How to teach your child colours

We as parents feel very proud if our kids can do things like name colours, recognize letters, do well in school and sports, especially if it is faster and better than their peers, but we need to understand that all kids are different and learn at a different pace.

                                        

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It can sometimes be frustrating if all your friend's little ones already know their colours, but you need to understand that colours can be a very difficult concept for certain children.

Just think about this for a moment.  Your child has just learned certain words for things, like dog, shoes, socks, pants etc, now he/she must also understand that all things can be brown or blue or yellow and not only the colour but also light or dark - this is a very difficult concept for some little brains to understand.

Some children can identify colours by the age of 18 months, but the average age for knowing all the colours are 3 years, so do not despair or give up or start panicking, they will eventually get there.

While you wait for your child's individual colour concept to develop, there are a few things you can do to help.

Follow your child's lead

If your child labels everything blue, then start by showing him/her all the blue things around you.  Talk about blue a lot.  The next week you take a new colour and just show all the things that are that specific colour and talk about it as much as you can.

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Compare identical objects with different colours

Since the concept of colour and different objects can be confusing, take similar objects and show that they can have different colours, like a blue ball and a yellow ball.

Use puzzles and games to learn new concepts

Toddlers like to learn through touch and sound, so make learning colours fun.  Let them for instance sort your washing pegs - all the same colours in one container. Play colour dominoes, watch videos, sing songs etc.  There are many other games that you can play with your child.  For some ideas, have a look on  http://livelikeyouarerich.com/how-to-teach-a-toddler-their-colors-37-creative-activities/

Watch the video for some fun ideas

If they understand the concept of colour better, they can also watch this video

Old school colouring books

Do not underestimate the old school colouring book - your child chooses a colour crayon they like and colour with it, while he/she is colouring you name the colour and they must repeat it.  Do not give up if they name a colour wrong, just say the right name and let them repeat it.  You need to understand that not all children learn at the same rate and you have to be patient with them.

Don't be afraid to go digital

Our kids are born with tablets and cellphones in their hands and you know how quickly they master playing interactive games on the computer.  The more they play certain educational games, the quicker they will learn.  Just have a look at the games to suit different ages on http://interactivesites.weebly.com/color.html 

Recognise the signs when your child is colour blind

Being colour blind can be congenital (you are born with it) or genetically runs in a family, so if you have this in your family be on the look out.  Being colour blind means the child/adult has difficulty distinguishing between red, blue and green colours.  If you suspect there may be a problem, talk to your doctor or eye care specialist to do tests and for help.

You and your child can have a lot of fun learning colours, but you can also turn it into a nightmare if you expect too much too fast, so relax, this is not a competition, eventually your child will know his/her colours.

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Enjoy the colourful ride...