When Do Kids Learn Colors?
Think about how often you reference a color. Whether it’s literal—”hand me that red cup”—or metaphorical—”it happened out of the blue”—we use color to communicate. Color plays a big part in how most humans experience the world around them.
Children might react to colors long before they can name them, but learning colors tends to happen within the first three years of life. Of course, every child learns at their own pace and many factors go into this form of learning.
Understanding the multi-stage process of learning colors can help parents and caregivers feel comfortable that a child is making progress in this area.
Understanding Color Recognition
Sighted individuals without colorblindness can distinguish as many as 10 million colors! Paint manufacturers never tire of generating new names for them. However, when discussing children and color recognition, we tend to focus on eight to 10 basic colors such as those found in the smallest boxes of crayons.
Color recognition refers to the ability to identify, name and match colors. Aside from the 5-10% of the population that is color blind, babies can see in full color by 4 to 6 months of age.
The ability to name colors builds on several other underlying skills. It first requires understanding the concept of same vs. different, an idea we may take for granted as adults. Next, it requires a grasp of speech and vocabulary skills necessary to speak the names of colors. Finally, it means the ability to link a word with a concept, which is more abstract than it might seem. A child must understand that their toy truck might be yellow, but also that the blanket they’re sitting on is yellow. Understanding a physical object like a truck or a blanket is different from understanding what color each one is.
The physical act of seeing colors begins, of course, with the eyes. The optic nerve then sends information from the eye to the brain. The thalamus, located near the center of the brain, processes this information and sends it to the visual cortex, where the “color center” is located. Parts of the brain responsible for emotions and memory get involved too, which is why a certain color might make us feel a certain way.
Typical Age Range and Timeline for Learning Colors
With this complexity in mind, let’s take a look at the stages of learning colors. Again, each child learns at their own pace, but these stages typically take place between 18 months and 3 years of age.
Stage 1: Early exposure (0-12 months)
At this stage, a baby’s vision is still developing. Around 3 months, they can follow moving objects with their eyes and reach for things. In another month or two, their eyes are working together to form three-dimensional images, and they gain depth perception. The American Optometric Association recommends scheduling a baby’s first eye exam around 6 months of age.
Closer to a year, they are starting to learn basic words that are the foundation for language. These will eventually include the names of colors.
Stage 2: Basic recognition (12-18 months)
You might notice, in this range, that a child starts to notice colors. They sometimes show a preference for one over another in the toys they choose to play with, for example. You can try saying the color of an object to see if they can then point to the correct color. This is still a young age, though, so don’t become discouraged too easily.
Stage 3: Naming colors (18 months-3 years)
Around 18 months, a child can start to understand that there are names associated with colors. They may start to learn the words for colors before understanding which is which. For instance, they might point to a red object and say “blue.” They might not grasp that different shades can represent the same color, either. By pointing to objects and naming their colors, you can start to reinforce the names. Their comprehension will improve with repetition.
Stage 4: Advanced understanding (3-5 years)
After 3 years old, children are usually more consistent in naming their colors. They can also separate the color from the object. In other words, “yellow” doesn’t only represent the yellow truck, but other yellow objects as well. A different truck is blue or red or green. The same type of object can come in different colors.
By age 4 or so, they can move on to more complex ideas, such as grouping colors by category or understanding shades of a color. As they advance further, they can understand primary and secondary colors and even how mixing colors can result in new ones. They may learn to associate different colors with emotions and express having a favorite color.
Factors Influencing Color Learning
As with any skill, individual children will learn at different rates. There doesn’t seem to be any clear relationship between learning colors and genetics, though learning in general is shaped by a combination of nature and nurture.
Practice is fun, but children still learn at their own pace. Research shows that practice does not make perfect when it comes to learning colors. The challenge could be due, in part, to overexposure. We are all surrounded by colors at any given moment. Many of the objects you see around you do not fit neatly into a color category like “red” or “blue.” There are many shade and hue variations, and one person’s orange might be another person’s red. Objects can reflect light differently depending on their material or the ambient lighting. With all of these factors at work, the rainbow becomes a confusing landscape even for some adults.
Hang in there, though. Learning colors and shapes sets the foundation for learning letters and numbers. It also helps children learn abstract concepts like same vs. different and even the underlying basis for geometry.
Activities to Support Color Learning
There are many different activities you can do to help a child learn colors, depending on their developmental stage. These are just a few examples.
Introduce artistic activities
Teaching a toddler to paint or draw with crayons helps expose them to the various shades of the palette. Talk about what they’re working on and name the colors. There’s no need to steer them toward which hue is “right” or “wrong.”
Sort objects
Whether sorting the child’s toys or a household chore like laundry, there are many opportunities to sort things by color. Even before they can name the colors, they can match items that go together.
Make color bins
Fill a series of boxes or bins with distinctly colored items that match. For example, the first one has all red items, the next one all yellow, etc. Allow the child to take things out and put them back, letting them get the hang of grouping items together.
Play favorites
Kids often adopt a favorite color and take their preference quite seriously. On the other hand, their favorite can change from one day to the next. Ask them what they like today. Share your thoughts and ask other members of the family. Make sure to point out an object in each color as you talk about it to reinforce which is which.
Associate color with taste
Choose vivid snacks, like strawberries, grapes, carrot sticks or cheddar cheese slices. Name their colors and play with grouping them together on the plate. Do the carrots resemble the cheese? Take a bite and see how they taste different even when they look similar.
Savor picture books
Whether filled with images of animals, food, flowers or just about anything else, children’s books tend to use distinctive hues. Point out the objects in a book and talk about their colors.
Signs of Delayed Color Recognition
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, a child can be tested for color blindness at age 4. Caucasian boys are the most likely to be color blind. Color blindness is most often genetic and affects the ability to distinguish red from green. The inability to see any color is rare. Color blindness may become apparent when kids are asked to participate in school activities where they need to identify objects by color.
Other factors that delay learning colors might include difficulty with language (e.g., learning the words), or with concentration. These challenges will become clear with activities unrelated to color, but it’s a good idea to pay attention to how and what your child learns.
Tips for Parents and Educators Helping Kids Learn Colors
A rich learning environment full of bright colors can encourage your child’s interest. There’s a reason that daycare centers and preschools are often filled with vivid primaries. You can repeat this theme at home.
Try some of the activities above or come up with your own. Repetition can help with many forms of learning, but again, remember that each child learns differently. If you have any concerns, speak to your pediatrician. When looking for child care, find a provider that meets your needs and expectations.
Color Their World
Learning colors can be a fun stage of development, both for children and their parents or caregivers. Enjoy the process and weave it into other aspects of learning. You may have a budding artist at home, but either way, identifying colors underlies many other aspects of learning as your child grows.
Learn more about children’s play and learning, based on age.