Teaching children about colours

9 Simple Ways to Get Your Toddler to Learn Colors

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Once your child has reached the big milestone of turning 1, you’ll notice they become little sponges of information. They start walking, talking, and being so much more independent now that the baby stage is long gone. 

Around this age is when you can start introducing them to colors. It’s important for a child to start hearing words often in order to remember it.

Even though they probably won’t be able to fully understand and retain the concept of colors until around 18 months, it’s a good idea to start teaching it early on. This is when learning colors will start to make sense to them, just like learning names of objects made sense to them around the 1 yearmark.

Color matching (putting the red piece on the red spot) is one of the simplest forms of learning colors. It may occur first, along with recognizing and choosing colors when asked for them (handing you the red piece when you say give me the red piece). Lastly comes naming colors (being able to say red when asked what color is this?).

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The key to your child learning colors is over-exposure. As I’ll talk about below, you want to give them tons of opportunities to hear you say the colors names, be asked the color’s names, and see them often.

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I started really introducing my daughter to colors around 16 months old and she got a grasp of the concept quickly. Here are some simple tips to teach your toddler their colors:

1. Start simple

Don’t overwhelm your toddler with too many colors at once. Focus on two at a time and then add more in as they become familiar with those.

Whenever you see those two colors, point them out to your child, but don’t label any other colors yet. For example, choose to teach your child red and green first. Whenever you see anything red or green, point it out. Give them only red and green objects at certain playtimes.

Clearly label and talk about the red versus green objects. Ask them to sort only objects that are red or green. Once they are familiar with red and green and the differences between those two, add in yellow. Of course they will see other colors while they play, but really try to only speak about the few colors that you choose.

Showing them less choices will help them to remember the colors easier.

Related post: Pom Pom Tube Drop: Toddler Fine Motor Activity

2. Use small, colorful objects for sorting

I love using fun, simple objects for learning colors and counting. Toddlers love little pompoms because of their softness and they’ll be excited to learn with them.

I like to group and sort them by color as my daughter puts them into their correct pile. If your child is just learning colors, naming the colors of each pompom works great too.

This Rainbow Counting Bears Sorting Toy makes a fun learning resource for introducing color recognition & basic mathematics concepts such as counting and addition. It can also be used for kids math and counting games for toddlers and great for developing fine motor skills with the tongs.

Have your toddler sort the bears into their same color cup. They can use their hands or tongs . They’ll also have a fun time using their imagination to make stories and games with the bears.

3. Distinguish contrasting colors

It’s best to use colors that are not at all similar to each other so you don’t confuse your toddler. Items that have contrasting colors will stick out more to them when they’re learning.

For example, if you’re teaching colors side by side, don’t put blue and purple together, red and orange, red and pink, etc. Colors that pair well with contrast are red/green, blue/yellow, purple/green, and black/white. There are plenty more combinations to use.

Also, sometimes certain shades of a color will be closely related like a yellowish green will look similar to yellow or a turquoise could look closer to a green or blue. Try to stick to the basic primary colors when teaching them.

Check out our post on the Pompom Whisk Activity for Toddlers where you child can try a fun activity while also learning their colors.

4. Color puzzles

Puzzles are a great activity to develop language, cognition, and fine motor skills. My daughter loves the Melissa & Doug Colorful Fish Puzzle and is always asking to do it. 

While we play, I verbally label each color as she puts the piece in the board so that she hears it over and over and can match the color name with what she sees. 

Since this color puzzle is using all fish, your child won’t have to focus on the pictures or objects on the puzzle, but will be able to just pay attention to the colors. I think this was one of the best aids that taught my daughter her colors so early.

5. Use the same objects

The concept of colors may be a little difficult for babies and toddlers to understand because it’s a word typically used to describe something else.  So far they have been learning words of actual things, like ball, car, mommy, milk, etc.

All items they can see or hold and names of these objects can make sense to them.

To get them to understand the concept of colors better, make sure you’re using two identical objects to point out the color differences. For example, don’t show your child a red car and a blue block because she will just think that you’re naming it differently because the object is different.

Instead, use a red car and a blue car to distinguish the differences.

This activity below works on color matching and sorting which are the first color activities your toddler will be able to do. We used MegaBlocks, but you can really use any blocks or toys that have different colors.

Simply put construction paper on the floor in the colors of the blocks and have your child match their toy to the colored paper. Read more about this activity here.

6. Label EVERYTHING with a color

This will help them to quickly build their language and vocabulary. Anything they see in their everyday world has a color. Make sure to verbally label objects with their names and colors as you see them, pass them, and give to them.

When you’re first starting to introduce colors, you may want to just label the colors on their own so they’re not confused by the color and the name. You’d be surprised how quickly children pick up these concepts and understand that you’re not naming the object, but just describing the color.

Related Post: Sticker Letter Activity: Letter Learning for Toddlers

7. Color with crayons and markers

Coloring is a great skill for toddlers to develop fine and visual motor skills (coordinating their hands and eyes to perform a task). Have your child use crayons to scribble on paper and point out and label the colors that they use.

You can print out free blank coloring pages of their favorite characters or objects hereif using a blank paper gets boring to them. 

For little hands, I highly recommend these finger crayons. They are perfect for tiny fingers to wrap around and promote a proper grasp around the crayon. Skinny or chunky crayons just don’t allow your young toddler to hold it the correct way and it will end up tiring them out quicker.

8. In their natural environment

Kids learn best in the context of their everyday environment. Point out the contrasting colors at:

• mealtimes (green beans, yellow corn, red raspberries) 
• during dressing (blue shirt, black pants)
• during playtime (red blocks, blue balls)
• outdoors (blue sky, green grass, pink flower)

9. Fingerpainting

Sensory experiences where children are actively touching, tasting, hearing or smelling things are one of the best ways to teach your kids new concepts. Your toddler will love trying out their artistic capabilities by rubbing their hands on paper with finger paint. 

By just getting 3 primary colors (blue, red, yellow) of finger paint, you can mix them until you make secondary colors (green, purple, orange).

Have your toddler rub their hands and fingers in the paint and just smudge it onto paper. Talk about the colors they are using and ask them what color is on their hands and on the paper.

You can make your own finger paint at home so quickly, which is safe and even edible for your child. Check out this post: Sensory Edible Finger Paint for the recipe!

Related Post: Edible Finger Painting Recipe

10. Songs and Videos

Toddlers and babies love to hear music. Whether it be songs on the stereo, mommy singing, or making their own sounds by shouting at the top of their lungs, they are drawn to it.

Using songs (especially with visuals) is a great way to teach your child new concepts. Putting words to music helps things to stick better in their brain and will give them a higher chance of learning the skill.

Here is a short video that can help your toddler to learn their colors by combining colorful graphics to a catchy tune. You can also make up your own songs and melodies to sing as you show them colors.  

Even just saying the colors but having a little rhythm to it will help your child to remember the colors easier.

Related posts:

9 Strategies for Teaching COLORS to Toddlers (2023)

lorsAre you trying to teach your child the beautiful colors of the world?

It’s kind of hard, huh?

When I started teaching my kids colors, I had no idea that it could be more complicated than learning the alphabet or numbers!

But it makes complete sense. Toddlers are learning to identify SO MANY new objects like shoes, apples, balls, etc.,

And then, we add the element of color to each item.

That’s pretty high-level thinking for these kiddos!

For a frame of reference, Most toddlers can learn how to differentiate colors by 18 months old. However, it takes them a little longer to be able to name the colors. This milestone typically occurs at 2.5 or 3 years old! But remember that these ages range DRAMATICALLY between different kids, so don’t panic if your child is a bit behind.

Do you want to teach your child about the beautiful colors of our world?

I don’t know about you, but opening a brand new pack of Crayola crayons is one of my favorite things to do!

In that box of crayons, there are many colors to choose from, and the massive amount of choices can become a problem. To keep a toddler from being overwhelmed, it’s best to have them choose one color that is their favorite.

By focusing on only one color at a time, the child will be able to identify that color more clearly.

When your child has picked out their favorite color, allow them to get some of their creativity out! Grab a piece of paper or coloring book page and show your toddler how to scribble with the crayon.

Make sure to point out objects inside and outside the house that are the color that they chose to make a connection to real-life things.

Do you want your kids to be organized like Marie Kondo? YES PLEASE!

Learning how to sort things can help organizational skills! Sorting activities are great for learning that things can be different and the same.

Painting trays View/Check Amazon's Price

I like to use a paint tray for sorting activities because it separates each colored item. If you don’t have a paint tray, you can use cupcake tins or even just different boxes or Tupperware containers!

In the beginning stages of sorting, you should label what color item you want the toddler to place in each section, so it’s easier for them to figure out.  Also, start with only 2-3 different colors to sort then add more when they get the hang of it!

The great thing about sorting activities is that there are endless possibilities of items that you can sort. Some examples are pom poms, colored paper clips, beads, colored goldfish crackers, marbles, Fruit Loops, M&M’s, and Skittles.

You can dump out the items of your choice out on the floor or table and show the toddler how to separate the things in different sections.  Ask them to finish what you started! It may take them a little bit of time to catch on, so be patient and give them positive feedback.

#3. Play with color learning toys.

When I first began teaching my children colors, I didn’t use any toys. I thought it’s best to use art supplies to teach them about the colors!

But after my son started coloring with markers all over my kitchen floor, I needed to come up with a better plan.

Through play and everyday experiences, children will learn their colors if a parent or caregiver helps teach and interact with them!

There are two functions on this toy. It can explain what color each fish is when it’s put into the bowl, or it will ask the toddler to find a color and place that fish in the slot. My son enjoys putting the fish in the slot, which works on fine motor skills too!

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The counting bears work on several different skills (colors, sorting, and patterns). The counting bears are excellent for older toddlers and preschool-aged children!

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SO INTERACTIVE! The color chameleon lights up and changes its color depending on what paint splat it touches. Kids can also scan other things around the home too, and it’ll light up that color, which is AMAZING! Lastly, the chameleon has a game mode that has several different options for preschoolers, so this toy is excellent for long term use!

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It is no secret that I love Melissa and Doug learning products. I honestly feel that all of their puzzles helped my kids learn not only their colors, but the ABC’s, numbers, and shapes!

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These color matching eggs not only works on color matching, but it also works on counting. These eggs are one of my son’s favorite toys right now!

Letting your toddler play with crayons, markers, colored pencils, or paints is one of the BEST ways to introduce the world of colors to them.

Recently, my son has discovered our dry erase markers, and he LOVES scribbling all over our dry erase board! This simple activity keeps him busy for 15 minutes!

Like I said earlier though, make sure you keep your eye on them if you give them any markers, crayons, etc. because things can get out of hand quickly 🙂

Here are THREE easy and fun ideas that I have done with my kids that focus on learning the colors!

A. Plastic Bag Painting

I have been teaching my son the colors by doing a color of the week project. To keep things less messy, I tried finger painting through a zip-lock bag.

You need a picture to paint, cotton balls, wooden clothespins, kids washable paint, and a paint tray/cupcake tins work too!

For the older toddlers and preschoolers, this rainbow project is perfect for learning the colors of the rainbow!

For this project, you need Fruit Loops, cotton balls, paper, and glue.

What if I told you that you didn’t have to clean up after an art project?

You don’t believe me, do you? 

There are days that I don’t feel like wiping down all areas of my kitchen because of an art project. If you’ve never been introduced to the Crayola Mess-Free collection, you must check these items out!

The inks and markers from these 3 products

A.

These coloring books are the BEST on the go activity. We bring them on airplanes, take them to restaurants and in the car!

• Crayola Color Wonder Markers

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My son got this set for his second birthday, and we used it immediately at a sporting event we attended! This is a great on-the-go activity when you know your child may be bored within a few minutes.

This set comes with 5 markers, 15 coloring pages, 2 sticker sheets, ink pad, and 4 stamps!

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The paints for this set will only work on the color wonder paper provided.  The paint is clear, but when it brushes on the color wonder paper, it will turn the color that is in each container!

#6. Point out colors that you see!

This strategy is one of the BEST ways to teach the colors to your toddler!

Everything in our world has color, so make sure to point colors out to your children!

When explaining colors to a toddler, show them a specific object, and tell them what color it is. “Look at that tree, it’s leaves are green,” “Take a bite of this red apple,” or “that bicycle is blue” are some examples of how you should describe an object to a toddler.

When you want to start checking for understanding, you can ask them questions like:

• “Find me the purple flowers,”
• “Show me the orange ball,”
• “Can you bring me the brown marker”?

This is a more advanced skill because the child will have to choose the specific color you are asking for.

Asking your toddler questions about colors is one of the most critical parts of the learning process. You will have no idea what they know if you don’t ask them questions.

Want to see an example of a way to check for understanding with colors? Take a look at this video of me asking my son questions about colors using pom-poms.

If your toddler makes a mistake while you are checking for understanding, make sure to provide them with corrective/ positive feedback.

In the video, you see that my son loses interest for a few seconds. Follow their lead when you are working with them and then try to pull them back in to see if they’ll continue. Trust me; you will be able to know if and when they are completely checked out 🙂

Does your toddler turn around and play with other toys when you try to ask them questions?

Think about when you were in school, and a teacher picked on you randomly when you weren’t ready to answer. That was THE WORST, right?

If your toddler doesn’t like to answer questions every time you try to check for understanding, that doesn’t mean that they don’t want to learn or they don’t understand the information.

They may want to show you differently what they know.

For example, if your child is playing with a color puzzle and they can match the colors together, then you know they are understanding colors.

Keep encouraging them by explaining each color as they play, and they will become more confident when being asked questions!

We all know how essential reading is at every age! These first learning books that talk about colors are perfect for toddlers to start to learn.

A. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

This book is one of my son’s favorites! If your toddler loves animals, this is the book for them. At the end of the book, all of the animals are pictured at once, which is an excellent time to point out colors and check for understanding!

B. Little Friends Sound Book: Colors by Roger Priddy

Looking for something more interactive? Little Friends Sound Book: Colors has buttons on the side that your toddler can touch to match the colors on each page!

 C. Mix it up! by Herve Tullet 

This book is for older toddlers and preschoolers. It’s wonderful for children that have a good grasp of the colors already because it talks about blending colors to create another color!

Personally, I’d choose this book because you’ll get the most use out of it for future learning! 

Are you looking for a way to get your child active while learning?

The following THREE color games will keep your toddler staying up and moving while working on their colors!

A. Color Scavenger Hunt

You can create your own scavenger hunt worksheet or use the one I created below!

• CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE SCAVENGER HUNT PDF

Ask your toddler to find a specific object like “run and grab me a green leaf,” or you can be less specific and say “gallop to the garage and find something blue.” When they complete a task, check it off and go through all the colors with them!

Have a basket of all the items they collected and review at the end! They will love looking through everything they found.

Adding locomotor skills for older toddlers will excite them! These are movements such as skipping, running, leaping, galloping, sliding, walking,  and hopping.

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These beanbags are colored and have the name of the word written on them. You can work on color recognition for younger ones and sight words for preschoolers!

One of the best things about this game is that you can work on throwing and aiming skills.

To play with these bean bags, you need first to find a laundry basket, small trash can, or corn hole board! Then ask your toddler to pick a specific color and throw it in whatever container you have chosen.

Take sidewalk chalk and make large circles with each color chalk that you have. Ask your toddler or preschooler to hop to a specific color.

After they reach that color, you can have them hop to another color, or you can have them perform a different locomotor movement.

Teaching your toddler colors is a fun but challenging adventure!

It’s essential to focus on one color at a time, play with color toys/art supplies, and point out colors daily. Try to mix up the activities that you do with them to keep them engaged and excited to learn!

I would love to help in your journey teaching your toddler colors. Whether you need some creative ideas or you need more helpful suggestions, please leave a comment below.

Also, I’d love to know:

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 group objects by color. 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

Help your child learn colors with 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 loves 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. You can learn from our teachers how to interest a child in an activity and how to properly present him with cognitive information. Develop with us!

Prepared by a Montessori teacher
Sokolova Oksana

Teaching children colors

As the baby grows, he distinguishes more and more colors, his color perception develops and improves. Starting from the age of 2, you can conduct classes aimed at learning colors with a child.

Sorting and matching by color

First, the child needs to be explained what color is and to learn to distinguish objects of different colors. Start with exercises with a small number of colors. At first, yellow, red, blue and green are enough. Color can only be seen, so by applying objects to each other, explain to the child how they are similar or different. Thus, without knowing the names of colors, the child learns to group objects by color. Play with your baby in simple games aimed at grouping objects by color and matching the right color.

"Item sorting". Invite the child to put in separate boxes all yellow, blue, green, red items. First, let them be homogeneous (cubes or designer parts, colored candies), then heterogeneous. In the latter case, toys, items will differ slightly in color within the same color range, and sorting will be more difficult for the child.

“Pick up a couple”. Such games are aimed at selecting an item that is identical in color. You can remove the caps from the felt-tip pens and invite the child to choose the right cap. Or cut out cards from colored cardboard, on which you need to attach clothespins of the corresponding color. You can make an educational board game. To do this, glue a cube out of paper, the sides of which, using felt-tip pens or colored paper, make different colors. Roll the cube alternately. The player needs to find the item of the dropped color. In the case of a repeated roll on a die of the same color, the player finds another item.

Memorizing colors

In the process of learning the names of colors, start with a few basic colors, gradually expanding the spectrum. Preschool children tend to remember colors by associating them with an object: red like an apple, green like grass. Therefore, summer with its bright colors is the best assistant in this matter! While walking, unobtrusively name the color of the object. If your child likes cars, practice on them. At home, when playing with a pyramid, cubes, pay attention to color. To memorize colors, the child needs repeated repetition. Drawing, modeling, appliqué also contribute to the improvement of children's color perception. You can make a collage - take sheets of white paper, unnecessary magazines and let the child, with your help, cut out all the red pictures and stick them on one sheet, green on the second, etc. After the child has memorized 3-4 primary colors, introduce him to the colors of the rainbow and the sequence of their arrangement.

Memorizing colors

Children progress in learning colors in different ways. Five-year-old children are not only able to distinguish colors, but also a variety of shades. However, if some preschoolers continue to use the usual generalized names of colors, calling blue, turquoise and cyan blue, then the latter are keenly interested in shades, trying to figure out how, for example, to draw a blue whale in a blue sea. Answering such questions, children need to be introduced to the basics of mixing colors, to show how to use blue and yellow paint to get green, using red and yellow - orange, red and blue - shades of purple. Children really like to experiment with paints and get new colors. It will be useful for young artists to learn about warm and cold colors.

Show the child how to use one color to name two more using the terms light and dark (blue, light blue, dark blue). At the next stage, tell your child about the colors whose names come from an object of a similar color (cherry, raspberry, pink, lemon, lilac, walnut, and others).

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