ds is 2.11, is quite good with some colours (yellow "lellow", red, blue), rubbish at others, e.g. black is often pink - go figure. Orange is always lellow, green we seem not to have under control at all.

I do wonder a little bit about colour blindness as my grandad is colour blind and it runs down the male line, I seem to recall.

However, other days he can do other colours so I tend to put it down to toddlerishness.

ds is quite good at recognising numbers due to the CBeebies website, lots of great games for littlies. Is hopeless at letters really and def doesn't understand the difference between them, just calls them all 'numbers' which seems perfectly reasonable.

Having said that, he did have a term for words: "o-o-ooh" for ages. This is because I have a t-shirt that says "blood-sucking scum" on the front from the days when I was a contractor . When he was tiny he used to point to one of the o's and I would say "o-o-ooh" pointing at both o's (why? What on earth did I think this would achieve?). Anyway, for AGES, I mean YEARS, he called all written stuff 'o-o-oooh'.

Dd is 2.0 and knows main colours very well, I think that it's something that they should be able to do by the age of 3.

Actually I tell you one thing DS CAN do, even if he cant remember the colours.. thats sort them!

Cut out some coloured card into little squares and put them all in front of him. Pick out a red one and ask him - can you find another one the same?
I bet he will pick it up quite quickly.

DS is 2.8 and he gets red and blue muddles up as well!
He can easily spot yellow and orange but is still quite hit and miss with most of the others. Sometimes he gets them right, sometimes wrong. If he is ever completely unsure of a colour as it isnt common for example silver then he will always hazard a guess at it being blue lol
I am not worried. i can see he is learning them slowly but surely.

I have ordered that book (from play.com free postage!), thanks it looks great.

At that age a child doesn't always reliably hear both bits of the question, You have asked him for a colour and mentioned his car.

He named a colour for you - just not the one you wanted, ie he didn't process the bit about the car.

Ds knew his colours before 2, but if you showed him two identical pictures with just the main colour changed and asked him what the difference was at 3 he wouldn't know. Change a physical fact (like remove an eyebrow) and he'd be onto it like a shot.

He guessed right for the red and blue cars that he saw but initially said the new car I bought him was blue. (actually red.)

I really wouldn't worry about it. My ds is 3.2 and gets his colours right (basic colours) about 80% of the time. I was told by the optician when I went for an eye test, that it was 99% likely that he is colour blind. I am colour deficient and as the female is the carrier of colour blindness apparently it is nigh on impossible for him to have avoided taking on some form of deficiency. That said, it is taking him longer but he seems to be getting there! Colour blindness takes so many forms and 2.11 is still very young and they learn things at such different rates. I really wouldn't worry ... I am an interior designer and it has never hampered me!

My DD is 2.6 and knows all her colours, numbers up to 20, all her letters (capitals and lower case) but her speech is really hopeless and she has been out of nappies and back in them again about 5 times.

They aren't expected to know colours until they start school. Like everything it depends on how much you practice them/ incorporate learning them into daily activities. My dd1 knew all her colours reliably at 2.0 and is now learning light and dark colours and more obscure ones like lilac, turqoise etc. I CM so the children I had all learned these sorts of things through everyday objects i.e. would you like the pink or red cup? iyswim.
So in answer to the OP he sounds normal, not behind.

You are right. I am convinced colours just aren't that important or interesting to him yet.

Oh Nab- try not to worry (I know, easier said than done). At the end of the day they are all different.
Dd (2.3) may know her colours, but she cant actually get from standing to lying down yet! Or climb out of her cot, or go up and down stairs/steps etc.
If he is colour blind- it isn't the end of the world, and to him, he's never known any other world either, so he's not 'lost' something.

The other thing to consider is- maybe colour of thing just isn't important to him?
I know for a fact- I don't see colours much- if I look at a list of words in differing colours, their colour doesn't register for me, just the word- yet for Dh he would only see the colour not the text IYSWIM.
Maybe the size or shape of objects is what is important to him?
Maybe get him to classify (posh speak for make groups of) things- eg bricks, cups, cars etc- does he group those of simialr size, colour, shape etc?
It may just not be a big thing for him what colour something is!
HTH

My ds2 only knows pink as pink is ds1's favourite colour, much to daddy's horror

DD2 was about 22 months and she knew most of her colours, she also likes lining things up in colour order like megablocks. For about 6 months now she has told us her favourite colour is purple (probably because DD1 told her that's her favourite colour!)

DD1 was a bit older I think, DD2 thinks she is DD1's twin and anything she can do DD2 can do as well. I think children with siblings close in age tend to be quicker at everything, DD2 certainly has, she is so competitive.

My ds knew them all (including grey and brown) at around 19 months but hey he stuck his willy in the washing machine the other day and had a wee (aged 3) They are all so different.

Happy for all you guys but it is making me more [sad[ for DS.

If dd consistently gets blue and yellow muddled, thats more likely to be because she's learnt them the wrong way around (ifswim) rather than colour blindness isn't it? She is very good at all the other colours, but just can't 'get' blue and yellow.

I'm trying not to worry, afterall, I don't worry about her counting to 10 and missing the number 7. Its just a developmental thing isn't it?

My DD is also 22 months, she knows blue, yellow, red, green, purple, black & brown. If i ask her to get me the pen of a certain colour, she always gets it right! All i've ever done is when we do colouring, ask what colour she's using & she's learnt that way. Am sure she learnt a lot of it at nursery though!
I was chuffed, but can be a pain every now & then, cos she's now obsessed by her yellow crocs & wants to wear them constantly, which is fine until the heavens open, like they have today

Thank you EPPM.

He doesn't have sweets but I could make some coploured buns. He would love that.

I think a lot of it is opportunity. I've always pointed out colours to my daughter, and get her to describe clothing etc in her books ("a red dress with white spots and a pale pink lace edging"). Once you get into the habit of describing things in terms of colour, pattern etc it becomes second nature.

dd1 is 3.8. she has known hr colours consistently since she was about 20 months (she couldn't say them very well then, but I knew what she was saying).

She is autistic, and very delayed in a lot of arreas, but her nurser were always impressed that she knew her colours. They said that children don't often "get" colour unti lschool age.

sure enough, when we were looking at schools last year, the local prep were very impressed with her colour recognition. they also said that they get children starting (4+) who are not sure of their colours.

My daughter is 3.6 and knows all her colours, and can distinguish dark/light/bright/dull

Maybe the names have been switched in his mind?
My DH always calls a rucksack a sleeping bag and vice versa, and the living room the dining room etc etc. He knows what he means, but it just comes out wrong!

Red and Green are the usual ones to get wrong though- ask your health visitor, or GP.

Of course best way to test is to use sweeties- I'm sure he'll soon get them right if he gets to scoff them afterwards

CSWS I am in the process of ordering that book, thank you.

DS2 is eating soup and I just asked him what colour it was - his answer was blue.

He is eating tomato soup. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

My DS is 22 months, but was 3 months prem so until he's 2 we correct his age (as paeds do) so technically he's 19 months. He knows red, green, yellow, and blue. I was VERY chuffed but then...he learned them from the nanny.

riven - given your DD's vision problems, I think it's not at all surprising that she finds colour difficult. I was a very bright early talking etc, and I didn't know my colours till surprisingly late (nearly 4). I wouldn't worry about the numbers and letters at all at this stage. I would expect it all to come in the next year NAB - i.e. at 3-4 stage.

Those of you who do want to help with learning colours might like this book. It's by the same bloke who did the Hungry Caterpillar. Dd loves it.

I listened to "him" not me

McDreamy - that's very sensible advice from your dd's headmaster. My friend is an occupational therapist who works with children and she gives me similar advice - and buys birthday presents such as play dough for my children!

Sorry, riven.

We have never sat down and tried to teach colours as uch but lately I have started saying things like do you want your red coat or blue coat. He loves mimis so we always talk about what colour it is when he sees one but rarely gets it. I think he is too interested in other things and colours aren't that interesting for him yet but would hate to miss something. DD is very very bright so hard to remember what they "should" be doing.

It will all come in time. The most important thing you can do is play with them. DD's headmaster told me to forget about "teaching" them when they are under 5, give them plenty of opportunity to play, develop enough strength in their arms and hands to be able to write when they do get to school.

He was saying that he has seen an increase of children who hold their pens and pencils in a fist like hold rather than between their fingers because they dot have the strength to do it.

He says get the play dough out, take them to the park, let them climb these are the important things you can do with you pre school child. The rest of it will come.

Just his opinion I suppose but I listened to me and thought he talked sense.

Ooh NAB, I was just wondering this this morning! DS doesn't seem to understand colours at all, his best friend (2 days younger) knows loads. But then DS can count to 10, and BF can't. And that's definitely because we count all the time. Come to think of it, I rarely mention colours, we do numbers and sizes ("bigger, "smaller" etc).

<note to self - do colours>

I don't think dd1 knew her colours until way after her third birthday - I can't remember exactly when.

right, now I'm worried.

2.11 is still very young. My dd2 is just a couple of months younger, and gets her colours mixed up all the time, that's absolutely normal at this age.

I know heaps of children who don't know colours before 3, and heaps that know lots the know indigo and terracotta. It's a wide variation and as long as you have the main ones in the first few months of school it's unlikely to be a problem.

Can he match colours?

If he still cant do it at 4, worry then. Until then it doesnt matter. Have you sat him down and taught him his colours/ Or is he busy doing more interesting things?

But he doesn't know his number really, I thought he could count to 9 but now is convinced that 8 comes after 1!!

No interest at all in letters, trying to show him his name but not interested. I might have to resort to car number plates, it worked with the colours

He is 2.11.

He can get red and green and red and blue mixed up. In the doctors for something else he got red and blue right after I had told the GP he didn't know them.

dd is 4 and isn't consistant either about colours. Now I'm thinking she's 'behind'
But then I rarely talk about colours

By the time they start school.

DS knows his colours, basic colours plus brown, silver, purple, pink, mainly learnt using cars, he is 2.10

My dd (2 and a half) knows some but isn't consistant either I think by 3 they should know their colours.

If i say what colour is this she will sometimes get it wrong but if I ask her to get me a red ball, blue ball etc she usually gets it right.

My dd knows the names of lots of colours, and identifies some correctly, though isn't consistent yet. She is 2.3.

How old is your ds?

How old is he?

I have been wondering if my son is colour blind but he did a test on the internet which said not.

Part of me just wonders if colours don't interest him yet. He seems more aware of numbers and letters but doesn't know that 1 is a number and A is a letter, but knows of them iygwim.

I am a real worrier so don't want to go off down that road but would be interested in some advice please. TIA.