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