Two of the first skills children need to learn are how to recognize colors and how to identify basic shapes. Educators consider these skills to be reading readiness skills. Reading readiness skills help prepare preschool age children for the task of reading, one of life's most important skills.

Each child passes through developmental stages at his or her own pace. Adults who work with children can help to make learning colors and shapes a fun activity. Color is a concept that requires critical thinking. Similarly shape recognition also requires that a level of critical thinking be applied to an awareness of attributes. For example, what is the critical difference between a square and a rectangle?

How do children learn to recognize colors and shapes? In order to recognize colors, first a child must be able to perceive color. Color blindness or color vision deficiency is the inability to perceive differences between some of the colors that others can distinguish. In the United States, about 7 percent of the male population has color vision deficiencies that affect the ability to perceive color. Assuming that a child can perceive color, learning the names of colors is a process of seeing a color as a critical attribute for a set of objects.

Identifying that a difference in color is the key idea for assigning a particular label to one object and not another is the first step toward understanding that objects can be classified using color as the critical attribute. Shape recognition is another step in the process of learning that figures can be classified by the number of sides and relative length of the sides.

As a parent with a busy schedule, how can you help your child learn colors and shapes? Chances are, you’re already doing it. Talk to your child about colors and shapes. What color is your apple? How many sides to your slice of pizza? Listen when your child talks to you. Point out the color and shape of objects that you encounter together when you are with your child. You’ll be amazed at how much your son or daughter will learn if you’ll simply talk about the color and shape of common household objects.

Whether your child will learn quickly to recognize color and shape depends on a lot of factors. But once a child has learned to recognize colors and shapes, he or she won’t tire of finding examples in the environment. Parents should be patient and encourage the child to demonstrate these new skills because it helps to build self-confidence.

Colors and Shapes is a fun, convenient way to introduce and reinforce the basic concepts with your preschooler. For all the times you and your child have a minute or two, this iPhone application is the perfect opportunity to review colors and shapes. It will entertain both of you while you’re waiting in line at the grocery store, sitting in the waiting room at the dentist, traveling by bus or train, etc. The possibilities are endless!