When your little one utters their first word, whether it is mama or papa, you tend to get excited and wonder what their next words are going to be. You start by teaching them about things they see in their surroundings – objects, animals, plants, and also colours. Generally, most children will learn to identify colours by 18 months. By age 2 or 3, they should already be able to identify various different colours. But how children learn about colours is an interesting process.
How children learn about colours revolutionised by Nameless Paints
Colour is an abstract concept. Identifying colours goes beyond just knowing the words, but also understanding and identifying it. Colour is a perception, rather than a fact, of any object. (Remember the white/gold, blue/black dress?) So even adults can confuse colours sometimes (pink and red or blue and purple, perhaps).
Traditionally, we have always taught children about colours the way colours are presented. Blue is blue. Red is red. Yellow is yellow. So on and so forth.
But recently, design duo Ima Moteki decided that it would change how young children learn the colours of the rainbow. Instead of presenting them with names for colours to learn, they created Nameless Paints.
Designed to represent colours without labels, it encourages children to get creative and think about the colours they are using.
Instead of giving each shade a specific name, various circles represent primary colours that were blended to make the final result. The size of the circle also portrays the specific proportions that were used. “By not assigning names to the colours we want to expand the definition of what a colour can be, and the various shades they can create by mixing them,” explains Yusuke Imai, who is a partner with Ayami Moteki in Ima Moteki.
Nameless Paints aims to help children effortlessly learn about colour theory. Currently, they are sold by Japanese stationary brand, Campus and retails for about 1800 yen (about $22.30).
All images are credited to Nameless Paints.
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