Learning colors with a child: the best age, games and exercises. Memo "How to teach a child to distinguish colors" for teachers and parents When to start learning colors with a child

For a long time I have promised to write an article about how to teach a child to distinguish colors and about how we did it with Taisiya. Judging by the number of questions that come to me, this topic interests many mothers. This is not surprising, because the knowledge of colors is an integral part of the sensory development of the baby. Acquaintance with color significantly expands the child's understanding of the world, allows him to classify all the surrounding objects in another way - by color. In addition, the ability to distinguish colors opens up a new layer of interesting educational games for the child.

When does a child begin to distinguish colors?

Experts say that for a child, the world acquires colors already during the first 3-4 months of life. Indeed, a child can pay attention to contrasting patterns, react differently to rattles of different colors, but it is, of course, too early to talk about the conscious separation of colors at this age. The ability to find a certain color among the rest, and even more so to name colors, appears in the baby much later, not earlier than 1-1.5 years . Well, the exact timing depends solely on whether you will pay attention to the study of flowers with your child.

You can name colors during games with a baby for up to a year, there will be no harm from this. Well, after a year, you can introduce special "color" games, which will be discussed in this article. These games are also suitable for kids 2-3 years old who are still confused in the names of colors.

Readiness of the child to memorize the names of colors can be very easy to check. When playing with cubes (constructor, balls in a dry pool ...), take, for example, a red cube and ask the baby to find exactly same, same. If the child understood you and coped with the task, it can be argued that he distinguishes colors and is ready to learn their names.

Learning colors during everyday games and walks

Generally speaking, I am convinced that in order to teach a child to distinguish between primary colors, there is not much need for special classes, it is enough just to regularly name colors during your usual games. - be sure to pronounce the colors of pencils, build from cubes, a designer or a mosaic - also do not forget to remember the shades of details. The same applies to dressing, walking, and other your favorite activities - in a conversation, constantly name the colors of the objects around you and play materials.

Just remember that “learning colors” does not mean at all that you need to constantly examine the child “Tell me what color it is”, “Show me where the red is”, etc. A child, like any other person, is not too fond of being given a knowledge test, so at first just name the colors and answer your own questions “Where is our yellow cube? Here he is!" "Let's draw grass with a green pencil."

How to teach a child to distinguish colors? Games

In "sorting" games, the child is required to divide objects into groups, focusing on their color, but you are required to repeat the names of the colors so that they are deposited in the head of the baby. What can be sorted? Here are some game options:

You can make a color sorter out of any unnecessary box, just glue the box with colored paper and make a few cuts. Mosaic details, multi-colored paper clips, buttons, etc. can be pushed into the slot. Our sorter is made from a tea box and mosaic pieces. They sometimes meet ready-made options.

We lay out toys and other small household items on the floor and invite the baby to sort them into boxes of the appropriate color. Instead of boxes, you can prepare a large sheet of paper with multi-colored sections. Our game was much more dynamic when we distributed the colored sections between Taisiya and her favorite toy. For example, Tasya selected all the red items, and the Masha doll selected the yellow ones.

We find a mother hen for each testicle, focusing on color.

We put all the testicles in a cut plastic cup attached to the chicken.

You can come up with a huge number of color sorting options, all of them cannot be listed here. You can arrange multi-colored butterflies into flowers, fruits and vegetables into baskets, and settle multi-colored animals into houses ... By the way, in Piggy bank games from readers there are still good ones.

2. Games from the series "Pick up a couple"

Games from the category "Pick up a couple" are well applicable to the study of colors. You can choose covers for houses, caps for gnomes or clowns, a dwelling for colorful people, etc.

You can try this version of the game: lay out the wrong version in front of the baby in advance and ask him to correct the mistakes.

3. Color lotto

Games based on the principle of loto become interesting for children at about a year old. Of course, while the kids do not play according to adult rules, they simply pick up cards to the playing field with pictures.

In the color lotto, on each playing field, the pictures have only one color. (An example of a colored loto can be DOWNLOAD HERE ). Therefore, in order to collect such a lotto, the child needs to select cards of a given color from the rest and place them correctly on the field.

In a more complicated version, you can use 2-3 playing fields at the same time, as well as learn how to compare color and black and white images, as in the game « Gnomes and houses» (Ozone, My shop, read) from the "School of the Seven Dwarfs".

4. "Colored" days

This method of getting to know color is now very popular. It consists in the fact that within one day (and some even stretch this pleasure for a whole week), the child very often “comes across” the same color, regularly hears its name and, accordingly, quickly remembers. So, on Red Day, you and your baby can dress up in red clothes, find all the red toys, and even eat red fruits and vegetables. Of course, all this time you will remind the child of what color you meet on the way. Here is a sample list of what you can do on a “color” day:

Together with the baby, we look at pre-selected toys of the color being studied;

We put on clothes of appropriate tones;
We pass around the apartment in search of toys and other objects of the studied color;
On a walk, we look for cars of the color we need;
We play with color;

We consider a book or cards with pictures of the color we need ( download sample cards);

We play a lotto of a given color (see above);
We include in the menu the products of the studied color (For example, for red day suitable: berries, tomatoes, red apples, pomegranates; for green : grapes, green olives, lettuce, peas, green apples, green beans, kiwi, avocado; for yellow : banana, corn, yellow apples, lemon, butter, cheese, pineapple; for white : rice, cottage cheese, semolina, milk; for orange : carrot, apricot, pumpkin, orange)

5. Cards Doman "Colors"

To be honest, I think that studying colors by is the simplest and at the same time the most effective method, especially if we are not talking about too “running” tones. Doman classes require a minimum of effort and time, and colors are almost guaranteed to be remembered, especially if the child has already had experience interacting with cards before. Just remember, so that in a month the learned colors do not fly out of the child’s head, their names are necessary. consolidate through other games (sort by color, play lotto, etc.).

What is more important: learn only those shades that you yourself distinguish and whose names you are really ready to use in your games and conversations. Do not get carried away with sets like "100 Flowers" from "Clever". What is the point of teaching, for example, a purple hue, if, having met it in life, you yourself will most likely call it purple. It will only confuse the child.

My daughter and I started studying colors from cards at the age of 1 year 4 months (by that time Tasya already knew and showed four primary colors). Over the course of a few days, we memorized 14 more colors using cards (total 18 in our arsenal) and began to mention their names in our games. I can assure those who are skeptical about Doman's method that Taisia has not forgotten any of the colors studied then!

Read more about the Doman methodology and the principles of classes. "Colored" cards can be DOWNLOAD HERE and buy HERE.

6. Board games

After 2-2.5 years, board games can be used to consolidate knowledge about colors. For example, here's a good one:

(Ozone, My shop) and its analogue - game "Shapes" I have written about them before.

Educational cartoons

Educational cartoons can be a good help in learning colors. A couple of cartoons on this topic:

Books

Don't forget about books too. In a poetic and artistic form, you can read about colors, for example, in the “Colorful Book” Marshak, or in Suteev's story "Rooster and Paints" (usually published in Suteev's collections).

According to the authoritative opinion of experts, as early as 3 years old, a child should know the primary colors. However, this does not mean at all that at exactly three years and one day, parents should panic, suspecting a developmental delay, in case he still confuses them.

Keep in mind that all kids are different and develop at their own pace. But still, despite this, you can help your child and start teaching your baby to remember colors from a very early age.

We teach to distinguish colors for a baby up to a year: the beginning of the beginning

Even at a very early age, children can distinguish colors. According to research, the first color that babies emit as soon as they are out of the newborn age is yellow.

By the way, that is why experts recommend purchasing yellow rattle toys for children of this age. Following yellow, the baby begins to pay attention to orange and red.

It is not necessary to purposefully teach colors to a child up to a year old. It is enough that, while talking to him, you will name colors: “Here is your cup, it is blue”, “let's take a red ball”.

We teach colors to a baby from one to two

Now you can start learning. But unobtrusively and without high expectations. The key word here is "start". Remember that a child can only learn colors after they start talking. There is no need to run ahead of the locomotive, because children's thinking develops according to its own strict laws.

At 2 years old, a child can be taught to distinguish colors and be able to identify objects of the same color. It is too early to expect from him that he will remember all the names. Give him time.

Game tasks to help master the color palette

While playing with the baby, offer him the following tasks:

Sculpt or paint using one specific color

During the modeling process, remind the baby of the name of the color, but do not expect him to quickly remember it.

collect pyramid

This educational toy is very useful for kids 1-2 years old. Get involved in the game and name the colors of the components for the baby. Periodically ask: "What color is this?".

Sort toys by color

Invite the child to put the red cubes in the red box. When he can easily cope with this task, put two or three boxes of different colors.

Similarly, you can offer the baby to put cars in the garage, choosing by their color. You can build towers from cubes - only yellow or only blue.

In general, at this age, the emphasis should be placed only on the fact that you only name the colors of objects, gradually fixing them in the child's memory.

We teach colors to a child aged two to three years

At three years old, children play and learn with great pleasure. At this age, you can quite easily teach your child colors by practicing with him regularly.

The activity of the baby at this time expands significantly, its vocabulary is replenished, which means that you have cards in your hands - it's time for educational and developmental exercises, including in the field of color cognition.

Unlimited possibilities involve creative pursuits. Draw, sculpt, make applications. Show paints, tell what you can draw with this color, mix colors.

Now on sale there are paints that are safe for children, you can play with them without worrying about the health of the baby.

Color Understanding Exercises

multicolored cards

Make colored cards and play with them. Ask the kid what color the card is, offer to put a toy of the right color on each card - a whole lot of options for games open up.

"Happy Cleaning"

We collect toys of only one color. First only blue, then only yellow. Works especially well when cleaning a children's designer in a box.

"Who is bigger?"

Together, look for items of a particular color. In the apartment, on the street, in the yard. Green grass, green bench, green car. Who will find more items?

"Me and You"

What color do you have, and what is the baby? “I have blue slippers, a green ball and a red hairpin” - “And I have a green cup and red tights.”

Colored dragees

Not very pedagogical, but it's fun to eat multi-colored dragee sweets together. If the child correctly named the color of the candy, he can eat it.

Have a day of one color

Today is a red day. We will inflate a red balloon, put on a red blouse and eat a red apple. On the street we will look for red objects, and at home we will draw a red fly agaric, a red flower and a red ladybug.

Let's brag about the masterpiece to dad and tell us what color it is.

An important point: do not complicate the task for the child, do not learn several colors at once. Let him first clearly learn one, and then move on to another. The less the kid makes mistakes, the happier he will learn further.

Mastering the color range after three years

At 4 years old, your baby may well already know the primary colors - yellow, red, blue and green. Now you can master the rest and move on to shades.

Here again, drawing will help you in the best way. Children are very fond of mixing paints of different colors, pay their attention to the result.

After three years, it is already much easier for babies to remember colors, so show and tell as much as possible. To consolidate the result, developing board games and exercises in a playful way are perfect.

Examples of games and exercises for understanding color

Complicated cards

A game that teaches children to identify colors well is a game in which you need to pick up cards with the colors used in this picture for a picture.

As a home analogue of such a board game, take any object or any picture and invite the child to pick up pencils or felt-tip pens of the desired color for it.

"Mistakes"

Agree with the child that you are building two towers - one blue, the other, for example, red. During the game, quietly hide or confuse the "floors" of the tower. The child must name the lost color.

"Traffic light"

You need three cards to play. A green card means the child has to run, a yellow one has to jump, and a red one has to stand. You can complicate the task or come up with your own options.

"Air balloons"

Draw some balloons on paper. The child must paint on them the ropes of the desired color. Complicate the task: scatter pencils in tint colors, add pencils whose color has not been used to them.

Don't compare your child's progress to other children's.

If you set a goal to teach your child to distinguish colors, do not look at others. Aunt Masha's grandson has already learned not only colors, but also shades, and even draws wonderfully?

Firstly, you have not seen those “masterpieces”, and secondly, your son runs great and knows how to put on pants.

Don't stick to one color

Call it in a different context. If you show only the red ball all the time, the baby may think that all the balls are red.

Don't try to master the entire color wheel in one day.

Do not confuse the child by immediately offering to learn several different colors at the same time.

Create a positive attitude, take into account the nature and inclinations of the child

If your kid is a smart fidget, he will not want to sedately lay out colored cards on the table. Suggest that he better run for the blue ball.

Learn with play

Early childhood involves only play activities. All training should take place only in a relaxed, unobtrusive form of play.

Exercise regularly, but without stress. And your child will definitely learn all the colors of the rainbow!

The child is laid in the womb. The direction of its development is determined in the first years of life. It depends on the parents what the baby knows and can do at a toddler age. Therefore, they are often interested in the question of how to teach children to distinguish colors.

In stores you can find a huge number of developing expensive toys. They are interesting and entertaining, but in order for knowledge to really accumulate, it is necessary to be guided by the characteristics of child development at each stage, to apply them with love and attention in communicating with a little man.

Knowledge of the color world up to 1 year

A six-month-old baby begins to see the world in color. He reacts to bright things. This age is characterized by short-term color monochrome. So, for several days or weeks, the child chooses toys and objects of the same color (for example, yellow). The surrounding objects are full of uncertainty for him.

What you need to know about how to teach children to distinguish colors at this stage?

The period is more informative than educational. The task of parents is to interest and tell.
Constant communication is the foundation of early development.
Environmental awareness should be systematic.

Rules and methods for the early study of "colored" literacy

In this case, as in the development of any business, there are certain rules:

The verbal method is a description of the world around. Repetition is the mother of learning. Say what you see as often as possible. Walking with your child in the park, talk about the leaves on the trees, their color and shape. Tear off a leaf and let it tactilely familiarize yourself with a new object. Do the same on your next walk. And for the third time, show the weed in the sequence of actions already known to him. It would be useful to focus on the fact that the leaves and grass are green.
Do not rush! No need to chatter incessantly: the berry is red, the leaf is green, the sun is yellow. If you chose green for training first, only pay attention to things of this color for several weeks. Only then can you move on to new discoveries. Do not forget to remind about already known earlier.
Use Show cards with paint tone, name it. Playback time is a few seconds. A gradual increase in the number of images and information about them is the key to more effective memorization.
Consider the nature and mood of the child. You can teach only when he is full, satisfied and does not experience other needs.

How to teach a child to distinguish colors: a list of techniques

Verbal method (pronunciation).
Creative (drawing, modeling).
Rhymed (rhymes and songs).

Play and creativity among colors: from 1 year to 2 years

This period is already more informative. The kid got acquainted with the world through parental stories and his own discoveries. He knows a lot, but only begins to speak, understands questions and can answer them by pointing with his finger or nodding his head. At this stage, it is already possible to teach the child to distinguish shapes and colors. It is at this age that such actions will bring the most noticeable results.

To do this, you need to know important nuances. The following is information on how to teach children to distinguish colors:

The first year and a half - the accumulation of understanding of colloquial speech. After - the development of their own speech apparatus.
The child actively learns new things and remembers as a result of game tasks and comparisons.
The period can be called the "second fundamental". The child, until he has learned all the information by heart, will be confused and rarely show interest. But it depends on how the little man will navigate the world of colors at the age of three.
No need to demand regular correct answers. Don't be upset if he pointed to green when asked about red. The main thing is the process of thinking.
Learning colors without shades: up to 2 years - four basic.

Learning in the game is not only informative, but also very interesting.

Potential and limitations in the learning process from 2 to 3 years

The baby is already very well developed. The stage of independence comes to replace the knowledge of the world: most often he prefers to eat, dress, undress on his own. At the same time, his brain is prepared to receive new information and successfully remember it. After certain achievements of a one-year-old baby, it is important to prevent developmental inhibition and remember how to teach a 2-year-old child to distinguish colors.

The color range is expanding. He is able to remember more than four tones. Black and white are added to the main ones. For additional - orange and purple (individually).
It is now possible to play and learn effectively not only with the help of toys, but also with clothes, household items and books.
Continue to use already known techniques in accordance with the age characteristics of the little man and common truths, how to teach children to distinguish colors.

Given these age-related changes, parents can teach their child a lot, including preparing for an adequate perception of colors.

Draw, sculpt, glue. Creativity is the engine of development of the two-year period, a method of teaching and a means of self-realization. Paper, cardboard, salt dough, plasticine, watercolor are the main assistants in "color" science.
We do not stop talking about the colors around us. The little man remembers information better in a relaxed atmosphere. Did you see a crow? Tell us about her, about the color of her plumage. Went for a walk on a snowy frosty day? Play with the white snow by saying the information. Later, periodically remind about what you saw and its characteristics. This reinforces associations and stimulates memory.
The base games are the same, with a corresponding palette expansion.
Introduce color “literacy” to wardrobe processes. When dressing for a walk, choose things in the same range with your baby. Another time, leave in advance in a conspicuous place and ask to bring tights or a blouse of a certain shade.
"Colorful Things" Items needed: large pre-colored pasta, multi-colored beads, mosaic elements, as well as 6-8 containers or boxes of the corresponding basic colors. Task: sort the "lost" objects by "houses".
"Colorful World" Draw a picture in advance, for example, a green meadow, a green tree, a red house, a yellow sun in the sky, a blue cloud, a flying black crow, a white stork, an orange ball, a purple car (the variety should correspond to the level of development). It is necessary to cut out the same images from colored paper. Ask the baby to make an application. He can simply sort the items, or he can use glue for this.
"Associations". Prepare colorful images. Put them in balls of the corresponding color. Inflate them and let the child play. Explode and draw conclusions.
"Colored letters". From this age, you need to start getting acquainted with letters and numbers. This should not be memorization, but a process of familiarization. In this context, this is ideal. Sort the letters, name the main ones. Ask for "yellow A", "red A", "blue B", "orange B". The number of letters to study is 2-3. The emphasis is on flowers.
Read together poems on this topic, learn songs. Very often, children remember better in poetic or song form.

On the eve of the crisis of 3 years, the child regularly shows character. It is important to listen to your baby, understand him, be able to interest him. Psycho-emotional harmony and mutual understanding - in the first place, and only then - training.

Coloring in the world of childhood from 3 to 4 years

The kid is already quite mature and independent, he has a certain stock of knowledge that needs to be continued to be replenished. It is important to show ingenuity and patience in order to teach a child of 3 years to distinguish colors. In connection with some features, inevitable but surmountable difficulties arise.

What is important to know about how to teach a child to distinguish colors:

Crisis 3 years. It is characterized by the perseverance of the child in what he wants and the protest against everything that is being imposed on him. There comes a period of awareness of one's own "I" and the formation of independence.
An important period of psycho-emotional development. The color scheme is perceived differently. Expand existing knowledge to 12 colors (add pink, purple, orange, blue, brown). Depending on the level of assimilation of the material, it is possible to get acquainted with the shades of primary colors (crimson, burgundy, beige, gray).

Speak, remember, remind. Tell your baby about everything that is around, focusing on colors.

Play the main games: cubes and balls, lotto, puzzles, sorters, associations - and get creative: “color things”, “colorful world”, “color” analysis of the wardrobe. Improvise with known game situations, reworking them in a new way.
"Rainbow". Children love rainbows. Try to learn together a “memory book” about her. Draw a big rainbow. Cut out colorful circles in advance. Let the child arrange them in the appropriate arcs.
"Multicolor Cars" Walking through the streets of the city, while waiting for public transport, the kids watch the road and everything that happens around. A good lesson is to count the cars passing by. It is even more interesting to look for a car of a given color among them. You can also count the number of red or white cars on a certain stretch of highway.
"Ice cream". Draw or cut out and glue together pictures of sweet "cones" with ice cream balls of different colors. Let him choose his favorite. There may be several shades and the task is to count pink (strawberry) or chocolate (brown). You can collect cutout images of your favorite dessert in your purse or shopping basket.
"Who is bigger?". While on a walk, choose an interesting object (for example, a car). Play a game to see who can count the most cars of a certain color.
Learn poetry, sing songs. Many children remember better this way.

If the baby does not show interest in the game - do not force it. Let your fantasy work in favor of his positive emotions. Trust is the key to quality education. Guided by their experience, adults usually already understand well how to teach a child to distinguish colors. 4 years is the age when it is time to expand and consolidate previously acquired knowledge.

We repeat, we learn, we understand

At this age, the baby should already know 12 basic tones: he easily chooses clothes by color, performs the tasks set by his parents, which were previously given with difficulty, he himself “teaches” those around him in colors. If difficulties exist, continue to persistently adhere to the methods described above. This period is the beginning of the preparatory preschool. It is important to accustom to a more assiduous and calm form of perception of knowledge (sitting at the table, using books, albums, goods for creativity). At the same time, it's time to learn shades: crimson, burgundy, terracotta, lilac, beige, cream, turquoise, salad and others. Again, there is no rush here. It is better to study slowly and longer, but qualitatively.

It has been scientifically proven that an intellectually developed person has a better and longer life. Invest in your child love and effort, and he will delight you with his success day by day.

Helping their child in understanding the world around them, parents introduce him to the properties of various objects: size, shape and, of course, color. When we learn colors, not everything works out right away, since this property is not isolated or pronounced in objects, which is sometimes difficult for a baby to learn. At what age should children start learning to distinguish colors? How should children be taught to do it right? We’ll talk about this today, and also consider useful tips that will help transform the learning process for crumbs into an exciting, interesting and useful game.

At what age should children be taught?

All crumbs from early childhood notice everything around, noting the difference in colors. Although they understand for themselves that the colors of objects can be different, they will not be able to explain this until they learn to speak. Thus, children will be able to fully distinguish and name one or another color when they reach a specific level of intellectual development.

In general, the recognition of colors and their shades is the realm of linguistics, so learning colors with a child can start from early infancy. If your baby did not begin to speak and distinguish colors at a certain age, this is not a reason to worry, since there is no special table that tells what and at what age to expect from the crumbs. Every baby is unique! All parents need to remember this, as well as the fact that there is no adult who does not know colors, numbers, letters, names, etc. The main thing is to deal with children, pay attention to them, trying to do it as unobtrusively and fun as possible.

Experts recommend starting such an educational process as early as possible, because when we learn colors with a child, his brain begins to work more intensively, accumulating information that, as he grows up, will be absorbed and applied.

At 2 years old, children have every right to be silent and certainly should not be able to sort objects by size, shape and recognize their colors. With regular classes with a baby, by the age of 3 he will be able to name you objects, their color and separate them from others, but they will still make mistakes or get confused, and this is normal. Psychologists say that up to 7 years old, children may experience any violations regarding color perception. You need to start worrying if a child after 7 years has not learned to distinguish colors correctly.

If parents have color blindness, children can also get this disease, but do not rush to put a sentence, since color blindness can be of varying degrees and complexity.

The main reasons for the inability of babies to recognize colors can be of the following nature:

late they began to teach, because the child himself will not be able to know and remember it;
different pace of learning in babies, that is, each little man perceives incoming information in his own way;
temperament, for example, some kids just love it when their parent is nervous.

How easy and fun is learning?

Learning the name of colors and subsequently relating them to the color of different objects is a simple task. The main thing is that classes with a child are exciting and unobtrusive. We offer you a selection of useful tips and recommendations on how to use games to teach children to recognize colors correctly:

Learning colors with a 6 month old baby. Most often, kids master a particular color with the help of associations. Use a pyramid with multi-colored rings and, adding each, say what color it is. You can use this technology with cubes.
Education for 1 year olds. Take plasticine of two colors, for example, red and blue. For the little ones, it is better not to complicate the game with several colors at once. Show them to the baby, naming the color of each. Together with the baby, pinch off small pieces, forming sweets, and feed them to toys. Tell that the bear loves red candies, and the dog loves blue ones. Let the child feed his friends, and when he guesses, you will imitate the contented chewing of the toy.
Teaching with a 2 year old. Since the baby is already older, that is, he understands more and learns faster, you can add one more color to the game. Lay out pictures of three colors on the floor. Give the baby a car with a toy and tell the story that a bunny or a doll went to a stop of one color or another. Your task is to interest the baby in the story, having previously marked the selected colored leaves / cardboard.

As already mentioned, all children are unique, so each needs its own approach when learning. Someone likes to sculpt, someone likes to draw more, and other children play with dolls or taste everything. The individual preferences of the child are indispensable assistants in the learning process, that is, children learn and understand faster if they are interested and have fun.

There are no unimportant moments in the development of a younger preschooler, which is why parents should teach their child to distinguish colors in time. This will prepare you for school and help instill an artistic taste in the future. There are many interesting game techniques for kids that will help you learn complex material in a simple and accessible way.

The specificity of children's perception of color

Human vision begins to develop in the womb. So, by 7 months, the organs of vision are already fully formed in the embryos and the eyelids open. However, the newborn does not see well, since his eye muscles are still very poorly developed, he is not able to distinguish colors.

Researchers have identified the following stages of color perception in infants.

Starting from the second month, they are able to distinguish between black and white.
At 3-4 months they perceive yellow, red, orange, and a little later - blue and green, even purple, but on condition that the colors are saturated, bright. Shades until children differentiate.
At 9-12 months, the child is already able to distinguish many colors.

Given these age-related features of perception, parents are advised to purchase bright rattles for crumbs, since they still do not perceive pastel colors. This will help children learn to understand the palette faster, and in the future - to learn colors more successfully.

The best age for learning

Children begin to understand the difference in colors early, but in order for them to remember the names, parents will have to try. Experts recommend starting targeted training from the moment the child learned to walk, that is, at about a year old. It is during this period that babies become very inquisitive, which should be used. When telling something to a baby, showing objects, you can not only name them, but also describe, say what color they are. Gradually, the information will be postponed, and in the future it will be much easier for such a child to receive important material.

And color differentiation classes are held as early as 2 or 3 years. For this, the game form is actively used, the child should be fun and interesting, only in this case we can talk about productive learning.

Step by step work

You need to start with the basic options, such as yellow and red, they are easier for the child. The following table shows the stages of the learning process by age.

Baby's age, years	Available shapes	Recommended duration, min
1-1,5	Mom can name not only the object itself, but also its color. You can hang a multi-colored bright rattle over the crib and repeat the color of its elements every day, touching them one by one. With seeming futility, this activity helps the child to gradually memorize his mother's words, so that later he can begin to use them.	2-5
1,5-2	The repetition of colors continues, and it is important to use active listening. So, mom can ask the baby to bring her a red ball. It will be useful to draw with finger paints or crayons, while the adult names what shade the baby uses for creativity.	To 10
2-3	Spectrum training enters the active stage. You can use Gyenesh blocks, invite the baby to classify objects by color, find something superfluous.	10-20
3-4	The acquaintance with colors and their shades in a playful way continues.	20-30

Each lesson should turn into a small holiday for the baby, so you can safely use games, turn on his favorite music. The main thing is that the child cannot be overworked, it is permissible to study for only two minutes, but several times a day - this will be much more productive than boring memorization and repeated repetition.

Toddler Exercises

The first acquaintance with color is best done using cubes. First, the child is shown a red cube, the mother says: “Look, here is a red cube”, emphasizing the name of the color with her voice. “He is bright and beautiful, red tomatoes, apples, peppers.” Then the mother should give the cube to the baby so that he can properly study the color.

The next step is consolidation: mother and baby walk around the apartment and find all the red items (you can prepare in advance and lay them out). The next day, you can consider the cards on which the corresponding objects are depicted, everything is spoken out again. Such classes are repeated for several days (their exact number depends solely on the abilities of the child).

Finally, you should check how well the material is learned. Mom takes two multi-colored cubes and asks: “Show me the red cube, where is it?”. If the answer is correct, you should proceed to the study of the next color (blue) using a similar method. Then - yellow and green. But if the baby is still at a loss, do not rush him.

When the colors are learned, you need to consolidate the material. At 1.5-2 years old, you can offer your child fun games that will help him to correctly distinguish colors. For example, a mother draws in advance houses of different colors (basic) and "inhabitants" - the same shades of animals or men. The child must settle them. During work, you should comment: “That's right, we populate the yellow mouse in the yellow house” or “Why do we put the red man in the blue house? How should it be right?

The following exercises are also suitable for age.

Distribution. Mom gives the crumbs molds and buttons of different colors, the child must arrange the buttons in containers.
Construction of towers from cubes. Only two colors are used, the adult asks the kid to build two towers from them so that each of them has its own color.

The main rule of success is daily, but tireless training, only in this case the names will be firmly deposited in the baby's brain. Work is currently underway with four primary colors - red, yellow, blue and green. Until they are assimilated properly, one cannot move on. But if the baby has already remembered them well, you can introduce him to new tones.

Activities with an older child

At 2-3 years old, you can offer the crumbs a solution to the simplest tasks, during which he will learn colors with his mother. The following options are possible.

The parent draws several cars, and the quality of the drawing does not really matter, the main thing is to paint over them with different colors. After that, he gives the baby a set of cards or buttons, the color of which matches the color of each car. The task of the baby is to build “paths” for the cars so that they match the tone. The exercise also trains fine motor skills well and, accordingly, is useful for the development of speech.
We are building a train. The parent puts one cube of any tone that is already familiar to the baby, for example, blue. The task of the kid is to continue the train, finding all the cubes of exactly blue color.
Pick up a flower. Mom draws simple flowers with colored felt-tip pens (the middle and several large petals), then cuts them in half and mixes them. Then he asks the baby, having collected flowers, make a bouquet, name all the tones used.

This type of task helps the crumbs correctly sort objects, determining whether they are red, yellow, green. During the game, the mother should definitely pronounce the names of the colors, ask the child to repeat - this contributes to memorization. If the child made a mistake, it is important to work it out: perhaps he simply did not understand the task or thought that “it would be more beautiful this way.” Explain again that it is necessary to use cubes (buttons, cards) of exactly one color you named.

We continue learning

Children are very fond of solving riddles, and this should be used to teach them to distinguish colors. In addition, this form of work develops thinking and memory, helps to increase the active vocabulary.

You can offer the kid such a riddle: “Here is a cucumber, well done, he came to us from the garden, there are many of them. And what color is it? ”,“ And this is a mouse, a cute mouse. It is white, but more often ... What is it? The reading of the text should be accompanied by visualization, that is, show the baby a cucumber, a toy mouse.

"Extra color". Several (5-6 will be enough) objects of the same color and one “extra” object of a different color are laid out in front of the child. The child's task is to find a mistake and tell why he thinks so. You can talk about success if the baby says: "Everything is red, but the ball is green." In a similar game, you can use Gyenesh blocks.
"Selecting a Pair". Colored figures are used, which the parent mixes, while the child must understand all the diversity and put them in pairs, based on the color.
"Traffic light". Suitable for fun with those children who already know a little about the names of colors. Mom pronounces the name, the baby must find it in his clothes, if he is, take a step forward, if absent, stay in place. You can add an element of active play to the fun - if the named tone was not in the outfit, the child will try to run across, and the mother will catch him.

You need to do it every free minute, for example, during a walk, repeat to the child that a red car has passed, the grass is green, the flowers are yellow. Then ask him: what color is the grass? What else do you see green? This will help you remember quickly. It is important to remember that children's memory is very plastic, the baby is able to absorb a lot of information, so if any of the objects that interest him is lilac, you can also study this shade, you don’t need to “simplify the task” and call it purple.

Rules for conducting classes

So that teaching a baby the palette does not turn into a boring, routine, and therefore unloved activity, you should follow some simple rules.

Don't expect immediate results. The kid can forget that red is red, so you need to patiently explain to him, repeat several times. Only over time, the information will be remembered, and the use of the appropriate vocabulary in speech will be automatic.
At the “lessons” an atmosphere of fun should reign, the child should not be tired, this will destroy his desire to learn something.
The baby needs to be praised for every, albeit insignificant, success, or at least for diligence, but you can’t scold.
The name of each color should sound correctly and clearly, the use of diminutive wording is unacceptable.
The number of colors depends on the ability of the child. For some, it may seem difficult at first to name the main tones of the palette, while others quickly remember both colors and shades.

Plasticine and paints, coloring books will help to teach colors. Being engaged in creativity, the child learns to combine tones, and also remembers which object is which color. You need to talk a little about the drawing or craft: ask the baby what is yellow in the picture (in the figure) and what is blue. Some children can draw, for example, a green sun, knowing full well that it was actually bright yellow. In this case, you should carefully ask why he did this, children sometimes have their own incomprehensible logic.

Children should be engaged in the study of color from a very early age, but only game methods should be used for this. Then the learning process will be fun, and the result will please both the baby and parents. Through joint games with mom or dad, the baby gets to know the world, so it is very important to pay due attention to this process, train regularly with the baby, and not let everything take its course. The child will develop harmoniously and be better prepared for school.