead of naming colors would group them together. Even at a very early age, she had a hierarchy of colors that she liked. (Turquoise and purple: yay. Green and orange: get thee away.) She was almost 3 before she found the words for them.
Since then, my life has been an expensive comedy of errors due to her excessive need for everything to match head-to-foot, but other than that, she had no problems catching up with her brother.
Hollier says that's because "the time that many children experience a 'language explosion' is between 18 to 30 months of age," and that it "is a great time to begin teaching many concepts, including colors."
Melanie Hartmann, a former Head Start assessment psychologist, agrees with Hollier, telling Romper that most children "begin to name their first colors by 2.5 years of age" during that language explosion. If they learn to differentiate and name colors a little later than that, it doesn't mean that it's time to worry. Researchers wrote in Scientific American that, inevitably, parents want to compare their children to others, and if they notice that their children aren't developing as swiftly as others, they worry that there is something wrong. But it couldn't be further from the truth. While it is the case that if your child is falling outside average parameters there might be cause for concern (such as color blindness or a language delay), most of the time, it's nothing to worry about.
Color identification, according to the article, is a unique monster. Where there are ways to help children speak a little sooner, read a little sooner, learn math a little more quickly, Scientific American wrote that there is no way to move this along. It has to do with the complex system of how children learn words and language, as well as develop the visual acuity required to learn to differentiate between each color. It can be influenced by myriad factors, including languages spoken in the house, and the culture and community in which children are raised.
The concept is so difficult that it makes sense that children would need time to figure it all out. It is easy to believe that noting and noticing color differences is intuitive and natural, but that's not the case. If you're worried about your child, definitely talk to their pediatrician, but chances are, it's all fine, and you, too, will be figuring out how to special order soccer socks in just the right shade of banana yellow to match their jersey.
Experts:
Dr. Eboni Hollier, Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrician
Melanie Hartmann, former Head Start assessment psychologist
The child does not know colors - 3 tips from psychologists, consultations
Hello, to calm your suspicions, go to the optometrist to find out if your vision is developing correctly. Try with your daughter not to name colors, but for example, lay out objects and ask her to find objects of the same color. Look for what is green in the room, and what is yellow, etc.
Vasilevskaya Ekaterina Andreevna, psychologist Minsk
Hello, Elena Alexandrovna!
First of all, I would like to draw your attention to the following:
- We do not subject anyone else except children to constant standardization. Of course, there are general principles of developmental psychology, but still you should not demand too much: what a child should or should not do at a particular age. If the child will not distinguish colors when he goes to school, then there is cause for concern.
For now, no.
- Never compare your children. Firstly, because they are just different people. Secondly, so that later they don’t have complexes who is better than (which for children almost automatically means who they love more). Most likely, there are things that the youngest daughter began to do earlier or better.
- Do not confuse two concepts: development and training . At this age, the child needs to be developed more, and not taught (that is, demand a result). You are engaged with the baby, develop her - and this is the most important thing.
Elena Alexandrovna! Read on your question:
http://prosto-club.ru/blog/blog_detail/?userKey=2
Love and patience to you.
If you need help, please contact us. I will be happy to help you.
Psychologist Marina Nikulina, St. Petersburg. Face-to-face consultations, skype
Hello Elena Aleksandrovna!
You are doing the right thing by paying timely attention to the activities and development of your child.
I want to note that in no case should you compare the skills and abilities of your children with brothers or sisters. Children born from the same mother can have completely different abilities in development. You need to be patient and study the primary colors in more depth.
Introduce the names of colors into the child's conversation and play, but not as pressure: "Tell me, what color is this?" It's better to say, "I'm building a red tower. Find me another red block. Here's one," and show the red block. Or: "I think it's a green cube." When will the child respond with interest to a question like "Where are the red cubes?" or "What color is your blouse?", this will mean that in his mind the word for color has connected with the visual image.
Use any everyday situation to once again reinforce the child's understanding of the color characteristics of objects. Ask the child what color to give him an apple - green or red, what color will we tie a bow today? etc.
Do not forget to praise your child!!! The child will be pleased to hear when you say that he is well done, clever, while he will try to answer correctly and learn faster.
You will succeed, good luck!
Khitrova Olesya Gennadievna, psychologist in Chelyabinsk
Learning colors: how to teach a child to distinguish colors and shades
It is generally accepted that by the age of three a child should learn to distinguish between primary colors. This skill is an important part of sensory development, it gives the child the opportunity to see the world in a new way. Often, if the baby does not know or confuse colors, parents have concerns about the pace of development of the child. Do I need to worry if the study of colors is not easy for a child? How to teach a child to distinguish colors? You will find answers to these questions in our article.
At what age does a child begin to see colors?
Studies have shown that children begin to perceive colors by 2-3 months. The first colors a child sees are yellow, orange, red, green. At this age, babies can already react differently to their toys of different colors (for example, a red rattle can please a child more than a blue one), look at bright pictures with enthusiasm.
The baby's world quickly acquires colors, but if we talk about the ability to consciously find an object of the right color, then usually it appears in children at the age of one and a half. It is at this age that it is optimal to start learning colors in a playful way. You can voice the names of flowers to a child for up to a year, this will only benefit him. But do not demand too much from the baby, remember that his brain is actively developing, and as soon as the time comes, you will certainly see the results.
To see if your child is ready to learn colors by playing with building blocks, ask your child to point to a part that is the same color as yours. If the baby can find objects of the same color, then he is quite ready to memorize the names of colors.
Learning colors in everyday life
Children get most of their knowledge about the world in everyday life: communicating with adults and peers, observing nature, playing.
The study of flowers is no exception. Sometimes a child does not need to do special exercises to learn to recognize colors. For this, it is enough that he hears the name of the color and associates it with a specific thing. During daily activities, voice for the child what color the objects are around. Whether you are drawing, playing with blocks, looking at cars in the yard, reading, swimming, eating, dressing - in each of these situations, you can gently teach your child to distinguish colors.
It is important that the study of colors does not turn into torture. You should not constantly test the child's knowledge by asking him which color is which. Soon the baby may just start to ignore you. “Let's paint the sun yellow!”, “What a delicious green cucumber!”, “Oh, where did the blue cube go? Here he is!" are examples of how you can gently help your child remember colors.
Games for learning colors and their shades
In order to get your baby interested in learning colors or to reinforce the knowledge they already have, you can offer your child to play special "color" games.
Color Sorting
Sorting games are designed to help children learn to classify objects into color groups. Any materials at hand can be items for sorting: toys, covers, designer parts, cubes, buttons, cereals, pencils, etc. You can organize the game in various ways:
You can come up with as many options for sorting by color, it all depends on your imagination. So that the child does not lose interest in the task, connect the plot of the game with his favorite characters, toys (for example, a cat will eat from a yellow bowl, and a baby elephant from a red one, etc.).
Match a Pair
To help your child learn colors, you can use tasks from the Match a Pair series. Ask your child to find a petal for a bug, a pot for a flower, a roof for a house, etc. You can present the baby with a deliberately wrong option and ask to correct the mistakes.
Pick up a patch
Show the child the picture with the missing details. Ask him to fill in the gaps (this can be done with plasticine, pom-poms, caps, cards, etc.).
Color Lotto
At the age of about one year, children begin to be interested in various lottos. In the color lotto, the task is to collect pictures of the same color on the card.
Colored Sensory Boxes
Create a sensory box for your baby where everything is the same color. During the game, the child will be able not only to remember the color that he sees, but also to develop fine motor skills, tactile sensitivity, thinking, and imagination.
Color days
This is one of the most interesting and popular ways to teach your child to distinguish colors. Its essence is that during the day (or several days) you draw the child's attention to objects of a certain color. For example, on a yellow day, you can dress in yellow clothes, play with yellow toys, draw a yellow chicken.
Surrounded by one color, the baby will easily remember it.
Cards for learning colors
You can learn colors with your child using cards. With the help of Doman's "Colors" cards, you can introduce your baby not only to the main colors, but also to different shades. It is important not to overload the child with unnecessary information about the names of 10 shades of green or red. Learn only those shades whose names you can use in the game and life.
Board games for learning colors
Board games are a great way to learn about colors and consolidate knowledge about them. Currently, the stores offer a wide range of similar games for every taste and budget. Choose a game that suits your child.
Educational cartoons
There are many educational cartoons on the Internet that will help your child memorize colors quickly. Here is one of them:
Educational books
If your little one likes to listen to stories and look at pictures, this is the way for you.
We all remember the wonderful story of V.G. Suteev "Rooster and paints", by S.Ya. Marshak has a whole “Colorful book”. You can also find many educational books that will become your faithful assistants.
Conclusions
We have listed for you different color learning games. In order for a child to master the concept of color well, it is worth adhering to a number of principles: do not rush the baby, provide a variety of material for games, discuss what you see.
Conclusion
You can start studying colors from an early age, the main thing is that it is interesting for the child. It is impossible to specify clear age limits when a child should learn primary colors. This process, like all development, is individual for each baby. The Sozvezdie Development Center has created a Montessori environment for kids, aimed at the comprehensive development of the child. In the classes "Together with Mom" children in a playful way get acquainted with the concepts of color, shape and size, do thematic creative work.
