Color therapy for children: indications, technique, effectiveness

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Probably everyone knows about the power of the color palette. One color can irritate, and the other, on the contrary, calm. And it's no secret that the right choice of colors is the key to a good mood. In addition, color therapy is used in the treatment of mental illness, as well as for the harmonious development of children. What is this method and how to use it - about this in today's article.

What is color therapy?

The word "therapy" refers to treatment, and is also often used in the context of prevention. This procedure is a non-drug method of treatment with the help of color, is not addictive, and is also absolutely safe for children. Due to the numerous use of individual elements of this method in practice, the effectiveness of color therapy for strengthening the psychological and physical development of babies has been revealed.

Application

Color therapy covers a huge range of treatment of various diseases with the help of certaintechniques. First of all, such a procedure is used to correct the psycho-emotional state of the child. In medical practice, the positive properties of color therapy have been identified:

• identifies central nervous system problems;
• treats neuroses;
• relieves children's anxiety;
• fights against pathological fears;
• removes apathy and irritability;
• helps calm hyperactive kids and stir up overly lazy, retarded kids.

But color therapy techniques have found application not only for correcting children's psychological background, but also for treating internal organs. Asthma, influenza, diabetes, gastritis, tuberculosis, paralysis of all kinds, and even cancer can be cured with the help of certain techniques.

According to experts, a different color spectrum affects the organs of the endocrine system, which are responsible for the production of hormones - the pineal gland and the pituitary gland. Thus, with the help of color exposure, it is possible to regulate the production of certain hormones. Thanks to the different colors that surround the child, unique results can be achieved.

The numerous use of various methods of color therapy in practice has clearly shown its effectiveness in strengthening the physical and psychological development of preschoolers. This method of treatment with the help of color has been used since ancient times. To date, in modern medicine, a positive effect of color therapy on the condition of children has been noted. Various methods of non-drug treatment help to improve he althtoddlers and improve their adaptation to adulthood.

There are two types of color effects:

1. With the help of vision - perceiving different colors with our eyes, thus, we provoke the activity of a chemical chain reaction, which subsequently leads to the release of various types of body hormones.
2. Through human skin. This method consists in electromagnetic radiation in the form of light through the tissues of the human body, which charges the internal organs with the necessary energy and activates the internal processes of the body.

The effect of color on the body

All children are individual in their own way, their reaction to the surrounding reality may be different. But as a rule, their choice of color is initially associated with an emotional and mental state. In the following video, you can learn about the features of color therapy and color treatment for children.

We propose to consider the specifics of some colors separately.

• Red - increases psychological and physical activity, and also stimulates blood circulation and increases appetite. Restless and hyperactive children like this color. Experts recommend using red in the interior of the dining room and kitchen. And to prevent bad and interrupted sleep, you should avoid this color in the baby's bedroom.
• Orange is the color of a great mood and a feeling of joy. He is loved most of all by cheerful and positive kids. In color therapy, orange is used to treat nervous breakdowns, neurosis, and depression.
• Yellow -helps to give confidence and good mood. This sunny color contributes to the development of memory, the elimination of fears and various kinds of depressive states. Among other things, yellow helps fight fears, increase a child's vitality, have a beneficial effect on digestion and improve mood.
• Green - represents inner harmony and tranquility. As a rule, it is chosen by children who lack motherly love. This color has a positive effect on sleep and has a calming effect. Green is used to treat headaches and normalize blood pressure.
• Blue. this color is chosen by quiet and calm children who tend to dream. In color therapy, blue is used in the fight against infectious diseases.
• Blue - helps to give the baby calm and self-confidence. This color is preferred by balanced children who do not tend to rush anywhere. Blue color can also lower blood pressure.
• Purple has a calming effect. In color therapy, this color is used to relieve stress and nervous conditions. Usually, natures with a fine mental organization like purple. As a rule, this color is chosen by vulnerable and emotional kids who have a predisposition to spiritual development.
• Black and white have no tone and are rarely used in color therapy. When a child chooses black, it is worth contacting a specialist, as this serves as an alarm signal.

Color Therapy Exercises

Wefound out that color therapy is able to eliminate many psychological and emotional states of children. It is worth considering that children under 2-3 years old can only distinguish achromatic colors, such as white and black. After three years, with appropriate training, the child will already be able to distinguish many colors. At this time, you can already begin to teach the baby to choose the color he needs. For example, the sky is blue, the grass is green, and the sun is yellow. During the color therapy exercises, children should be periodically given time to rest, when they can draw with pencils and paints in any form. During this time, children can draw circles, lines, flowers, which will give them the opportunity to relax and get positive emotions. These exercises can be used both in children's institutions and at home. Next, we will talk about the most effective color therapy exercises for preschool children.

Magic City

In order to start playing color therapy with older children, invite the child to build a house out of cubes, where multi-colored residents will live. It is important that the color of the character matches the house in which he lives. Residents can be colorful people, various animals or fictional characters. Think with your child why these residents chose a particular color. Tell him how the mood and character can change from the color. When conducting color therapy for children, games of this kind are great for developing the imagination of a preschooler.

Light the Rainbow

This exercise is to offer the childor a group of children to create a rainbow. It can be made anywhere and from anything - ribbons, cubes, multi-colored balls and much more will do. After that, the child will be able to make a wish under the rainbow.

Drawing

Preschool children are not always able to express their feelings and emotions in words. Therefore, drawing can be used as a color therapy exercise for children. This process will help the child create a special harmonious colorful world where he can throw out his emotions. In turn, the teacher will be able to identify what worries the baby and offer a solution to the problem in a playful way.

Magic Water

For this exercise, you need to pour ordinary water into a transparent glass cup and put it on a colored picture. When color therapy for children, it is advisable to select the color of the stand based on the characteristics of the child, since water is able to perceive the energy of color. For example, if an excited baby needs to be calmed down, take the green color as a basis. After deciding on a color, look with your child at the bottom of the glass and offer the child to drink the contents in slow sips.

Emerald City

It is desirable to conduct the following color therapy exercise for children to music. The task of the kid is as follows: close your eyes and imagine yourself in the Emerald City. It is important that the child presents in detail each element of the imaginary city. Such a session should not exceed 10 minutes, after which the baby should be asked to depict what he saw on a piece of paper.

Drawing with fingers

This technique has a lot of advantages: in addition to the fact that this exercise helps to cope with laziness and irritability and eliminate aggression, it also develops fine motor skills. This color therapy exercise in children aged 5 and 6 corrects excessive hyperactivity that can harm the baby in the learning process.

For example, invite your child to draw a favorite character from a fairy tale using fingers and paints on a landscape sheet. Firstly, not every child at this age is good at using paints, pencils or felt-tip pens, and secondly, any kid will be interested in trying something new.

instill a desire to learn new knowledge and learn.

The color of my mood

The exercise is as follows: children need to put a landscape sheet in front of them, which shows a silhouette of a person. The kids are tasked with identifying the mood of this person and coloring them with the colors that, in their opinion, are most suitable.

Draw a name

For this exercise, the child must be provided with an album for drawing and colored pencils or felt-tip pens, and then asked to draw his name. During work, you canturn on muted music, and then the baby needs to present his picture and explain why he imagines his name this way.

Colored Rain

This exercise is great for color therapy for children with disabilities. For this exercise, you need to create a tent or house from multi-colored satin ribbons. Firstly, children can learn the ropes and play with them in the rain, and secondly, it will be interesting for kids to hide and play there.

It is necessary to arrange the ribbons according to the color principle of the rainbow. For example, an irritated baby can be offered to cool off and run under the cold colors of ribbons, and an upset or sad baby can be offered to bask in the warm sunshine.

Color therapy exercises for children with disabilities

These children are characterized by defective pronunciation of sounds, a small vocabulary, inability to make sentences. In addition to the above, children with disabilities can experience lack of motor activity, including poor coordination of fine motor skills. As a rule, such children have poorly developed concentration of attention, logical thinking suffers. Therefore, it is important for them to use original and creative methods when conducting color therapy.

Fairy Cloud

For this exercise, you must first prepare pieces of translucent fabric, tulle or organza is well suited. The essence of color therapy exercises for children with disabilities is as follows: a fairy invites you to visit, but for this you need to get to her on multi-coloredclouds. After that, the children wrap themselves in a cloth and through it they see how the world is changing. This exercise helps develop the perception of shades and learn to notice how color changes when one paint is superimposed on another. For example, look through a green piece of material at a purple one.

Guess what it is

On the landscape sheet, using paint of a certain color, put a few dots with your fingers and ask the child "What is shown in this picture?". It is important that the child connects his imagination and suggests as many options as possible. Such an exercise perfectly reduces psychological stress, and will also help develop imagination.

Orange color

This exercise helps to eliminate stiffness, isolation and shyness. Pre-make a blank: apply glue to thick cardboard and pour millet groats on it, spreading it over the entire sheet. After complete drying, give it to the child. The kid needs to color this canvas with orange finger paint. You can turn on the music while you work.

Green inhabitants of the forest

This game is best played with a group of children. The bottom line is this: each child calls a forest dweller - an animal, a bird, an insect - green (grasshopper, green butterfly, frog, green parrot, and so on), after that you need to warn when the music starts, you need to move just like a fictional hero. That is, the grasshopper will jump, the butterfly will fly, the frog will jump. And when the music stops, the children in the form of animals should stop and freezein place. The game can be repeated several times. It is not necessary that the forest dwellers be green, you can choose any other.

Make a picture

Pre-glue pieces of cotton wool in the form of clouds on the landscape sheet. To the music of "Birdsong" decorate the sky with your child. Show him how to mix blue and white colors to get the right shade of blue. Add to this picture a bright sun, green grass and whatever the baby wishes.

In closing

From childhood, we are surrounded by the colorful world of the earth, which is completely imperceptibly capable of influencing the mood and he alth of a person. Unlike adults, young children are more sensitive to different colors. It is important to pay attention to mood swings in children. With the help of color therapy, preschool children can cheer up or save them from sadness. Bright colors help to form the artistic component of the child, develop imagination, and expand the vocabulary of the preschooler.