After children are born, their brains continue to develop to stimulate cognitive development, which is a process that differs depending on the age of the child. Medical scientists who researched and made empirical observations regarding the perception process of the mind of a child include Adams and Courage (1998), who explored the color system which continues in a child’s brain after birth. They found out that during the first year of a child’s life, infants start developing individual color preferences, which are influenced by differences to exposure to UV-B and the age of the child. Scientists have continued to research these changes and color system and suggested that infants seem to develop preferences for unique hues during the day. These hues include blue and yellow axis, which is observed during the day, such that these are the first color preferences that children demonstrate. Also, they determine the shift in the balance of the color system as the child reaches a specific age. These observations led to further research on types of toys which should be given to children depending on their preferences and age. As such, this discussion explores types of toys colors which are appropriate for children and will demonstrate that color preferences and their underlying preferences are vital for the development of cognitive skills among infants.
Bright Large Rattle Toy for Developing Vision Skills
Link to the source: https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Starts-Rattle-Shake-Barbell/dp/B000ZYM8SS
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This is a bright large rattle toy for children mostly who are from six months to nine months. The toy can be seen to comprise light blue and dark blue colors. There is a yellow bangle on which there are red and dark blue rectangular and hexagonal shaped plastics attached to it. Inside the transparent tube, there are pebbles of different colors, such as blue, red, purple, and yellow. The online shopping site indicated that this toy was for a bright start, suggesting that it would be appropriate for boosting the cognitive development of a child based on the choice of colors. The toy has contrasting colors, which makes it easier for a child to differentiate them and mobile pebble with different colors to challenge the color cognition ability of children.
A body of literature illustrates that a child starts learning by seeing from the time he or she is born. As the age progresses, the child concentrates on differentiating the blurry world of light by developing a sophisticated ability to handle complex vision tasks. These tasks include playing with toys of different colors, which help the child to stimulate visual development. Drury and Fletcher-Watson (2016) explain that this is why optometric care is so vital at the time the child is six months old. Parents with children that fall within this age bracket are advised to see doctors to help kids to identify vision skills areas which require attention and develop ways to solve them during their early stages.
Other studies demonstrate that children start developing color preferences from three months of age, during which they record their fixation time for yellow, red, blue, and grey colors. Drury and Fletcher-Watson (2016) reveal in a study that adults do not show a longer fixation time for bright colors than three months children. The study also indicated that children had a significant preference for the chromatic stimuli, which meant that children were attracted to colors that had long wavelengths, such as red and yellow. Moreover, they were the ability to differentiate colors, which had a shorter wavelength such as blue and green. Adults demonstrate an opposite preference towards the chromatic stimuli. This indicated that children’s preference for the chromatic over achromatic stimuli exists at birth, but the vision responds more preferentially among different colors from the age of three months.
Sea Turtle Bead Maze
Link to the source: https://www.amazon.com/Educo-Colorback-Turtle-Bead-Maze/dp/B0017UBQ64
The above is an image of the sea turtle bead maze that can help children to develop fine motor skills. The turtle is made from wood and has a maze that is marked with different and each bead corresponding to a specific color of the maze. When are children with playing with this toy, they are tasked with moving the beads along the laid paths and insert each bead into its corresponding destination depending on its color. The colors used on the turtle are easy to detect, and the manufacturer seemed to have made the toy for a specific age of children since it is indicated to be most appropriate for 24 months children.
This choice of motor skills conforms to theoretical explanations and findings which have been made from past studies. For example, studies on vision skills systems demonstrate that children continue to develop other cognitive skills after learning how to differentiate colors. For instance, Sugita (2004) reveals that when children can differentiate colors, they form a robust looking preference, which is a looking behavior that promotes motor skills. This is the reason children play with various toys by trying to respond to specific color preference tasks. This provides a potential explanation for the discrepancies that are observed among children who are inactive in play since they lack colored toys to assist them in developing motor skills. Further research has shown that children develop preferential-looking behavior, which is closely linked to the color vision skill (Sugita, 2004). Thus, this helps to establish the reason toys with the color-object association are suggested for children aged 24 months and above.
Hammer shaker
Link to the source: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32963624525.html
This is a coconut shell hammer shaker that has beads inside it which produce rattling sound when shaken. This type of toy does not fit into the category of either vision or motor skills toys because it contains diffused colors which are not representative of the chromatic and achromatic hues. Moreover, the toy does not simulate motor skills since it does not reflect as having the color-object association which is a characteristic that is relied on by children when they are playing. The manufacture does not indicate the age group that is best suited for this toy or which cognitive skills it helps to promote.
It is possible to argue that the toy illustrates a spatial distribution bias that tends to favor green over yellow. Thus, the color combination fails to produce the effect of some intrinsic preference, which is the main feature that is observed by children when they are developing the vision skill (Drury & Fletcher-Watson, 2016). This spatial distribution bias contradicts findings which have been made in chromatic preference experiments, showing that this object is inherently less salient in promoting vision and motor skills of infants.
Various studies have demonstrated that newborns and three months-olds develop color preferences, which helps them to develop visual skills. The most valuable colors that children prefer are preferred as chromatic and achromatic colors. This means that the best choice of toys should be those containing the two color sets. Moreover, when children reach 24 months, they developed color-object association, which is a cognitive skill that helps them to advance their motor skills. To recapitulate the main points of this discussion, it is notable that studies have confirmed that color preferences and their underlying preferences are vital for the development of cognitive skills among infants.
References
Adams, R. J., & Courage, M. L. (1998). Human newborn color vision: Measurement with
chromatic stimuli varying in excitation purity. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology , 68, 22–34.
Drury, R., & Fletcher-Watson, B. (2016). The infant audience: The impact and implications of
child development research on performing arts practice for the very young. Journal of Early Childhood Research , 15(3), 292-304.
Sugita, Y. (2004). Experience in early infancy is indispensable for color perception. Current
Biology , 14(14), 1267–1271.
