When do toddlers recognize colors

When Do Toddlers Learn Colors? Experts Say There's Not A Hard Rule

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by Cat Bowen

Dec. 10, 2019

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."

Courtesy Cat Bowen

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

When Do Toddlers Learn Color? Questions Answered

Here’s a fun fact: Toddlers learn best during fun and play! Teaching colors can also be fun and interactive. Toddlers are naturally attracted to bright colors and teaching them how to recognize these colors can be effortless. This article will serve as an easy guide on how you can help your little ones learn and identify basic colors and shapes.

Image from Piqsels

When Do Toddlers Learn Colors

According to the American Optometric Association, an infant’s vision can significantly improve during the first few months after birth. Babies can already see shades of black, white, and gray while color vision will start to develop at around 4 months.

Depth perception will start developing after 5 months where your baby can see more clearly and follow movements with their eyes.

At 2 years of age, your child’s in-depth perception and eye-hand coordination should already be well developed. Children at this age are always on the move. Their curious little minds make them highly interested in looking around and exploring their environment. This is one of the best times to let them start learning colors and basic shapes.

Issues Toddlers Encounter When Learning Colors

Some children identify colors faster than others and some can identify only one or two. The rate of how fast kids learn multiple colors varies on their developmental stage. Frequent exposures through fun activities and color games can help strengthen your child’s color recognition skills.

Though learning colors may not be bright and sunny at all times. Parents encounter a lot of issues that hinder their child’s ability to tell color differences. For example, by presenting the same objects for color reference the child would likely associate those objects with their color name. For a child to be able to develop the ability to discern colors from the same object will take time and patience.

Developmental Issues in Learning Colors

Most children get confused with the different color shades at first, that is normal, you can’t expect every child to get it right the first time.

But in cases like, when your child is having difficulty verbally communicating the color names even if they know it or having trouble recognizing the green ball from the red one, aside from other colors, then they might be experiencing some developmental issues.

There are a lot of developmental concerns that can delay a child’s pattern of development. Color blindness, for one, can prevent the child from learning certain colors. Autism is another factor that can cause a developmental delay in learning shapes and color

Different Facets of Learning Shapes and Colors

For your little ones to be able to grasp the basic concept of color and recognize a shape is a developmental milestone. It is an age-specific task that young children can accomplish at a certain age.

We are living in a world filled with different colors that our children can see every day. From the blue sky to the green grass and a red ball in the backyard, your kids should be able to distinguish which color is which.

Allowing your child to be aware of the colors in their surroundings is understanding how important it is for them to understand the different aspects of learning colors.

Tips on How to Teach Colors and Basic Shapes to Toddlers

A toddler’s brain is like a sponge, they are ready to absorb everything that is going on around them. For them, the world is a big classroom. It is the perfect time for them to master foundations for future skills.

There are a lot of different ways that you can come up with creative ideas to help your child enjoy while learning. From indoor to outdoor activities to fun and games, the sky’s the limit. Here are some tips on how you can help your child learn the simplest forms of learning shapes and colors:

Related Read: How Can a Teacher Best Help My Child?

Try to Engage Them Is Simple Activities Like Painting and Color Matching

Trying to match the colors, like putting the blue block beside the blue shirt is one of the simplest ways to learn color matching. Aside from practicing their fine motor skills, it enhances their ability to recognize colors.

The idea of using colorful objects to help learn the primary colors is both fun and effective when dealing with toddlers.

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Painting is another creative and fun activity to help kids learn colors and shapes. Painting helps a toddler explore color mixing. It can be a little messy, but using washable paints can give your child the freedom to discover new colors on their own by mixing paints.

Image from PxHere

Same Color Games With Colorful Objects

Activities such as sorting red blocks from blue ones are also a fun way of encouraging the cognitive way of color sorting. You can also use flashcards or ask them to find objects around that house of the same color. Place down a colored paper on the table and let your child match it with the same colored block.

These kinds of activities can stimulate and reinforce your child’s mind to know the differences between various colors and objects they are trying to match. Color learning can also be a great way for parent and child bonding.

Learning perception is different between kids and adults. Kids mostly learn through association. Using colorful objects and associating them with different color names can be the best way to help them learn colors faster.

Engage Them With Coloring Activities

Color activities such as coloring books and color words are fun ways to keep them busy and occupied. Plus, it helps with color learning.

These types of activities can stimulate their creativity and also be an exciting way to introduce colors. Coloring materials can also foster their awareness of the different colors that they can use to color the whole image.

Allowing your child to take part in such activities can also strengthen their ability to focus, coordinate and cultivate their hidden creative talents. Letting them complete their coloring tasks can boost their self-esteem and sense of accomplishment.

Related Read: How to Color Easter Eggs with Food Coloring & Natural Dyes

The Best Time Teach Shapes for Most Children

Most toddlers begin identifying primary colors at the age of 2 years old. But, naming shapes is a type of skill that might take a little longer to develop for some kids. Generally, at the age of 3, many children can already identify some of the more advanced shapes.

Common shapes such as squares, rectangles, triangles, and circles should already be recognized by toddlers aged 2 years old and above. It can be easily reinforced by pointing out objects inside the home that are shaped the same.

The Best Age for Toddlers to Learn the Alphabet

Learning the alphabet is another educational milestone that will prepare them in learning how to write and read in the future. Usually, young children should be able to recognize the alphabet at the age of three.

Though some will need more time to learn it, you can always help your child gain competency by teaching and encouraging them to sing the alphabet song daily. Colorful alphabet books and other visual aids can also make your child’s learning experience with letters fun and interactive.

Best Time for Toddlers to Start Learning Numbers

Introducing number recognition to toddlers is important to help them understand the concept of counting. Some children start counting from one to ten at the age of two. Though they can’t understand the concept, they can learn it through repetition.

Letting them count common objects that they can see around them is a great activity to exercise their mind. Kids learn faster if the topic interests them and using fascinating objects can keep them more engrossed with the learning activity. Though we all know that children learn and develop at different rates, learning numbers can happen in their own time.

Best Time for Toddlers to Learn Nursery Rhymes

Nursery rhymes can benefit toddlers through language and cognitive development. It is where they can learn new words, practice memorization, and easily recall. Nursery rhymes are also a great way to teach toddlers how to count and say the alphabet. But when is the best time to let your toddler memorize nursery rhymes?

Most children who are exposed to nursery rhymes at a very young age can memorize and sing the tune at 2 years of age. By the time they are four, they can sing the tune with the lyrics. One of the best moments of being a parent is to watch your child sing along with their favorite nursery rhyme. It is both delightful and entertaining.

Best Time for Toddlers to Learn Sensory Skills

Toddlers use their sensory skills to explore the things around them. Sensory play and activities help promote a child’s sensory development. This can build up their ability to accomplish more complex tasks and support other skills such as language development, social interaction, problem-solving skills, and cognitive growth.

The best time for your toddlers to learn sensory skills is during the time when your child starts to react to different sensory experiences. Providing your children with more opportunities to actively explore their senses is crucial for their brain development.

Newborns from 0-to 12 months will already start using their sensory skills as an observer. They take in new sensations such as sound, smell, taste, and texture as an active participant.

By the age of 12 months, they will start grabbing and putting things in their mouth. When they reach the toddler stage it is easier to introduce the different senses through sensory activities. At this rate, they are slowly trying to get a grip of what their senses are for.

Related Read: Are Exersaucers Bad for Babies?

Image from Flickr by Nenad Stojkovic

Frequently Asked Questions

Should a 2 Year Old Learn Colors?

A two-year-old may not be able to understand the concept of colors completely but they should be able to identify at least one color at this age. By this time, the child should learn how to name colors and identify basic shapes and numbers. Allowing them to participate in fun activities can effectively help them learn primary and secondary colors faster.

What Age Should Toddlers Identify Colors?

Most children can identify at least 2 colors when they are 3 years old. It is also the best time to play a matching game using the different objects that can be seen around them. There are a lot of ways that you can help your toddler learn colors more quickly. You just have to be more patient and supportive when teaching them.

Final Thoughts

You can make learning fun and stimulating for toddlers to help them accomplish their developmental milestones. Some of the kids will develop their skills sooner than others but allowing them to learn at their own pace can help them enhance their ability to accomplish more complex tasks in the future.

Developing color perception

Reviewer Kovtun Tatyana Anatolievna

8043 views

September 15, 2021

nine0005

We are surrounded by an amazing and unique world. Full of colors and all sorts of shades. And so I want not only to teach the child to identify the primary colors, but also to show him the beauty of the color palette! Acquaintance with color helps to perceive objects and phenomena of the surrounding world more fully and more subtly, develops observation, thinking, and enriches speech. You can already develop color perception with the smallest peanuts.

How children see color

Traditionally, newborn babies were thought to be color blind. But modern research has shown that babies are able to perceive bright, saturated colors, especially yellow, orange, red, green and turquoise. For the first 1-2 months, babies prefer to look at black and white images. This is due to their greater contrast. Already at 2 months, the child is able to distinguish more delicate colors (blue, purple). Infants' color vision develops very quickly. By 4 months they can distinguish most colors, and by 6 months the ability to distinguish colors in children is almost the same as in adults. nine0005

Glenn Doman Method

This is confirmed by the technique of Glenn Doman. He offered to introduce children to colors from infancy, simply showing them cards with one or another color or shade and naming it. Mothers who tried the technique on their children were amazed: five-six-month-old babies could easily choose from a whole bunch exactly the card that they were asked for, whether it was the color of aqua, electric or somon. We are sure that not all adults imagine what these colors look like. nine0005

If the Doman method does not seem interesting to you, you can learn colors with the baby during the game.

Color introduction

You need to start with the simplest: introduce the baby to the four colors - red, blue, yellow and green. At the first stage, you simply show the child objects and name the color. Ideally, if you have a whole set of items of the same color. So you can teach your baby the simplest sorting - put all objects that match in color into a cup of the same color. nine0005

Invite the child to pick up caps for felt-tip pens or lay out rectangles of colored paper of different colors on the table and ask them to put 3-5 objects of the same color on each sheet.

What else can be sorted?

Beads
Buttons
Colored crayons

Invite your child to play. Prepare four to six small transparent jars of clean water in advance. Drop gouaches of the same color on each cap. Close jars carefully. The kid should shake the jar and the water will turn one color or another. His task is to name this color and show a can of paint of the same shade. nine0005

New colors and shades

When the baby gets comfortable with the main colors of the rainbow, as well as with black and white, you can complicate the task. Move on to the study of colors that are not so common in everyday life. Pink, lilac, brown, gray, gold, silver - look at objects around and pictures in books, name the color and shade.

When the child is free to navigate at least 10-12 colors, it's time to go to the hardware store and purchase a palette of shades (such as on the counter where decorative paints are tinted). These simple cards will help the child to master the concepts of "darker" and "lighter". Cut the palette into fragments and fan out with your child. First from dark to light, then vice versa. Gradually, he will begin to capture the slightest color differences. nine0005

You can consolidate the result by taking the palette outside and choosing one or another object for each shade.

Every color has its season

Spring and summer are the perfect time to explore all the shades of green, red and purple. Autumn is the time of yellow and orange, and winter is blue, white (yes, there are a lot of shades of white) and black.

Drawing!

And, of course, a great way to develop color perception is drawing. Prepare a large sheet of paper, open 6 jars of gouache with your child, take a brush and start mixing colors. What do you get when you mix red and yellow? What if you add white? And blue for them? nine0005

Is it possible to recognize all the colors and learn them by heart? Probably yes, but is it necessary? It is better to teach a child to feel the color and its beauty, to look for unusual shades in ordinary things and just enjoy the beauty of the world around us.

Maria Montessori believed that the formation of a sense of color plays a significant role in the psychophysical development of a child, but this development does not occur on its own, special efforts of the teacher are required, and special didactic materials are also needed. nine0005

Color books

Learn colors and numbers. Sunny photobook published by Clever. This is where to start. 10 spreads, 10 colors, colorful illustrations and interesting tasks. The kid will learn colors and numbers.
Olga Karyakina. “I am learning colors. Cut cards. This is a memory, and a puzzle, and learning to color. An excellent tool for developing the basics of color perception and expanding the baby's vocabulary.
Celine Potard. "Big Atlas of Animals". The peculiarity of this atlas is that the animals here appear in an unusual classification - by color! Very bright and original. nine0042
Fanny Marceau. "Colors. Big encyclopedia for the little ones. Colorful illustrations, a scale of shades, a lot of bright illustrations and information about all the colors in the world.
“Getting ready for school. Learning colors. Clever Publishing. An excellent manual with a lot of creative tasks for children 3-4 years old. Interesting about colors and shades, stickers as a reward and a lot of creative pastime.

Reviewer Kovtun Tatyana Anatolievna nine0005

Scientific adviser to PROGRESS JSC, candidate of medical sciences

All expert articles

Color vision in children | Blog

By the time of birth, the child already has a developed visual system. Unlike most mammals, a human baby is not born blind, but it does not have the same visual abilities as an adult. In a newborn baby, the pupils already react to light, there is a reflex of turning the head or eyes to the light, and the child is also trying to follow the movement of an object. However, the formation of such functions as sharpness and perception of forms, expansion of the boundaries of the field of view, binocular vision falls on later periods, from two months to seven years. nine0005

One of the most important visual functions - color perception - begins to develop from two months and ends by the age of five. In order to stimulate this process and help the child learn to see colors faster, it is necessary to use bright toys and rattles, wallpapers and posters, as well as mobile phones. But one of the most advantageous options are special educational toys that contribute not only to the formation of color perception, but also to the formation of many useful skills.

Educational designer Magformers is a wonderful gift not only for a baby, but for an older child, for the successful and rapid development of color perception.

How bright colors and different shades affect the development of vision in children

The development of color perception in a child begins at about six weeks of age. Prior to this, the baby distinguishes only achromatic colors, or tones - white, black and various shades of gray. Simultaneously with color perception, the formation of visual acuity also occurs, since in the first weeks of life all objects blur in the eyes of the baby. Scientists have proven that showing a child pictures or objects in black and white helps speed up the development of sharp vision due to contrast. nine0005

As your baby grows older, he begins to see colors. By six weeks, the perception of the three primary colors of the spectrum is formed - yellow, red and blue, and a little later orange, purple and green. The retina of a child's eye is arranged in such a way that the yellow spot of the retina perceives well the colors of the green-yellow sector of the spectrum, but so far perceives the blue-violet colors poorly. In this case, if you pick up toys or cards that develop color vision, show your baby red, orange, yellow and green objects for the first few days. Finally, the child will be able to perceive these colors by six months. And by the year, blue and purple will become distinguishable. nine0005

Baby begins to see pale and pastel colors only by the age of two or three. Therefore, the first year and a half of a child's life toys should be bright and colorful. However, during this period, "acidic" neon colors should be avoided, as they can overload the child's visual analyzer. Contrasting color combinations are recommended, which will favorably affect the formation of sharp vision. Monochrome toys and the interior of the room will slow down the development of color perception. Therefore, purchase colorful rattles and cubes, as well as decorate the walls in the nursery with bright stickers or posters. nine0005

It is important to remember that not only visual acuity, but also color perception develops well only with sufficient light. Therefore, make sure that the lighting in the nursery is optimal. The terminal stage of development of color perception in a child will come only by the age of five. At this age, the baby already distinguishes not only primary and secondary colors, but also their shades and tones.

How to help your child develop color perception

The main method by which you can stimulate the development of color vision in your baby is a demonstration. It is important to choose not only certain colors according to each age. Any parent prefers that a good and high-quality educational toy helps the baby to form not one skill, but several. The perception of form, the development of fine motor skills, intellectual activity - all this can be improved with the help of a modern Magformers magnetic designer. And for the development of color perception, Magformers offer several collections with different palettes. nine0005

The most universal and most popular set - Creative. Presented in a palette of basic transparent colors that are well perceived by children of any age. Details are represented by more than ten geometric shapes, and recently, figures of your favorite characters, Nolik and Simka, have been added to it. In Due to the variety of shapes, your child will be able to create a huge variety of original designs. The designer is made of transparent plastic.

The smallest children perceive saturated colors better, so the optimal palette for them is basic opaque colors. It is in this palette that the sets from the MyFirst series are made, designed for children under one year old. Vivid details are represented by many shapes and colors. For example, in the My First 54 set there are five figures and five colors, and there are 54 parts in total. Material especially strong, opaque for the best perception of color. nine0005

For delicate and romantic girls, Magformers has a special pastel palette with calm and pleasant colors. For example, the Princess Castle set includes parts of various shapes, as well as special elements that will be useful when building a castle for the princess - a roof, windows, balconies, and so on.