Toddlers can generally begin recognizing colors around 18 months of age, but most children are closer to age 3 when they are able to consistently begin to label colors by their name. Teaching colors is often one of the first basic skills that parents try and teach.

Parents can begin teaching color names early in fun and playful ways that encourage learning without frustrating a young preschooler. This simple early preschool activity helps preschoolers learn the color names and practice basic matching skills, which is also an important early math skill.

Color Sorting Games

What You Need

• Cookie Cutters in red, yellow, blue, and green
• Sorting toys in red, yellow, blue, and green

What to Do

Lay out 4 colored cookie cutters for your young preschooler one at a time, saying each color name and encouraging your preschooler to repeat the name as you lay them down on the table. Give your preschooler a counting toy in each color, red, yellow, blue, and green, again saying the name of each color as you give it to your preschooler.

Show your preschooler how to match the counting toy to the cookie cutter of the same color by placing the counting toy inside the cookie cutter. Give your preschooler lots of praise each time they match a color correctly.

When your preschooler places a counting toy in a cookie cutter of a different color, be sure to stay positive. Ask your preschooler questions to encourage learning. You could say, “I see you have a blue toy. Is that the blue cookie cutter? No? Where is the blue cookie cutter?”

Giving Choices Between Color Names

Young preschoolers (ages 2  ½ and up) can benefit from learning experiences that are incorporated in their daily activities. Lunch time can be turned into learning experience by holding up two plates and asking your preschooler, “Do you want the red plate or the blue plate?”.  Constantly giving children choices that incorporate color names helps them to learn to recognize the sounds of the color names and learn to associate them with their individual color. Take advantage of every opportunity to label color names throughout your day and encourage your preschooler to repeat the name or tell you what the color name is himself.

More Activities to Teach Preschoolers Color Names

Egg Carton Color Matching – This simple color matching game teaches valuable math skills and it is easy for preschoolers to make themselves. Preschoolers will learn the importance of recycling materials that may otherwise be thrown away

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Whether you have kids who are going back to school or maybe just little ones at home, either way, September often represents a time of learning for all ages. As school-age children prepare for back to school this year, it is important to remember they are not the only ones who are starting off a new year of learning. Younger children, especially those under three, can also benefit from being exposed to focused, educational play in the home.

When it comes to introducing learning at home, it is best to establish a routine. Scheduling a specific learning time is helpful for you and your toddler. Choose a time when your toddler is well-rested and calm. Mornings, shortly after breakfast tend to be most productive. Your toddler will look forward to the time you spend together. You will even feel less guilty about TV time, once you have spent some one-on-one quality, learning time!

Try to keep the scheduled learning time to 20 minutes. Never expect your toddler to focus for much longer than that. They have short attention spans and will quickly dislike the learning experience if they are pushed longer than necessary.

To encourage learning at home and give toddlers a headstart, an educational toy called Teach My Toddler is a one-stop-shop. It is an all-in-one learning system that helps toddlers master the alphabet, numbers, shapes & colours.

The toddler tote contains 17 coordinated teaching tools that work together to reinforce the basics. Parents do not need to go to several shops buying individual pieces. The tote contains everything needed to make a difference: 5 puzzles, 4 board books, 4 sets of flashcards and 4 teaching charts. Teach My Toddler retails for $39.99 and is available on-line at www.teach-my.com.

Other ways to grab your toddlers attention, when it comes to learning:

Educational Arts & Crafts – Try cutting out one letter a day from coloured construction paper and decorating it with pictures or stickers of articles that start with that letter. Keep all of the decorated letters in a box and get them out each time you add a new one!

Educational Food - Seek out Alphabet pasta, pretzels and cereal – all help to reinforce the message!

Educational songs & games – Have fun with learning! The sillier the better! The internet is a great resource for tracking down fun songs & games that teach the alphabet, colours. numbers etc. Learning will stick if you supplement traditional tactics with fun!

Teach My Toddler and your passion to give your toddler a headstart will help to create the perfect ‘back to school’ environment for your toddler in your own home!

Written by Christy Cook, a mompreneuer with a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in public relations. Christy is the founder of Teach My Toddler. When her son, Finn was 18 months, Christy scoured stores to find products to educate her toddler at home! Finding no off-the-shelf solution, Christy created her own!

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