Montessori: Easy Color Learning for Kids!

In Montessori education, colors are used to provide children with additional support in their engagement with learning materials. In this process, the colors are repeated. This means that a color is always used for the same symbol/sign/word/number. On the one hand, this makes it easier to recognize the symbol, be it a number or a word type, and on the other hand, it helps to memorize the symbols and learning materials faster and better. So for example red for a verb or in mathematics red stands for the number 1.

In the article you will learn:

• What colors are used for in Montessori.
• Why colors are important.
• How we can implement it at home.

Using colors for learning

According to Montessori, learning follows an "inner order", that is, it happens according to a certain sequence. An important part of this is that there is a strict order for almost everything. Also for learning. So, first we learn basic contents and these can then be refined, depending on interest. If we do not master the basics, there is no interest in the learning area, because we lack the previous knowledge and the contents overwhelm us.

The assignment of material to colors also corresponds to this order and the need for order. Thus, they facilitate above all the learning of the basics.

Order is, after all, with Montessori, as with other developmental plans, a need that is established quite early. It is its own sensitive phase between the ages of 0 to 3. Colors are also quite important for order, as they help us to understand the world around us and to be able to classify things better.

Why colors are important in Montessori

We have our ability to perceive colors from birth (even if this is not well developed until around the 3rd month). So our brain learns very early what colors are and can use them to process information. For example, a green ground is associated quite quickly with a meadow. This information is pigeonholed by our brain so that it can be used quickly without much thought.

We humans store our knowledge and all information in our brain in an orderly fashion. We can then make use of this. For learning, it has been proven effective that we combine knowledge into classes and groups. We can imagine these classes like drawers (not for nothing there is the term "drawer thinking").

The more we experience and learn in the course of our lives, the more this information is linked together. This enables us to recognize connections and draw conclusions very quickly and easily. The more drawers there are and the more they are interconnected, the better we can work with them.

Colors are quite suitable for connecting the classes with each other. They are easy to recognize, very memorable, and consolidated in us early on. As a result, our brain forms drawers into which everything that can be assigned to the color or symbol, word or number goes. Of course, it is best if the learning material is networked with many drawers, i.e. with color and with symbol, for example. The better the information is networked, the faster it is recognized and the easier it is to apply what has been learned.

Colors according to Montessori for mathematics

The concept of order states that we can use what we have already learned to learn new skills. For understanding numbers, colors are also used to make it easier to learn the new concept of numbers.

With this, you can easily make your own learning materials at home. But of course there are also ready-made Montessori learning materials in these colors. These can be beads, bead sticks, calculation sticks or other forms, with which can be illustrated very well calculation and especially the numbers.

Montessori at home

Colors are a good means to be able to assign quickly and easily. Of course, it is easier in the Montessori sense to use the given ones. In everyday life, however, many exercises and learning things can be combined with colors and thus made easier. You don't necessarily have to use the Montessori colors.

Some color choices are intuitive anyway, such as with the seasons. Hardly anyone is likely to use dark, rich colors for spring. It's more likely that light, bright colors will be chosen. And this is exactly how it was intended in Montessori's original concept. You see, the choice of colors can often be made very well from the gut.

Color games, such as the rainbow building blocks, are also fun for children well into elementary school age and quickly awaken the need for order and sorting. So color matching games are great for combating boredom. In bad weather indoors and if the weather permits, various materials can also be searched for colors in nature.

However, for arithmetic learning materials or language learning materials that you make at home, it is advisable to stick to the above color selection. Otherwise, your children will only get confused unnecessarily.

But no matter what toys you finally choose for your children, the main thing is that it gives your child fun and joy, and, of course, supports and strengthens it in its development. Our product range will make your choice much easier. Please have a look. We look forward to seeing you!