The way that we learn is absolutely fascinating to me; the way we learn colors is no exception.
- Color matching- "This ball is red. Can you find me a red ball?"
- Color identifying- "Which ball is red?"
- Color naming- "What color is that ball?"
Cool, right?!?
The ability to color match usually begins around 2 years old, but there is no reason that you can't start practicing earlier...you could be surprised!
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| SEE! This is serious FUN!!! |
Enter Goldfish crackers. Our little guy loves Goldfish, and he's recently taken to the Space Adventures crackers (although this works real well with the Goldfish Colors too).
All you have to do is take one, for example, a purple cracker, and ask your little one to find you another purple cracker. Continue until all your crackers are sorted (or eaten)! After Ethan was done, he directed "Mommy eat the orange ones." (See how the orange crackers are way off to the side like that--clearly those are the boring "regular" Goldfish). Priceless.
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| I admit- it'd be better to sort on a table or plate, but sometimes learning activities magically happen in the moment, and goldfish on the carpet is the happy result. |
Not only is this great for learning colors, but any type of sorting is a developmental milestone and gives toddlers a great sense of accomplishment.
This particular day we were playing by the seat of our pants, but I've seen on Pinterest where some crafty folks have made color matching boards that correspond with the Goldfish colors, and that's a great idea too!
So what are you waiting for?? Time to play with your food!
