The Color Tablets
The child’s first introduction to color is a box containing six tablets – two red, two blue and two yellow. All the other tablets are the same size, shape and texture. They differ only in highly contrasting color. In this exercise, the child pairs the tablets and learns the corresponding names. This is a simple exercise used for the very youngest children in the class. The difficulty of the exercise can be increased by gradually adding more pairs of colors. Eventually, the child should be able to match and name eleven different pairs. As child masters the color tablet activity they prepare for the next activity, Grading for Colors, which teaches the child to distinguish differences in graduation of color.
Grading the Colors
For the next step the child may use a box containing eight different shades of eight different colors. The shades of each color are graded from very light to very dark. To perform this exercise, the child must distinguish the intensity of the shades and place the tablets in order from the lightest to the darkest shade of each color. When the exercise is completed, the arrangement gives a pretty rainbow effect which is appealing to the children. This activity can be made more challenging by the teacher. Teaching children to be aware of fine differences in color is giving them remote preparation for all kinds of scientific observations, art, art appreciation, decorating, and many other meaningful activities.