Color Matters and Child Development

Color is everywhere. From the color of our skin to the shade of our clothing and tint of our walls, color is all around us.The Secret Lives of Colors written by Kassia St. Clair tells the story of colors from fuchsia to ginger and indigo. Just like people, colors have histories and stories behind them. Like people, colors are always interacting with one another. Colors influence how we feel and how we process the world. How do children feel about colors? How might the colors of toys increase play and discovery? There is a science of color that shows us that infants and children relate to the world through color.

Do infants see color? It is often thought that babies see in black and white. When infants are born, their visual acuity is not fully developed. However, even newborns see and distinguish among colors such as red, blue, green, and yellow. Primary colors appeal to children. Chromatic primary colors, red, green, yellow, and blue are especially appealing to young children. When infants are presented with the full chromatic spectrum they spend more time looking at red and blue than yellow and green.

Colors have meanings because of the way that our brains are trained in early development. From firetrucks to stop signs, the color red is often associated with danger and threat. The research team Buechner, Maier Lichtenfeld and Schwarz find that the color red increases attention to emotions according to recent research. Researchers have also discovered that 7-year-olds start to prefer the color blue over red. This may be due to socialization and learning that red is often associated with meanings such as stop, danger, and error. Can we alter early mood though color? Probably! There is some evidence that children feel colors. By 3 years of age, children match the color yellow with happy facial expressions and the color blue with sad facials expression according to research published in Developmental Science.

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Children have color preferences. According to research, Preschoolers Mathematical Play and Color Preferences: A New Window into the Development of Gendered Beliefs about Math, girls are more likely to prefer games that are the color pink or purple. Boys prefer games that are blue and red. However, girls and boys both spend equal amounts of time playing with math games. This means that just because a girl may like the color pink, she still may become an engineer n in the future. Color is everywhere and children notice. These findings have important implications for the toy industry and for designing optimal learning environments.