While some children seem to be able to identify colors at an early age, for many others it takes much longer. Before you worry that your child may be colorblind, consider this: even though we’re surrounded by color, there are so many shades that are known as the same color. This means that it takes time to learn that a very dark blue and a very light blue are both known as blue. Also, think about the shades of color that make red progress into orange. At some point, it can be hard to draw a line between one color and another.

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Interestingly enough, the naming of colors isn’t universal around the world, suggesting that colors can be perceived in many different ways. For example, in northern Namibia, the word “zoozu” is used to describe the range of colors we think of as black, green, blue, and purple. All of this is to say that it’s perfectly normal if it takes your child a while to name her colors. In any case, as she approaches her fifth birthday, she should be capable of identifying the colors of more and more things.

Play Tips:

How can you support your child’s development of this Art Foundations skill at this age? It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Put the color word after the noun. Researchers at Stanford University found that putting the color word in front of nouns, as we tend to do when speaking English, made it take longer for children to learn color words. Instead of helping them think of “red” as a descriptive word, apparently they would think of it more like a proper name or label. The researchers were much more successful in teaching colors when they put the color word after the noun, as in “The ball is red.” So, if you’re concerned that your child is having trouble learning her colors, flip the way you use colors to describe things — it may help. (Keep in mind, though, that either way, she’ll learn her colors eventually!)
2. Play I Spy. Playing I Spy is a great way to practice color identification. Typically, in I Spy, you look around the area you’re in, pick an object, and say, “I spy something that ____.” You can fill in the blank with whatever descriptor you like. Is the object big, small, or fuzzy? Does it start with the letter “b”? For this milestone, do a “colors only” round, where you take turns spying many different colored objects.
3. Play color matching or sorting games. If you take a look online, you’ll find a bunch of ideas for color sorting or matching games. It can be as easy as taking a handful of colored cereal O’s or colored sticker dots and letting your child sort them into colored circles you’ve drawn on a piece of paper. You could have your child match duplicates of paint chip samples, like in this activity: http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2012/07/paint-chip-matching-game-tutorial.html. You could paint the cups of an egg carton different colors and let your child sort a pile of matching-colored, small objects, such as pompoms or beads. If you can’t easily locate or don’t have time to make small, colored objects, there are plenty of products available on Amazon or Etsy that will satisfy this need!

(Playful Bee is launching our new DIY Preschool from Birth program! Click here to enroll.)

Developmental Milestones:

Has your baby achieved the following Art Foundations developmental milestones yet? If yes, check off all the skill(s) he has already mastered to date using Playful Bee’s developmental milestones tracker. It’s absolutely FREE and easy to use, just click HERE!

• Identifies and recalls the color of many things.

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Playful Bee

Education Team at Playful Bee

Playful Bee is an e-Preschool that delivers inquiry-based preschool learning from the classroom to your home. Our preschool curriculum was created by our talented team of rock star teachers. With years of hands-on preschool and Kindergarten teaching experience, they've developed a high-quality preschool experience that is convenient-to-use and easy-to-teach by you, grandparents, or your nanny at home.

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