How to teach children to distinguish colors: effective methods, interesting ideas and recommendations. Eliseyka, club of caring mothers

When asked at what age a child should be able to distinguish colors, many mothers will answer without hesitation: by the age of three, the baby will recognize the basic colors (red, yellow, green, blue) and their names, and by school - all the rest, plus shades. But all children are different, someone quickly masters new knowledge, someone does not. How can parents easily and easily teach a baby?

Tip #1: draw as much as possible

Of course, it’s better for the kid to draw on his own, but if he doesn’t like or doesn’t know how, draw with him or even instead of him. Drawing is something that is interesting for absolutely all children, regardless of age. Words cannot express how many positive emotions you will receive.

Interesting: scientists have proven that drawing lessons form a child's sense of rhythm, the ability to correlate their actions with vision, and also develop fine motor skills fingers.

Tip #2: "please the eye"

This advice was given to parents by the famous innovative teacher Ya.A. Comenius at the beginning of the 17th century, who first considered the issue of the formation of a sense of color in children. Comenius advised offering children with 2 years old coloring contour pictures with different colors that they choose on their own. When the baby himself creates a painted composition, he will be able not only to notice the colors, but also enjoy them by choosing his favorite ones. The teacher called it "emotional attitude to color."

Interesting: Comenius also believed that the attitude of children to color directly depends on his attitude to this subject: for example, the baby loves oranges and, as a result, he likes the color orange.

Tip #3: Dedicate all day to one color

To emphasize the importance of the moment, let some element of your clothes be red or yellow, and fasten a balloon of the desired color near the crib. Draw a picture with your child using the color you are studying, think over a suitable plot. Surely the work will turn out to be worthy, so let the baby show it to both grandma and dad, accompanying it with a story about the chosen color. You cannot move on to a new color until the previous one has been mastered.

Interesting: according to teachers, it is necessary to start learning with red (for many children, it seems the brightest and most beautiful, in addition, red is easier to remember). Then you should master the blue, green and yellow colors, here the contrast will play a role.

Tip #4: Use Non-Intrusive Learning Technique

On a walk, during lunch or play, be sure to pay attention to miscellaneous items and name their colors. When the baby remembers, you can ask to bring a blue ball or green crayon. Considering a blooming flower bed, name the color of each flower.


If children's clothes have bright colors, you can pronounce their names while changing clothes for a walk. Let the baby decide for himself what to wear, but only for this it is necessary that he clearly states that he will wear blue trousers. The same must be done with toys.

Interesting: the baby is just beginning to develop associative thinking, so he can conclude that if his ball is green, then all the balls are necessarily green. It is necessary to immediately explain to him that all the balls are of different colors.

Tip #5: Use Any Pretext to Teach Your Baby

For example, he has toys scattered in his room. Tell him to start cleaning with red toys. The baby looks out the window: start commenting on what color cars are driving down the street. While reading a book, explain that a chicken is drawn in the picture. yellow color, doggy with brown hair.

Interesting: The very first color a baby can see is yellow. Remember, most rattles are yellow. And already starting from six months, you can tell your baby about different colors.

Tip number 6: talk about shades

The kid will surely remember that the sky can be blue, and gray, and blue, and the flowers are not only red, but also pink.

Interesting: the number of shades in the color spectrum is infinite, and their names and number are just a certain value, which is due to cultural traditions. So do not demand from the baby to quickly learn the shades.

The organs of vision have always been the main instrument for perceiving the world. And for a kid up to three years old, this is also an opportunity to develop and get acquainted with life in all its colors. By the way, I would like to sharpen on paints Special attention. The palette of colors and shades must not only be seen, but also be able to distinguish. At this moment, most mothers have a question, how to teach a child to remember colors? After all, a restless baby is interested in everything at once. So again you need to be patient and step by step to show him how bright and colorful the world. Today, teaching a child colors is not a problem. And we will not only prove it, but also give examples of interesting exercises.

Learning colors with a child

The first question we will touch upon is when does a child begin to distinguish colors? Nature endowed newborn babies with poor eyesight, or rather farsightedness. The baby begins to see objects and distinguish them from each other only 10 weeks after birth. The baby begins to confidently distinguish colors closer to six months. And he should know them by the age of 3-4. It is at this age that visual perception and touch are leading among all the senses. And if the baby does not yet know the name of a particular shade, you should immediately begin to study them. But before you get started with the exercises, it's important to understand that learning colors for kids doesn't have to be boring and endless learning. The main activity of children is play. Especially if her mother joins her. When we study colors with a child, we try to captivate him with this process, but at the same time we should not impose a certain activity on him. Children are quickly distracted from one activity and switched to another. It is on this age feature that you need to rely on when teaching.

How to teach a child colors?

You should start with red. Then comes yellow, green and blue. These colors are not only the main ones in the palette, but are also perceived by the child better than others. How to start learning? Let's look at one example.

  • Tell your child that today is red day. Hang a red balloon in a visible place or stick red stickers everywhere. During the day, study only the color red;
  • The best way to learn is through drawing. Children like this activity, and will not be intrusive for them;
  • offer the baby: “Let's take red paints (pencil, crayon, felt-tip pen, etc.) and draw a red house. I'll draw the walls and the window, and you the roof. Come on, you paint the roof red, and I'm the house itself. What color do you paint your roof? Right. Red! What color should I make the walls? Yes, red too. Look what a wonderful red house we got! ”;
  • after the drawing is ready, hang it in a prominent place and show your relatives what a beautiful red house you have drawn.

How else to learn colors with a child? So that the baby does not get bored with the same activities, try different exercises with him:

A child can consciously distinguish colors after a year. It is necessary to pay attention to this and try to help the baby quickly master this science. You should teach him to distinguish colors with the help of special games, bright toys, etc. Today, there are a lot of tools that are aimed specifically at teaching a child to distinguish colors.

In what order to study colors

The baby can fully distinguish colors after 6 months. Before that, he can perceive several basic tones. At the same time, there is a sequence of colors that are more distinguishable by the child in younger age. Thus, the first color that can be taught to a baby is yellow. He will remember it the fastest. After him, you can show him red and orange. They can be shown before the child is 6 months old.

Next you can show blue and green. These are the main colors that are available for the understanding of the baby. At two years old, the baby should be able to distinguish and recognize the four primary colors well. Even if he cannot name them, he must understand them by showing you the right color cube or bringing you the toy you ask for. By the age of three, the baby should already know at least ten colors and their similar shades.

Name the colors of objects around


Parents should learn that the more often a child sees and hears the names of flowers, the faster he remembers them. When naming an object, try to always say its color as well. This will quickly be deposited in the head of the baby. At the same time, say the names of objects in different ways. So, for example, show the baby a ball and tell him: “This fumbles. He is blue”, “Blue ball”; "Ball of blue color". This is necessary so that the child does not have the feeling that this is one word. The same must be done with any other items.

Children perceive colors well when books are read to them and pictures are shown to them. You can draw their attention to the heroes of fairy tales and say what color their clothes, hat, etc. are. In the mind of the baby, the correct designation of colors will also develop.

Keep in mind that the colors must be named correctly. Do not use a diminutive form. Say green, red, yellow, not green, red, yellow, etc. In addition, try to name the shades correctly. So, if you show the color blue, then you don’t need to say blue, etc. It’s better to immediately teach the baby to distinguish between shades correctly.

Don't forget the colors on your walks. Tell your baby what color the tree, car, flowers, etc. are. It is during walks in the fresh air that colors are well remembered.

Teach your child to distinguish colors in a playful way


Exactly at game form colors are remembered very effectively. Take advantage useful games and develop the child's skills.

  1. In this game, you can use a variety of toys. Take some toys and plant them side by side. It can be a bear and a dog. Tell the baby that you will give the bear all green things, and yellow things for the dog. Now start choosing just such toys from what is around. These can be blocks from the designer, items from a set of children's dishes, etc. The child may not immediately understand what to do, but he will be watching you. Soon he himself will begin to bring a toy to a bear and a dog. If he starts to take the wrong color, gently correct him and say that it does not fit.
  2. You can build towers with cubes with your child. Make them different colors. Tell the baby that blue cubes should be placed on the blue tower and confirm the words with an action. The same should be repeated with other colors. So you can build different towers of all colors. For such an activity, you need to purchase bright cubes in advance.
  3. If the child is diligent enough and likes to watch what is happening, you can draw with him. On paper, draw houses of different colors, and the corresponding paths to them. At the same time, pronounce each color carefully. You can draw a whole picture with animals and trees. Everything that you will depict on paper, tell the baby.
  4. You can also play with clothespins. To do this, you will need multi-colored clothespins and colored paper. Cut out a yellow circle and tell your child it will be the sun. It remains only to connect the rays to it, which will be the clothespins.

Usually children like such games. You can come up with a wide variety of games in such variations. How older child, the better he will understand everything, and learn words more consciously.

  • There are a few more tips that may be useful to parents who want to teach their children to distinguish colors.
  • Pyramids are good for kids. They consist of several colored rings, and the child is already early childhood will memorize the colors that parents have to pronounce. There are many other toys of this type intended for children up to three years of age;
  • You can buy a floor mosaic. Now there are many options that are suitable for children. different ages. They have different colors that can be conveniently learned. In addition, with the help of a mosaic, fine motor skills of the hands can be well developed;
  • Today children are very developed. They are interested in phones, tablets, etc. Take advantage of this, because there are many games for learning colors. Try to interest the child.
  • Don't let everything go by itself. Develop your child. Even if you do not have much time, try to find a few minutes for the baby.

When studying colors with a baby, try to translate everything into a playful form. If he didn’t like some game and didn’t interest him, try to lure him with another one. Perhaps he will be so passionate about something that he will be able to master everything pretty quickly.

The plan for the development of the child and instilling in him various skills also includes such an item as teaching the child to distinguish colors. This means learning the names of colors with the baby and, perceiving them, separate them from each other using verbal definitions.

The ability to recognize colors in a child develops with the development of vision. It is known that a newborn baby has a very low sensitivity to light, but every day it increases. Gradually, people and objects take shape, and the surrounding world is dressed in colors.

TO 5-6 months the baby already perceives the color scheme.

This is noticeable even without scientific research, as he has an increasing interest in bright objects. Every day brings new achievements: today the baby perceives yellow, and it can be seen how he distinguishes it from the background of others, and tomorrow he already notices blue. At first, the baby's eyes focus on only one color, later you can see how he chooses between two or three colors.

You can start learning from early age, but in 2-3 years this should be done more purposefully. This period is considered optimal.

Before you teach your child colors, you should learn about the mistakes that should be avoided.

Basic Rules

A small child has associative thinking, different concepts for him merge into a single whole. It is important for parents to explain to the baby that objects and properties can be isolated. The question deserves attention: how to teach a child to distinguish colors, using the right methods?

It is necessary to correctly compose sentences and name colors clearly, without distortion! Instead of "red car" you should say: "This is a red car."


We can say that the flower is yellow. But they are different! To help the child develop abstract thinking, it is better to say: “This is a yellow flower. And here, look, a white flower.

No need to say "blue", "green". It is much more difficult for a kid to master knowledge if adults create confusion in his head. It is necessary to teach the baby the right concepts, and these are “blue”, “green” and so on.

It is known that the key to successful learning is repetition. However, adults should not be intrusive, otherwise the baby will lose the desire to learn. It is very important to be attentive to the characteristics of the character and abilities of the child. Especially small children, at 1-3 years old, can easily withdraw into themselves if they understand that they are required to solve overwhelming tasks, and they do not meet expectations.

In one lesson, it is better to learn the names of 1-2 colors, no more. Sufficient time must be allocated to study, until full development. Until then, do not move to the next level.

There are many ways to teach a child to distinguish colors. For example, you can arrange a week of green and during this period only teach it. To do this, hang airy green balloons in the room. While drawing, offer to take a green pencil and draw green grass. You should not adhere to generally accepted rules, portray in green everything is possible: a cat, flowers, vegetables and fruits.

You can get acquainted with the color scheme everywhere: at home and on the street. If the kid is wrong, you need to correct him, gently, without focusing on the shortcomings. Instead of saying: “Wrong. Think, remember, you and I taught what color it is, ”it’s better to say otherwise. For example, simply: “It's not yellow, it's green. Now let's look at this flower (cube, car ...)".

There are 4 basic colors that the child must learn. They are red, yellow, green, and blue, in the order in which they are listed.

After that, it will be possible to start studying additional colors, as well as tell the baby about the shades.

color games

There is no more reliable way to teach a child to distinguish colors in a playful way. Games develop and stir up interest; lead not to simple memorization, but to understanding the essence of the issue. Thanks to this, the baby successfully and enthusiastically comprehends new science. You can learn colors from a very early age, even before the age of one. When collecting a pyramid, parents can say: "Now let's put on a yellow ring." Growing up, the baby becomes smarter, which means the time has come to complicate tasks.

Games for 2 year olds

  1. Sorting. You need to lay out several sets of colored pencils on the table and invite the child to sort them into different boxes. Depending on the knowledge of the baby, you must ask him to select pencils of one, two or more colors.
  2. Bring some clothes. The principle of the game is similar to the sorting game: the kid selects the items of the right color. A pile of clothes is laid out on the sofa, and then the child is asked to bring blue pants, a red sweater, and so on.
  3. Tower construction. Helping the kid, the adult offers him to build a tower of one-color cubes. The little builder can supply parts for construction by finding desired color among the others.
  4. Butterflies and flowers. For this game, you need to prepare several figures of butterflies and flowers cut out of colored cardboard. During the game, you need to plant butterflies on flowers - blue on blue, yellow on yellow. Adults can say: “Here is a red flower, let's plant the same butterfly on it. Where is the red butterfly? Let the child find and give.
  5. breakfast for dolls. Food needs to be glued from plasticine of different colors. For Masha's doll, you need to put green candies on a plate, for Dasha's doll - yellow.


Games for older kids

At 3 years old, the child already knows more colors, and is also good at other skills, so you can add new games.

  1. find the mistake. Mom mixed up the caps and put them on felt-tip pens of a different color. The child's task is to correct mistakes.
  2. color letter. It is necessary to settle the animals on the streets of different colors. The road and houses can be cut out of colored cardboard. Letters are being prepared for the child to deliver to the address. The green letter is addressed to a dog that lives on Zelenaya Street. Task for the kid: correctly identify the street and take the letter.
  3. Mixing. This game will introduce the child to complementary colors and shades. He will be interested in what happens if you mix blue paint with yellow or red with white. For classes, it is better to use gouache or acrylic.

These are just some of the games that can be played with a 3 year old. Using the skills of modeling, drawing or appliqué, you can fantasize using color indefinitely. Thanks to such activities, the baby will easily learn to recognize the colorful colors surrounding him.

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The intellectual potential of 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 children's 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.
  • Notice of environment should be systemic.

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 memorize 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 age characteristics little man and common truths, how to teach children to distinguish colors.

Considering 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. little man remembers information better in a relaxed environment. 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 crisis 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 the streets of the city, waiting public transport, 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 learning. 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 “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.

Scientifically proven to be 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.