But, despite my efforts to teach him, he does seem to want to learn colors.
He seems to like the color "blue" and chooses a blue crayon first 90% of the time he is involved in an art project.
I want to teach him colors, but I'm not sure where to begin. We have some books on colors, and I'm constantly pointing out that "this is a red car," or asking him if he wants "the blue crayon." He doesn't seem to get it and/or care!
Any suggestions on how to teach colors to a toddler?
You are doing it just right- Pointing out everyday things and identifying their colors. Maybe ask him more "what color is this" in an normal conversation- You maybe surprised that he may answer you correctly- especially if he knows that the conversation hasn't been all about colors
ReplyDeleteOh good! Thanks so much!!! I just get nervous sometimes that he is uninterested. I guess he'll catch on, right?
ReplyDeleteYeah, when I worked at the daycare we never sat down to "teach" the kids colors, we just talked about them a lot and they eventually get it...the boys were always slower, so don't worry!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Amanda! I was beginning to worry. Boys really seem to lag on...well most everything, but especially the whole language development thing.
ReplyDeleterepeat, repeat and repeat...then repeat some more. then repeat it one more time. then repeat again.
ReplyDeletePete and Repeat were on a boat, Pete fell off. Who was left? Repeat!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sara! I will keep repeating and repeating. Hopefully it will sink in soon!
I've seen some parents quiz their kids on these kinds of things - What color? What color? blue? What shape? What shape? The kids (in question) are bright but don't understand having to constantly label things or answer basic questions which are not engaging, they can talk and know numbers, colors, ABC's, shapes etc.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't think you have to TEACH colors at all. The child will pick this up naturally - especially if you are doing what you are already doing which is modeling by labeling as you speak to him - like this is the red car - "I am handing you the blue crayon." etc.
Hope you liked the ideas I sent you via Twitter. As I tweeted, I wouldn't worry about him not 'getting' it. He's probably really concentrating on developing some other skill at the moment. With colours, children have to get the concept that the word label applies to the colour characteristic of an item. They may just be grasping that this is a 'car' and this is a 'teddy' and them we want them to understand that this isn't just a car it's either a 'red' one or a 'blue' one - quite a step to take. Classification games can help, as this invloves sorting items and applying a label to them. So you could start with a pile of toys to classify as cars, books and blocks for example. Once he can do this you could them try having a pile full of just blocks and classifying them into a red pile, a blue pile and so on. The main thing is to see it as a process, each time you talk about colours he's learning a bit more, and then one day he'll amaze you by knowing what's what. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteIt's such an abstract concept to get! I completely understand why he isn't grasping it. Thanks for your link, Cathy. What a great idea to use jello for learning colors! I will try classification games as well!
ReplyDeleteHe seems to be getting it as he gets older, and he loves to draw so much I think that helps. Maybe 40% of his playtime. It is great that you get all these helpful ideas from your readers. Wow. We old school moms didn't have as much opportunity for feed-back especially in "the City"
ReplyDeleteIt's true! Well, I guess I turned out okay! Right mom? I learned my colors, and eventually how to hold a pencil. But that's a whole other ball of wax.
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