Learning about Colors and Shapes
Colors and shapes are two of the most noticeable attributes that we observe and categorize. Colors and shapes are basic building blocks to higher-level logic skills including concepts such as “same” and “different,” learning how to count, recognizing letters and numbers, and increasing analytical skills. Children learn to make distinctions by color and organize visual information by an objects shape. For example, children might recognize frogs by their green color or recognize an octagon posted in the street as a “Stop” sign. Below are a few strategies that can help your child learn colors and shapes.
Start with one color and have your child look for objects that match that color
Start with basic shapes (e.g., circle, square, and triangle) and have your child find objects that match that shape
Describe objects by its color when you’re talking about something. “Look at the green frog jump!” “The black cat is walking across the street.”
Play the “I Spy” game with your child and describe objects by its colors and shape. “I spy something round and brown with chocolate chips!” or “I spy something big and brown that says, ‘woof’.” Reverse the role and have your child describe things to you.
Read books that talk integrate colors such as, “Brown Bear, Brown Bead, What Do You See?;” “A Pet Banana;” and “A Color of His Own.”
Sort colored Fruit Loops or colored Goldfish and talk about each color. Ask your child to name other like-colored objects.
Create a felt-board matching shape game. Start with primary shapes and advance to more difficult shapes (e.g., hexagon, pentagon, trapezoid, parallelogram, etc.
Play the “Twister” game with colored circles (like the original game) or with different shapes!
Create a shape sorter cube out of a box and encourage your child to sort.
Use shaped sponges for an art project using different colored paint. Talk about the different colors and shapes.
References
Colors and shapes for children to learn with gumball machine- learning colors videos for children [image]. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5befKM-4RY
