Can’t wait to introduce the beautiful world of colours to your toddler? We understand your excitement! Watching your child’s mind flourish is one of the great joys of parenthood.

The ability to identify colours is considered a marker/milestone in a child’s cognitive process and is often part of early screening for development and educational admittance.

Generally, children learn to identify colours by 18 months. Furthermore, they can name different colours by the age of 2.5-3 years.

However, sometimes it can be frustrating for parents, as teaching colours is not as easy as some activities, such as teaching numbers. To stimulate these young brains is a tedious task and demands patience and creativity.

So here are 4 simple ways to teach your young child colours:

Popsicle Stick Colour Sort

Supplies: Egg Carton, Popsicle Sticks & Stickers

Instructions: This activity can be created by recycling an old egg carton and a couple of popsicle sticks. A pack of coloured stickers also comes in handy. To create different ‘colour slots’ apply stickers to the bottom of the egg carton and use a thin knife to cut holes big enough to easily fit the popsicles sticks in there. Then apply coloured stickers to both ends of every popsicle stick and let your child try to match each stick to their paired ‘coloured slot.’ So easy!

Tip: If you don’t have any stickers handy, you can use different coloured pens to colour the bottom of the egg carton and the top of the popsicle sticks.

Colour Sorting Toys

Supplies: Coloured Paper, Coloured Toys/House Supplies

Instructions: Lay different coloured pieces of paper out across the floor. These can be created using paper and a printer with coloured ink. Or you can colour plain pages yourself with crayon, pen, etc. Set the coloured toys aside in a pile and encourage your child to match each item up with its paper of the same colour.

This is the perfect activity for burning toddler energy, all while learning colours!

Tip: If you’re having trouble finding different coloured toys, you can substitute other items from around the house such as dress-ups or sports equipment.

Colour Sorting Stickers

Supplies: Coloured Paper, Stickers, BluTack

Instructions: Attach pieces of coloured paper (you can reuse the paper from the last activity) to a wall using BluTack. Hand your child a pack of stickers made up of mixed colours and encourage them to pair each sticker with its matching colour of paper.

This activity is lots of sticker fun for everyone!

Tip: This one can get pretty sticky! So, if you’re concerned about your painted walls inside, then doing this activity outside will work just as well.

Cereal Colour Match

Supplies: Coloured Paper, Cereal

Instructions: Pour a handful of cereal, such as Fruit Loops, into a bowl and encourage your child to pair each tasty treat to its matching colour. The same coloured paper from the last two activities can be used to play this colour match activity.

The best part? It’s an activity and a snack!

Tip: The activity can also get a little messy so up to the table or outside are the best places to play!

These fun and simple activities will not only teach your child colour recognition and colour matching, but will also improve their motor skills, hand-eye coordination and control.