For example, compare a red ball and a yellow ball, rather than a red shoe and a yellow jacket. The distinction between colors is more clear when comparing objects that share the same current identifying name. As children are still developing this HUGE database of words associated with objects, take out a variable. Breaking down colors one by one is much easier than learning the whole crayon box at one time.Ĭompare identical objects of different color. Then, introduce another color the following week labeling all things red, for example. If everything in your child’s life is “blue”, then only talk about or label blue things. While we wait for each individual child’s readiness to learn the concept of color, there are a few things we can do to help our kids develop this knowledge.įollow your child’s lead. It is an abstract concept that takes time and patience. Even for the smartest toddlers on the block, learning colors is tough. However, the reality is that being able to correctly identify a color is not typically learned until children are 3 years old. This is really high-level stuff!Īs a working doc, I know that there are children that know Crayola’s full repertoire by the age of 18-months. Now shoes are pink or brown or blue?!? Socks are blue, too? And two things that are called blue are not really the came color, one can be lighter and one can be darker. The poor kiddo just learned that shoes are shoes. Parents often come to my office with the concern that their child is unable to correctly identify colors, even when these children have an impressive array of other Pre-K abilities.īefore you begin to worry about your child’s color-naming ability, I suggest taking a minute to think about how complicated the concept of colors is for a young child. My 2-year-old son knows his letters and can count to 10, but he does not seem to know any colors. Let us ensure that your child’s vision is fully understood and supporting his or her living and learning needs.“I’m so frustrated, Dr.
The sooner you know there is a color vision deficiency, the sooner you can help your child.Ī child as young as six months old would benefit from a comprehensive pediatric eye exam, and to specifically detect color blindness, we recommend eye exams for children between ages 3 and 5.Ĭhildren can thrive despite a vision condition. Is Your Child Color Blind? Do You Suspect They Are?
Unfortunately, inherited color blindness is a lifelong condition and cannot be treated or corrected.įor children with red-green color deficiency, no treatment is needed. Most color vision problems are inherited (genetic) and, therefore, present at birth. However, it’s vital to know that color blindness can affect a child’s learning abilities and reading development. While colorblindness can be inconvenient for a child, the vision condition usually doesn’t prevent a child from reaching milestones or participating in daily activities. Children with color vision problems cannot arrange the colored chips correctly. Another child color blind test includes arranging colored chips in order according to how similar the colors are.The patterns help the eye doctor know which colors the child is having trouble seeing. The child is then asked to try and find a pattern in the dots, like a letter or number. One child color blind test includes looking at sets of colored dots.How Color Blindness is Diagnosed: Child Color Blind TestĪ child color blind test will measure how well a child recognizes different colors. Headaches after staring at red text on a green background, or vice versa.Refusal to participate in sorting or counting games with colored objects.Increased difficulty recognizing colors in dimmer lighting, smaller colored sections, and colors of the same shade.Difficulty reading words on colored pages or with colored text.Reduced attention for coloring worksheets.Using the wrong colors when coloring an object – such as orange grass.
Difficulty recognizing red or green crayons.Confusion of certain colors or shades of colors.The ability to see some colors but not others.Some signs your child is color blind include: Because color blindness is not blindness at all, but, rather, a condition that prevents a child from distinguishing between certain colors, symptoms of color blindness are usually noticed when a child begins to learn their colors.