Paying Attention to Color and Behavior

I didn’t pay attention to room color until I was talking to another therapy mom one day in the waiting room. She was stressing out about the color to paint her autistic son’s playroom. She wanted a calming color and had to find the perfect green. After talking to her and finding out more about colors and behavior, I started seeing how colors affected my children as well.

It wasn’t but a week after my conversation with that mom that I saw exactly what she was talking about. We were seated at a pediatric dentist office waiting room about to go back for a cleaning. My son was extra hyper that day. The room and its lights were bright yellow, and he was feeding off of that energy. Other children in that room were running around and playing loudly with toys. As we walked to the back, the colors were even brighter- red, yellow, and orange. The colors along with the sound of the hygienists cleaning seven other teeth sent my son into full flight mode. He was running everywhere trying to escape and even threw his shoes across the room. We left without a cleaning that day, and I started my research on finding another dentist.

Two months later we tried the dentist again. The new place had walls colored light blue and cream. In this waiting room, children seemed calmer. They were looking at the aquarium, reading books, and doing puzzles. When it was our turn for a cleaning, we were walked into a private room that was sage green and blue with cream accents. My son was calm the entire time. This trip was successful! The color, lighting, and noise level made a huge difference.

Since this trip, I have really paid more attention to colors. I have seen how colors can affect mood and behavior. This is what I have learned about colors:

Colors that Calm (light, pastel, and cool colors)

White, tan, blue, purple, and green are calming colors. They can help soothe your child and reduce anxiety. They are very helpful colors for children who have behavior problems and tantrums. These colors are best for painting a room for a sensory child.

Colors that excite (bright and warm colors)

Yellow and red excite the body and the mind and bring about cheerfulness while orange encourages confidence and can encourage communication and corporation. However, too much of these colors can bring about the opposite effect. Sensory children can be over stimulated by too much of these colors and can feel agitated and even angry. These colors are best accent colors and are to be used in moderation.

Colors have the power to calm, excite, and even help you focus. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to colors and use them to your advantage in helping your child. If you are interested in the therapeutic use of color for your child, I recommend The Complete Book of Color by Suzy Chiazzari.