The palette of colors in a school classroom is as varied as the colors of the spectrum. The walls are painted from warm to cool and accented with shades and hues that contrast in color. During the 50’s, 60′ and 70’s school’s painted the walls a pale green or creamy white and there was little variation in color across the nation.
Color is an integral part of our lives and visually affects how we perceive our environment. Color affects our emotions and feelings and stimulates our moods either positively or negatively. Many people have a preference to certain colors due to their cultural background, gender or geographical region.
Our homes are decorated in certain colors and will set a basis for color preference in the environment outside our homes, such as a classroom. With this said, it would make sense to provide our children with classrooms complimentary to a home environment. Additionally, with the increased interest in sustainability of our environment providing our children an echo-friendly classroom would help to build their social responsibility.
Color and How It Affects Children
Hue, brightness (value) and saturation (chroma) are basic attributes of color. Hue helps us to distinguish color while brightness helps us to understand color relationships to achromatic colors such as black and gray. When you consider how colors work together and establish our understanding of preferences, you can perceive how they elicit emotion and feeling within us.
If you use a combination of colors in a school classroom they should compliment each other and provide an environment that stimulates learning in children and not cause a distraction. Believe it or not the glare off a wall done in a high-gloss, vivid color can make note taking difficult.
Color meanings have long been studied for their effect on school children. Results have proven that lighter colors such as yellow and blue elicit positive feelings while darker colors such as deep blue, black or gray create negative emotions. The color red has been known to cause anxiety in some children. Colors can also make a room seem smaller or larger and if you have children who need space, this should be a consideration when choosing wall colors.
Using Color Schemes In The Classroom
The colors in a classroom create an environment that helps to stimulate learning and prevent anxiety. It is important to note that color also affects children differently according to age. Younger children below five are empowered by bright colors such as yellow. Older children work better in rooms painted in light shades of blue and green which are less stressful and distracting. Adding cushions, rugs and soft materials in paler shades will not only enhance the learning environment but will add a touch of home to the classroom.
The furniture in the classroom should also be a good color match for the classroom. As more schools are going green it is suggested that the furniture be a light-colored natural wood. Other green ideas are skylights and large windows that provide not only good lighting but bring out the colors of the walls.
As color is a necessary part of children’s positive perception of life in general, it is a good idea to use bright colors that stimulate movement where appropriate such as hallways and gymnasiums. Suggested ideas are shades of purple, red and yellow.
Color schemes in a school classroom can be used to increase comfort and promote learning. Although some schools may have a preference to certain colors, consideration of how colors affect children should be a factor in making a final decision in painting a classroom.
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