Colours express the main psychic feelings of man

– Carl Jung

Colours are a part of life and influence the body functions, thoughts and emotions with the energy produced by light. Light and colour have a mesmerizing effect on the human mind. On average, the human eye can perceive 150 different colours in visible light. It thus helps a child to cognize, perceive and define an object. Every child has colour related cognition of objects and as such the perception of each colour addresses the related emotion.

The effects of colours on the human mind can be varied – imparting peace of the mind, generating excitement, a calming and soothing effect, giving rise to inspiration or some colours even cause anxiety or stress. The psychological impact of colours can be observed more distinctly in children.

A colour preference pattern is evident in the progressive childhood years. While very young pre-schoolers prefer warm, bright colors as red, yellow and orange; the elementary school children choose tints and pastels in contrast. The relationship of this pattern reference of colours by children is logical. Due to their inability to read and write in the early years, the children rely more on visual material to establish communication. Thus colour is an important tool of expression for them. Red stimulates the brain activity and yellow improves the concentration. So preschool classrooms are designed with luminous and bold colours to keep the child stimulated and active. Even colourful food is presented to the child to stimulate hunger pangs and colourful toys are an effective learning tool at this age. Environmental stimulation aids in learning at this age, and keeps the child active and healthy.

The importance of inclusion of colours in the child’s learning environment is significant at every age. It provides the verbal cues. The human brain thrives on change of mind. In contrast to the loud colours, the children of elementary school shift their preference to softer shades of pastels.  The colours have a soothing effect on the children when mental stimulation leads to productivity and creativity.

Progressing to middle school; the colour commonality of choice is blue and green. Blue evokes feelings of contentment, spaciousness and comfort as it is the color of the sky and the sea. Green spells health and has a calming effect on the nervous system. As the lens of the eye focuses on green henceforth green is the most relaxing colour. The mental turbulences of early adolescence are calmed by the use of these colours. Their use translates to foster success at school.

In High school, the colour preferences shift to deeper hues as burgundy, deep green, navy and violet. This signify a sense of self control, confidence, elegance and deep rootedness. The children by now have found their individuality and a sense of being. They are ready to take control of factors in the environment outside of themselves; as a career choice or a relationship. These colours validate their emotions.

The influence of colour on a child’s brain is evident even in discrepant situations. While bright reds and oranges were seen to increase a child’s IQ as much as 12 points by attracting his attention to details; the reading comprehension increased 80% in dyslexic children by the use of blue or grey overlay on the white background of the page. The colour vision deficiency was facilitated to increase productivity.

Colour, thus, can affect the psychological reactions as well as the physiologic health of children. Research has demonstrated the important role played by environmental factors in developing levels of success and productivity, reducing the error rate and inducing positive behavior in children. Amongst the stimuli present in the environment colour ranks foremost as the component for influencing a child’s behavioral, emotional and health of a child; and hence needs priority attention.

Ruby Park Public School: Your gateway to world-class education

Being one of the top schools in the city, this CBSE-affiliated institution imparts education that meets international standards, with optimum utilization of cutting-edge technology and modern pedagogical tools. Being a sister concern of DPS Ruby Park, the school ensures quality education and holistic development of all the students. In connection to this, the institute has been working tirelessly at moulding and nurturing a strong community of intellectual, future-ready citizens of tomorrow that are sensitive to the winds of change and yet committed to living with responsibility. The peaceful, invigorating, learning environment has been stimulating the students to successfully achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.