Colours in Russian with pictures

Colors in Russian are among the first describing words a child learns, and Russian has a surprise that even adults find interesting: two separate words for blue. This page has 12 colours with pictures and clear audio: красный (red), жёлтый (yellow), синий (blue), зелёный (green), оранжевый (orange), фиолетовый (purple), розовый (pink), коричневый (brown), чёрный (black), белый (white), серый (grey) and голубой (light blue). Tap a colour to hear it, then play Find it.

Two blues: синий and голубой

In English, navy and sky are both "blue". In Russian they are two basic colours with their own names. Синий is dark, deep blue, like the night sky or a deep sea. Голубой is light, sky blue, like a clear summer sky or a forget-me-not. Russian speakers treat them the way English speakers treat red and pink: related, but different colours. Researchers have even found that Russian speakers tell dark and light blue apart slightly faster than English speakers. For your child, just hold up two blue crayons and name each one. Children find it very natural.

The rainbow in Russian

A Russian rainbow (радуга) has seven colours, and both blues are in it: красный, оранжевый, жёлтый, зелёный, голубой, синий, фиолетовый. Children learn the order with a funny sentence where each word starts like a colour: "Каждый охотник желает знать, где сидит фазан" ("Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant sits"). The first letters К-О-Ж-З-Г-С-Ф match the colours. It is the Russian version of "Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain" and works well from about age 5.

Why colour words change their endings

Colour words are adjectives, so they match the noun's gender. You say красный мяч (red ball), красная машина (red car) and красное яблоко (red apple). The audio on this page uses the basic masculine form, the one you find in a dictionary. Children soon hear the pattern from your sentences, so there is no need to teach endings. Simply describe things: "Смотри, жёлтая утка!" ("Look, a yellow duck!")

Colour games for home

1. Colour hunt. Say "Найди что-нибудь красное!" ("Find something red!") and race around the room.
2. Traffic lights. красный means stop, зелёный means go. Play it with running and freezing.
3. Sock sort. Sort laundry by colour and name each pile.
4. Colour and name. Our colouring pages are perfect: name each colour in Russian before you fill a shape.
5. Snack colours. Talk about fruit colours using fruits in Russian.

If your child mixes up colour names, that is completely normal before age 4, in any language. Keep naming colours in daily life and praise every try.

What to expect by age

At 2-3, children match colours before they can name them, so ask "Give me the one like this". At 3-4, most children name red, yellow, green and blue. At 4-5, they name eight to ten colours and understand синий versus голубой. At 5-6, they may recite the rainbow sentence. For English and Hindi colours see colours name. In Ukrainian, light blue is блакитний; see colours in Ukrainian.

Colours in Russian winters, crafts and toys

Colour words come alive in real places. In long snowy winters, children notice how белый snow turns серый by the road and голубой in the shade. Traditional crafts are full of colour too: the famous nesting doll, матрёшка, is usually painted красный, жёлтый and зелёный, and Khokhloma wooden spoons are красный, чёрный and gold. Open a set of nesting dolls with your child, name each doll's colour, and count them as they get smaller.

Tips for Russian-speaking families abroad

Colours are easy to keep in Russian even when school is in English, German or Hebrew, because you use them all day. Choose one routine, such as getting dressed, and always talk about it in Russian: "Какую футболку наденем, синюю или зелёную?" ("Which T-shirt shall we wear, the blue or the green?"). Offering a choice gets your child to say the word, not just hear it. If your child answers in English, simply repeat the Russian word warmly and carry on. Grandparents on a video call can play "show me something red" with objects near the camera.

Цвета для детей

На этой странице 12 цветов с картинками и звуком. Нажмите на цвет, и ребёнок услышит его название по-русски и по-английски. Обратите внимание: в русском языке два синих цвета – синий и голубой.

Играйте в цвета каждый день: ищите красные машины на улице, жёлтые листья в парке и белый снег зимой. Выучите вместе радугу с фразой «Каждый охотник желает знать, где сидит фазан».

How to use this page at home

Say it, then find it

Play for a few minutes, then look for the same thing away from the screen: russian words on the shelf, in the kitchen, on the way to school. A child learns a word properly when they meet it twice, once on the screen and once in their hand.

Ten minutes is enough

Short and happy beats long and tired. Stop while your child still wants more, and come back tomorrow: the same page on five short days teaches far more than one long sitting. Nothing here is scored, so there is no reason to push.

Use both languages

Tap the language button at the top to hear the words in your home language first and the second language after. Hearing the same picture named in two languages is one of the few things research agrees builds attention as well as vocabulary.