Any good suggestions on teaching a toddler colors? The crazy thing is he knows the sky is blue and the clouds are white and the grass is green. We do reference things with colors but if you point to something everythign is the same color each day...like for this week EVERYTHING is GREEN. Last week it was yellow and the week before RED?
PLEASE HELP...tonight we tried using things he like a red flashcard>ELMO>and then had him pick out the RED M&M...he only got the green one right.
Relax. He has a clue. He's only 2. Just talk about the color of things in his world and it will all settle in. Save the testing for preschool.
If you can find the book "what to expect, the toddler years" you'll feel much better about milestones and such.
LOL Please Help?? Will the world as you know it end if your toddler does not learn his colors asap? ;)
Don't fret - He will catch on!
I would not test a toddler. Who knows why they know one thing yesterday and today are clueless?
Just keep pointing out and casually discussing color, and he'll get it when he gets it.
In the event 3 or 4 yo comes around and he still seems confused, then have him evaluated. Until then pretty much everything is within the scope of 'normal'.
:)
From BabyCenter.com - "Your child's ability to recognize different colors heats up at around 18 months, the same time he begins to notice similarities and differences in shape, size, and texture. Then it will be a while longer before he's able to name the colors — most children can name at least one color by 36 months."
From your previous posts, your son is about 24 months old? He is doing fine!
We worked on colors a lot by using crayons and coloring on paper. Just a lot of repetition and labeling. Also we had a bag of craft type pom poms (we call them puffs) and would work on sorting them into piles of green ones, blue ones, etc. Basically using things he could manipulate and hold etc seemed to help him learn.
But if you are constantly labeling everything he sees and incorporating the color names into everyday conversation (can you take a bite of your yellow banana? etc.) then you're doing all you can and he will catch on!!
i hope he is using crayons? color with him and discuss it. "honey can you give mommy the red crayon?" "oh let's color some grass, what color do we need?" bring it up casually and naturally and maybe reign in the quizzes a bit....
sometimes kids get sick of the dog and pony show. if you ask them questions constantly they will start to quit caring about the answer, hence sometimes everything becomes "Red". (plus, they will get you back around 4-5 when they are CONSTANTLY asking questions and never shut up! lol) i saw my son do this around 2 or 3, it was like he would almost roll his eyes (although he was too young to really roll his eyes lol) when i would start asking questions.
You need to relax and enjoy your child. You do not want him becoming anxious at a young age. It will follow him into adulthood. Just have fun and enjoy each milestone he hits and know that each person is different. Celebrate that!
Some children do not know their colors as early as others and 3 is a very common age to "get" the concept. Some kids don't know more than the crayola 8 at 4. My DD caught on to colors early and her pediatrician was surprised. We just taught her the colors as we experienced them. Mommy's coffee is brown, the cat is black, the sky is blue, etc. As long as a toddler starts to understand that there are colors and names for those colors, I would just keep pointing them out. It will come. If he knows that some things are the correct color, I say he's well on his way.
Colors, numbers, letters, shapes....they come from doing and sharing.
I had a couple of toys that lit up and said the color when you pressed on a button, but for the most part, I just used the colors in everyday conversation. Let's put on your red shirt, here's milk in your blue cup, do you like this brown blanket, etc. I don't even remember when he learned all of his colors, but he's 5 now and knows them all, so that's good enough for me!
Right from the start, even before he totally understood us, we always made colors a regular part of our everyday conversation.
Do you want to wear the red shirt or the green shirt?
Look at this pink flower!
I like your blue hat.
Here is the red ball.
etc.
Whenever we talked about anything it was the color, then the name of the item.
The book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" was also a big help - get the large one. It's so colorful and wonderful for reinforcing both colors and animal names.
Don't stress, just normalize it! The more he hears the colors and sees their associations, the more naturally he'll assimilate the knowledge - no drills or flashards needed! Use the world around you to engage his awareness...it's perfect, natural, no-stress learning.
Most of all, have fun! Kids can pick up on anxiety and may shut down for fear of being wrong or disappointing you and this can happen as early as toddlerhood. You definitely don't want this as it will result in a lifetime of frustration with learning and / or school.
Good luck!
Just relax and bring up colors as they come up, and when he's actually ready, it will click and he will surprise you with how quickly he knows them all. When my son started showing an interest in colors, I would just mention them whenever they came up. He pretty much used them interchangeably and tried to talk about colors, but sure didn't know which was which. A while later, I realized that all of a sudden, he knew them all and was using them all correctly. Trying to convince him to distinguish before he's ready will just frustrate you both and waste time. Bring them up so he hears them and you practice them for him, but don't worry about testing or teaching.
i think the m&Ms were a good idea and just show him something and say pick out the M&M thats the same, which one looks the same color .. hes yyoung i would be all worried about it but i really like the idea of the M&Ms and he gets to eat it if he gets it right.. i mean what kid doesnt like candy
My girl is the same way - I think she does it just to tease.... she knows her colors and gets them right until she knows we are testing her, then everything is blue (or orange, or whatever she feels like that day) She is also stuck on the #6. We use to count the stairs but now all of them are #6. Relax..... there is nothing wrong....
My son just turned 3 in Jan and he is just starting to be able to name the colors. He's been able to match colors for awhile. Like if we are playing blocks I'll ask him to build with all of the blocks with one color. Just keep practicing.
Sometimes I color with my kids and ask them to hand me crayons, but I as for a color and them help them pick the right one if they have a hard time finding it. It may take a little while, but they do start handing me the right ones.
