Teaching Colors to the Toddlers
Tags: colorful food, creativity, different colors, flash cards, handprints, paints, poster board, teaching children, teaching preschoolers, using flash, vibrant colors, visual stimulus
There are several different ways of teaching your children the magic of colors. Teaching children about the different
colors in nature can be an absorbing exercise. You can also read out books meant for children, emphasizing on colors. Children are usually able to recognize different colors by the age of 18 months. Read on for simple, basic ideas on teaching preschoolers about colors.
Teach them with Books – Books are one of the best ways of teaching kids about colors. They rank as one of the best ways of teaching, since they can teach several other things besides colors. Choose a fun book with a lot of pictures and splashed with colors, but it might do good to focus on just a color or two at a time.
Use Flash Cards – Using flash cards is another effective way of teaching kids about colors. These are simple cards carrying pictures of objects and their associated color. For instance, if it has a picture of a banana, a patch of yellow is shown on the other side of the card. Since they contain little else, it is easy to grasp the idea.
Colorful Food – Food items come in myriad, vibrant colors. So the next time the child starts eating something he likes, try associating it with a certain color. The association between visual stimulus and taste is strong, and easily remembered. Also, teach him that the same object can come in different colors too. For instance, there can be green apples or red ones.
The Painting Way – You can even use paints to introduce the concept of colors. Use a large piece of poster board, and put it over a drop cloth on the ground. Let the kids dip their hands in paint and stamp their handprints on the paper. Just make sure you’re taking the name of the color frequently, each time a handprint is made. Wash their hands and then start over. Kids love it when things get messy. Naturally, activity is as fun as it is educational. In fact, art is one of the best ways to teach children things, besides developing their creativity and imagination.
Take the child out – Identifying colors is simply an activity of mental association. Fortunately, kids are extremely quick in their uptake of concepts. When you and your child are out of the house, make sure you call out the colors of the grass, trees, flowers etc around you. In a while, you can also point to something and quiz your child. This could take a little while initially, since natural colors as they appear in the real world come in different hues from the flash cards and paint sets your child is used to.
Point Out to Colors – Keep pointing out colors of anything you see and encourage your child to take a guess by himself. This ensures that you’re constantly reinforcing the concept of colors.
While children are extremely quick learners, some prefer books, while others like playing games. Keep feeding them with inputs and reinforce the idea of colors and you will be amazed at the progress they make.















