Can babies see colours?

Babies only begin to perceive colours during their second and third months of life. At first they can distinguish subtle shades, then they develop an interest in bright primary colours and contrasts. From the fourth month, little ones start to recognise objects again and to improve their depth perception. Only after around eight months is a baby's visual perception developed enough for them to perceive their surroundings in a similar way to an adult. Nevertheless, it still takes many months or even years before full visual acuity is reached and children have fully developed their depth perception and contrast sensitivity.

Supporting babies' visual development

Parents can support their children's visual development already in the first year of life, since visual perception is a fundamental prerequisite for many further milestones. These include, for example, the first deliberate smile or reaching for specific objects. Depth perception is primarily linked to the development of hand–eye coordination. Grasping toys are therefore ideal for encouraging babies to explore and to use their vision from an early age. As vision develops, toddlers begin to perceive things spatially, to recognise them and to point at them. If they see something particularly interesting out of reach, they are also encouraged to wriggle or crawl towards it to inspect the object more closely. Experts also recommend plenty of daylight, which promotes the networking of nerve cells in the optic nerve.

Promoting a baby's visual perception

Promoting visual perception with play gyms & play arches

Visual stimuli can be offered in many forms: this might be a colourful mobile at the changing table or by the cot, or a play gym with lots of elements to discover, touch and play with. A colourful play cushion also invites investigation and the different effects help train hand–eye coordination.

Promoting visual perception with children's books

Colourful pictures need not be limited to traditional book pages: fabric buggy books, bath books for the tub and wooden baby books also invite little ones to explore them.