Please remind me -- what age do children learn to name colours?

[frogs]

Three children on, and I can't remember...

[clary]

ds2 (2.6) knows most colours tho notvery clear. Yellow was his first (!) at about 20 mo?
Recall HV telling me that ds1 whose speech was a concern was doing very well to name any at 2.6.
Also recall that for a long time he used to say dd's name for anything pink (so it would go, "green, blue, yellow, DD, purple, red") as it was the only time he had seen the colour I guess (tho she did wear other colours too...)
She was born when he was just 2 so I guess this would be an age 2.6 memory too.
Sounds as if yr dd is doing well frogs!

[tortoiseshell]

They're all different - dd knew all the colours in the felt tip pen packet (including things like purple,pink,black,white, orange) by just under 2, ds was more like 2.5.

[jellyjelly]

ALMOST 2 and i was told that he was advanced with it.

[HappyMumof2]

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[magnolia1]

Katie is 2.5 and knows the basic colours although sometimes she just says any colour to get me to stop asking

She definately loves pink though, how typical!!

[hoxtonchick]

i'm pleased baby pom is going to be much loved . and from humble beginnings in ethel austin....

[frogs]

hc -- of course there's a fimbles link! She watches telly for her educational advancement, not because her evil mother wants to cook the supper in peace.

Am saving the Fimbles for her birthday, though! Many thanks.

[Elibean]

18 months (when she really first started using words) DD started with yellow, silver, blue, and purple. Red is hard to say in French but it came next, then green and pink. Now 23 months and has brown, black, white. My brother (who has two incredibly early walkers/talkers) thinks thats average - our mothers help thinks its early: I think there are such huge ranges of 'normal' for just about everything that early/late is meaningless!

[Seona1973]

according to the babycentre website, it is an advanced skill for a child to name one colour at the age of 29-30 months. DD has just turned 2 and knows several colours, but her speech has been really good and now she just wont shut up...lol

milestone chart 25-30 months

[hoxtonchick]

hooray for miniest-frogs . you do realise there's a fimbles link?!

[LIZS]

Anytime from 18 months , primary colours - 3/4 for others.

[janeybops]

Would like to say that although both of my lo are good talkers there motor skills aren't quite so good in case anyone thought I was getting boastful

[janeybops]

18 months to 2 years for basic colours like blue, red, green, yellow. ds now 2 also knows pink, silver, purple and brown

When dd went to nursery the first topic was colours so I assume some children don't know them till a little later. Although there were a lot of children in her nursery who didn't speak English as their first language in her nursery.

[frogs]

Pruni, the David Crystal book is called something like, "Listen to your child". I think it was published by Penguin. I lent my copy out a couple of years ago to a friend who has since moved to China! IIRC it has some slightly dated detail about actually making recordings it's stuff like that that makes you realise how fast things have moved over the past few years! but the language stuff is spot on. It's written for the general public, but the 'informed' public, iyswim, and it's quite funny, too. Highly recommended.

[Pruni]

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[torgrosset]

Hi my daughter just turned 2 in October & is only just starting to speak - she still babbles a lot. She thinks everything is blue! I'm not overly worried - she'll learn in her own good time...

[frogs]

She's 23 months, and has only really started using words in the last 6 weeks or so. She babbles and jargons a lot, but has been slow to use words to name or ask for real objects (even people's names). Most of her language until now has been what the linguists call 'stereotypes' rather than than communicative (eg. counting, byebye, etc).

I've taught Child Language Acquisition at university level, so I know what I'm talking about! I'm just rather intrigued by her anomalous development she's quite a little character and irritated by health professionals who can't see beyond a tick box list. But my GP agrees with me, so it could be worse...

[Stilltrue]

frogs it does sound like your dd2 does understand those colours! You aren't hallucinating. I'm sure she'll say them again soon to put your mind at rest.
Sorry if you've explained this elsewhere, but what do you mean by slight speech delay? How many months exactly is she?

[Gobbledigook]

Around 2 for ds2 (he's just 3 now so I can only remember him!). At just 3 he knows them as well as I do and he has done for months and months - I can't remember him not knowing them now. My friends ds is 2.11 and only knows red though - everything is red. They are alldifferent, I wouldn' worry

[Lonelymum]

ds3 is 2.9 and he knows the names of colours but cannot reliably put them together with the colour itself IYSWIM.

[Enid]

strangely that didnt impress the hv when she wasn't walking

[Enid]

dd2 knew all colours at 18 months but talked very well and early.

[frogs]

Yes, stilltrue, I had one like that myself -- dd1 knew all the colours at 18 months and could chat in complete sentences at 24 months. Which is why every so often I have to do a reality check to make sure I'm not measuring the other two by some mad standard.

I'm v. pleased dd2 is actually reasonably ahead in something, if she has got this colour thing right, since I'm blinking sick to the gills of listening to health professionals witter on about her delays. I think it's a handedness/brain lateralisation thing myself the other two were both strongly right-handed, whereas dd2 is ambidextrous but tending towards her left. Her speech development has (finally) started moving, but is still quite quirky so she can count to ten (missing out 6 and 7 on the way) and sing a v. recognisable rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but if she wants a drink she prefers to point and yell. The colour thing is v. much in the same vein.

[Stilltrue]

DS3 is 22m and knows red, green, blue and black. Says red and blue quite clearly; green comes out as a strangled "gn" type sound !
My ds2 knew about ten colours (including things like purple and turquoise) reliably at 18m; I didn't think anything of this particularly until sil told me how unusual that was. She is a primary teacher, and says it's not uncommon for some reception children not to know all their colours. This would be considered normal btw.

[MrsSpoon]

My speech delayed DS1 knew his colours at around 2 1/2, he had appointments with paediatricians etc and they said that was pretty advanced (he couldn't say the colour but if they asked him "where's the red one", etc, he could pick them out). My chatterbox DS2 is now 3 1/2 and I think he has just got the hang of colours in the last month or so.