Identifying and recognizing colours is important for babies. Most playgroup or montessori lectures revolve around colour learning and sorting.
Children start seeing different colours at a young age, but the differentiation starts at 1 or 2 years old. That's why colour sorting is the best game for toddlers to develop cognitive skills. This article explains the benefits of colour learning and sorting activities and shares some games you can play with your kids at home.
Colour Learning & Sorting - An Overview
It is significant for kids to perceive and recognize colours as it not only helps them in developing their sight but also detect early colour blindness among children. Moreover, colour learning helps kids develop skills that would allow them to notice and differentiate characteristics of things around them. In simpler words, colour learning is a first step for kids to develop visual perception and memory skills.
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Why Learning Colours is Important for Kids?
The main purpose of teaching children about colours is to boost their memory, focus and attention levels. When children order things colour-wise, it enhances cognitive development, including fine motor, visual and problem-solving skills. Kids also learn about shapes and numbers during colour-sorting activities.
Detection of Colour Blindness:
The simple definition of colour blindness is when the patient cannot see and perceive colours normally. It mostly happens in green and red colours, but the patient can sometimes not distinguish between the other colours. Some people also have complete colour blindness; their world is black and white. The Army Forces Institute of Ophthalmology Rawalpindi, describes colour blindness as a disorder in which one or more sets of retinal cone photoreceptors grow improperly. In this condition, there is a complete absence or decreased perception of colour and hue differences under normal illuminating conditions.
Early Symptoms Of Colour Blindness In Kids:
As per a study conducted by NUMS Pakistan, 93.54% of the population in Pakistan is not aware of colour blindness disorder. Most of the time, colour blindness symptoms start showing up from 4 years onwards.
The symptoms can be serious or mild. If a child is colour blind, the common sign is they can not differentiate between red, green, blue, or yellow. You can look at some of these symptoms to conclude if your kid is colour-blind or not;
- They always choose the wrong colour during drawing.
- He needs help with arranging things according to separate colours.
- Their eyes are sensitive and have an issue with bright light.
- They have issues with reading from colour-printed pages.
Colour Learning Games To Play With Toddlers
Spotting colour blindness will help you take early steps to ensure your kids will be fine in their education. There is no cure for colour blindness, but you can help them differentiate colours or use special glasses.
We discuss some games which assist you in educating children about colour learning. These also help you in finding out about toddlers' colour blindness.
Sorting the Straws
It is one of the best activities for colour learning and developing fine motor skills among kids. You only need five colour straws. After that, take a box and paint straw-coloured sections on it. Make a hole in each section. This sorting activity is ideal for toddlers and preschoolers. It helps them to learn about different colours in an easy and fun way. Sorting the straws also enhances kids' visual and hand-to-eye coordination skills.
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Sorting the Objects
Let your kids play with different coloured objects so they can learn about colours and the objects' shapes simultaneously. You can collect raw materials like buttons, pencils, crayons or rubber bands from the house. First, tell kids about the colour of each object then; sort in different bowls based on the colours. You can also pick each object individually and tell kids its colour or put them in different containers. Sort all colours and then ask your child for their turn to sort other objects according to colour.
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Sorting the Toys
There are many ways to play this activity with your kids. You can mix different coloured toys and ask kids to sort on the base of colours. You can also purchase colourful block puzzles for that purpose. Kids can learn about colours, and playing with blocks enhances their creativity and problem-solving skills. A win-win situation for parents!
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Draw With Colours
An easy and common game we can play with kids. It is perfect for finding out if your kid is not colour-blind. You can use crayons, colour pencils or markers to educate kids about colours. Provide any of these to kids with white paper and ask them to draw new things in different colours. The easy & guided way to learn to draw in different colours is using an interactive projector painting toy.
Also Read: Why is Painting and Drawing Good for Kids?