Puzzles and Games That Can Help Children Learn Colours

Playing games and puzzles is a great way to encourage children to learn colours. There’s a great mixture out there and these ones are some of our favourites. We have had many hours of fun play time with these even if we don’t strictly stick to the rules which can be hard with a three year old.

For us, numbers have always been a strong point of learning and from a young age. However, colours we have certainly struggled with and any questions until recently (aged three) he has just ignored and got on with something else. So we had to break that trend by adding a bit of fun into the equation! Some puzzles and games.

For his third birthday we had a cunning plan, we decided to put numerous games and puzzles onto the wish list that would promote colours, to help try to speed things along a little. Needless to say, he was extremely excited about getting so many games and puzzles and it was quite clear from the word go that he was quite happy playing them!

What we have also loved about playing games and puzzles is that we can join in on the fun too.    Not only does it create a great family activity for us all to enjoy, there are also so many other benefits that he is gaining from this type of learning.

Why puzzles are good for development

Puzzles have so many benefits to help with a child’s learning. Teach.com have completed some extensive research into the benefits of puzzles and summarise them into three categories; physical skills,  cognitive skills & emotional skills.

Physical skills are highly important in a child’s development and by completing puzzles, they will learn hand eye coordination as well as fine motor skills. The amount of benefit a child will get will very much depend on the complexity of the puzzle. You obviously wouldn’t give a child aged three a 1000 piece jigsaw of the sky – the likely hood of them completing it is going to be remotely slim and will only result in frustration. Instead, start off with something small such as a 12 piece jigsaw and grow from there. In terms of fine motor skills, puzzles can also help further on down the line with handwriting.

Cognitive Skills will come in when looking at things such as the shape recognition, memory and problem solving. All three of these are present in puzzles and in their plenty too. We have certainly seen the development over a number of months and by introducing more complex puzzles, the sense of achievement he gains from completing them is lovely to see.

Emotional skills are so important to a child’s development in that not everything is available at the touch of a button. A puzzle, will in some cases, take a lot longer than a child first thinks, which is a great teacher of patience. No doubt patience is a skill that every child is going to need later on in life.

Here are some of our favourites.

This great simple game involves linking up a string of puzzle elements that all have the same colour. At the top of the string is the colour word and at the bottom a block of that colour. In between, there are a number of recognisable items that are of that colour. We love this puzzle because it also promotes association with objects as well as the colour itself.

Available through Amazon

Puzzle Game With Colour Buttons

This puzzle is great for children to play on their own. They may need a little encouragement in the beginning to  understand how to play the game but once they have the hang of it, the aim is to complete the other templates, all of which are recognisable pictures. Each one of the templates uses a mixture of the 6 coloured pegs to complete them.

Available through Amazon

Orchard Toys Red Dog Blue Dog Lotto Game

This is an extremely popular game that can be played by children from a young age. It can be played as a simple game of matching or for older children a little more competitive where the cards are shuffled and faced down.  All of the cards and boards are brightly coloured with well known objects which make them really appealing to children. A great game to play with adults or older siblings.

Available through Amazon

Orchard Toys Dotty Dinosaurs Game

We play this game a lot. Suitable for up to 4 players and has two games within it. One side of the dinosaur has a colour matching game and the other a shape matching game. There are two dice included and along with the matching skills, it also teach patience as the game will become harder the more pieces that have been placed on the board. Great fun and this has been a real help in the colour learning journey.

Available through Amazon

Orchard Toys Post Box Game

A great first game for children of 2 years plus. The game itself can be played individually or as a group. It helps promote colour matching and hand eye coordination as children find the right coloured letters and then post them into the right postbox. For older children this can be a little more competitive as each of the letters are turned over and the first one to find all their letters and post them is the winner. A great all rounder!

Available through Amazon

Galt Toys Number Puzzles

This puzzle is predominantly for learning numbers but can also be used to learn colours at the same time. The puzzle includes three pieces for each of the numbers – goes up to 10. Each one shows the number as a digit, objects to count as well as it being written. Can be played independently or with the help of a parent.

Available through Amazon

Puzzles and games really are a great way to bring colours to life alongside other craft activities. By playing games, we have noticed quite a different in development as it is a non forced way of learning.

We’d love to hear of your methods or games that you play with your little ones that help with the journey of learning colours.