My Son Can’t See. How Do I Explain Colours to Him?

A Note From One Parent To Another

If you are reading this, you love your son very much. He cannot see. And now he is asking you what “red” means. Or what “blue” looks like. Or why the sky is called “neela”.

You feel stuck. You feel sad. Maybe you feel a little scared. That is okay.

Take a deep breath. You are not the first Indian parent to face this question. And there is good news — colours are not only for the eyes. Colours are also for the heart, the hands, the tongue, the nose, and the mind.

In this guide, I will show you many easy ways to explain colours to your son. In simple English. With Indian examples he will understand. No big words. No hard theories. Just real ideas you can use today.

Let us begin.

First, Understand This One Big Truth

Your son does not need to see colours to know colours.

Blind adults all over the world talk about colours every day. They say things like “I love the red saree.” Or “Blue is my favourite colour.” They mean it. They feel it. They have their own idea of what those colours are.

How? Because colours are not just light. Colours are feelings. Colours are stories. Colours are memories. Colours are connected to almost everything in life — heat, cold, food, mood, music, weather, and people.

Your job as a parent is not to make your son “see”. Your job is to help him build a rich world in his mind, where every colour has a meaning he can feel.

That is all. And you can do it.

Why Teaching Colours Matters (Even If He Can’t See)

Some parents ask me, “Why should I teach colours at all? He will never see them.”

Here is the truth. Colours are part of our language. If your son does not know colours, he will feel left out. Other children will say “the red bus” and he will not follow. His teachers will say “colour it green” and he will feel confused. Songs, poems, stories, and even our national flag all use colours.

When your son understands colours, he can:

• Join conversations with other kids
• Read stories and imagine them
• Sing rhymes with meaning
• Talk about clothes, food, festivals, and nature
• Feel confident in school
• Describe things to sighted friends

Teaching colours is really about giving him words to share his world. That is a gift.

The Six Main Ways to Explain Colours to a Blind Child

There are six simple doors you can use. Each door connects a colour to something your son can feel or notice. Use one door, or use all six. The more doors, the stronger the memory.

Door 1: Temperature (Hot and Cold)

This is the easiest place to start. Most blind adults say this is how they first understood colours.

• Red is hot. Like a fresh chapati just off the tava. Like the sun on your face in May. Like chilli powder on your tongue.
• Orange is warm. Like a diya flame. Like haldi doodh in a mug.
• Yellow is bright warm. Like sunlight through a window in the morning.
• Blue is cool. Like cold water. Like the fan on a hot day.
• White is cool and calm. Like cold milk. Like clean cotton.
• Green is cool and fresh. Like tulsi leaves in the morning.
• Black is warm and heavy. Like a black stone left in the sun.

Try this today: Hold your son’s hand. Put it on a warm cup of chai. Say, “This warm feeling is red.” Then put his hand on a cold water bottle. Say, “This cold feeling is blue.” Do this again and again for one week. He will start to remember.

Door 2: Emotions (Feelings)

Colours match feelings. This is true for all people, even those who see.

• Red is anger, love, excitement. A loud, strong feeling.
• Blue is calm, sad, peaceful. A quiet, deep feeling.
• Yellow is happy, playful, cheerful. A dancing feeling.
• Green is safe, healthy, growing. A resting feeling.
• Black is serious, hidden, powerful. A heavy feeling.
• White is clean, pure, empty. A light, open feeling.
• Pink is soft, sweet, kind. A gentle feeling.

Try this today: When your son laughs loudly, say, “That laugh is yellow!” When he feels shy or sad, say, “That is a blue feeling.” Slowly he will link colours to what he already knows — his own emotions.

Door 3: Textures (Touch)

Textures are a blind child’s second language. He already knows the world by touch. Now connect that touch to colours.

• Red is like the smooth, cool skin of a tomato. Or the soft petals of a gulab (rose).
• Green is like the fresh, cold leaf of a curry patta. Or wet grass after rain.
• Yellow is like a slippery ripe kela (banana) or the soft, warm skin of a mango.
• Brown is like tree bark, or coconut shell, or dry mitti.
• White is like cotton, sugar, or fresh flour.
• Black is like a heavy iron tawa, or coal.
• Blue is like cool water in a bucket, or a smooth glass window.

Try this today: Take a small basket. Put a tomato, a leaf, a banana, some cotton, and a piece of coal in it. Let your son touch each one. Say the colour every time. Do this for 10 minutes a day for one month. This is called sensory play and it is powerful.

Door 4: Sounds and Music

Colours have sounds too. This is called synesthesia — a real, scientific thing. Some people even hear colours. Your son can use this to imagine.

• Red sounds like a drum. Loud, fast, strong. Like a dhol at a baraat.
• Yellow sounds like laughter. Or bells. Or a bansuri (flute).
• Blue sounds like slow rain. Or the sea. Or a santoor.
• Green sounds like birds in the morning. Or trees moving in the wind.
• Black sounds like silence. Or thunder. Or a deep voice.
• White sounds like a small bell. Or soft breath.
• Orange sounds like a happy Bollywood song.

Try this today: Play different music with your son. Ask him, “Does this song feel red or blue? Fast or slow?” Let him decide. There is no wrong answer. This builds his creative mind.

Door 5: Taste and Smell

For a blind child, taste and smell are like superpowers. Use them.

• Red tastes like a ripe tamatar, spicy mirchi, or sweet tarbooj (watermelon).
• Yellow tastes like haldi, kela, or aam (mango).
• Green tastes like coriander, pudina, or raw guava.
• Brown tastes like chocolate, coffee, or roasted peanuts.
• White tastes like milk, curd, sugar, or coconut.
• Orange tastes like the fruit itself, or gajar (carrot), or jalebi.
• Black tastes like coffee, kaali mirch, or jamun.

Try this today: Kitchen time is colour time. When you cook, name every colour. “This is yellow haldi.” “This is red mirchi powder.” “This is green dhaniya.” Let him smell each one. Let him taste (safely). The kitchen becomes his art class.

Door 6: Nature and Everyday Life

Everything around him has a colour. Use daily life as your teacher.

• The sun is yellow and warm.
• The sky is blue (at day) and black (at night).
• Grass is green.
• Trees are brown (trunk) and green (leaves).
• Water is blue when we describe it, but clear when we drink it.
• The Indian flag is orange (top), white (middle), and green (bottom), with a blue chakra.
• Blood is red.
• Milk is white.
• Coal is black.

Try this today: Every time you go out, describe the colours around you. In the park. In the market. At a wedding. At a temple. Slowly his mind will fill with a rich world of colour.

What About Indian Festivals? Use Them!

India is a country of colours. Every festival is a chance to teach.

• Holi — the festival of colours. Let him touch dry gulal. Say the colour of each pile. Let him throw them. Even if he cannot see, he can feel the joy.
• Diwali — orange and yellow diyas. Golden lights. Red rangoli powder.
• Raksha Bandhan — red and yellow threads on the wrist.
• Ganesh Chaturthi — brown or orange idols, green leaves for decoration.
• Eid — the smell of biryani (yellow rice), sheer khurma (white and brown).
• Christmas — green trees, red decorations, white star.

Do not skip festivals because he cannot see. Include him more. Let him touch, taste, smell, and hear everything. That is his festival too.

Age-Wise Guide: What to Teach and When

Toddlers (1 to 3 years)

Start with just three colours: red, yellow, and blue. Use temperature and taste. Do not push. Let it be a game. Sing colour songs.

Small Children (3 to 6 years)

Add green, white, black, orange, and pink. Use texture play with a “colour basket”. Read tactile picture books (see resources below). Talk about the Indian flag.

School Age (6 to 12 years)

Now go deeper. Teach shades — light blue, dark blue. Explain colours in stories. Let him describe his own feelings in colours. Encourage him to make choices — “Do you want the red shirt or the blue one?”

Teenagers (12+)

Talk about colours in fashion, art, and design. Blind teenagers often love describing their own style. Support that. Also teach him that it is okay to ask sighted people, “What colour is this?” — that is a normal, confident question.

Common Mistakes Indian Parents Make (Avoid These)

Many parents mean well but do things that hurt. Here are common mistakes.

Mistake 1: Saying “you don’t need to know colours.” This makes your child feel small. He does need to know. Colours are part of language.

Mistake 2: Getting frustrated when he mixes up. He will call fire “blue” one day and “red” another day. Stay calm. Correct gently. He is learning a language of feeling, not sight. It takes time.

Mistake 3: Hiding his blindness from relatives. Some parents feel shy. Please do not. Talk openly. The more your family understands, the more they will help him learn.

Mistake 4: Comparing him to sighted children. He is not “behind”. He is on his own path. Compare him to himself last month, not to his cousin.

Mistake 5: Not seeking help. There are amazing schools, NGOs, and experts in India who can guide you. See the list at the end.

What Do Experts Say?

A study from the National Institutes of Health (USA) has shown that blind children who are taught colours through multi-sensory methods (touch, smell, sound) develop richer language and stronger imagination than children who are not taught colours at all.

Closer to home, the L V Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad — one of India’s top eye care centres — recommends sensory learning as the main way to build a blind child’s understanding of the world.

The National Association for the Blind (NAB India) also runs early intervention programmes for parents of blind children. They train parents in sensory teaching, Braille, and mobility. If your son is under 6, please contact them.

Real Story: How One Delhi Mother Taught Her Son

Priya, a mother in Delhi, has a son named Arjun who was born blind. When Arjun was 4, he asked her, “Mumma, what is red?”

Priya did not know what to say. She almost cried. But that night she thought about it.

The next morning, she took him to the kitchen. She put his tiny hand on a warm dosa. She said, “This warm feeling — this is red.” Then she gave him a piece of watermelon to taste. She said, “This sweet, cool taste is also red.” Then she played a loud Punjabi song. She said, “This loud, dancing music is red.”

Arjun laughed and said, “Red is happy and hot!”

Priya says today Arjun (now 9) can describe any colour in his own way. He tells his sister, “Your voice is pink today, you are being sweet.” He tells his father, “Your shirt smells green, like a garden.”

He is not seeing colours. He is feeling them. And that is beautiful.

Tools, Books, and Apps That Help

Here are some resources Indian parents can use:

• Tactile picture books — Books with raised pictures and Braille. Available from the Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) in Mumbai.
• Colour scanning apps — Apps like Seeing AI (Microsoft) can tell your son the colour of anything he holds up to the phone. Free.
• Braille colouring kits — Available on Amazon India and from Saksham Trust.
• Sensory play toys — Textured balls, temperature bottles, sound boxes.
• YouTube channel: “Blind Kids” — Real videos from blind children and their parents. Very helpful.

When to Seek Professional Help

Please talk to a specialist if:

• Your son is under 3 and has not been checked by a paediatric ophthalmologist yet.
• He has other developmental delays along with blindness.
• You are feeling depressed, exhausted, or hopeless (please — your health matters too).
• You do not know how to start Braille or mobility training.

Good places to reach out in India:

• Aravind Eye Hospital (Madurai and other cities)
• Sankara Nethralaya (Chennai)
• L V Prasad Eye Institute (Hyderabad)
• Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital (Delhi)
• Sightsavers India
• NAB India

Take Care of Yourself Too, Parent

I know this journey is not easy. Some days you will feel proud. Some days you will feel tired. Both are okay.

Please remember — a healthy parent raises a healthy child. Eat well. Sleep when you can. Move your body a little every day, even a 15-minute walk. Talk to other parents like you. There are WhatsApp groups and support communities in most Indian cities.

If you would like ideas for staying strong and healthy as a parent, we have written more on this — see our guides on family fitness at home and mental wellness for busy parents. (These are placeholder internal links — replace with your actual URLs.)

You are doing a great job. Your son is lucky to have you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a blind child really understand colours?

Yes. Not the way sighted people do, but through feeling, memory, and imagination. Many blind adults have favourite colours and use colours in daily conversation with confidence.

At what age should I start teaching my blind son colours?

You can start as early as 2 years. Begin with just red, yellow, and blue using warm and cold objects. Keep it fun, not a lesson.

Should I teach my son Braille and colours at the same time?

Yes. They help each other. Braille builds his reading. Colour learning builds his imagination and language. Both together give him a full world.

My son was born blind. Will he ever “imagine” a colour?

Yes, he will build his own version. It may not look like your version, but it is real for him. His imagination will use touch, sound, taste, and feeling.

Is there a school in India specially for blind children?

Yes, many. Some famous ones are the Blind Boys Academy (Kolkata), Devnar School for the Blind (Hyderabad), and National Institute for the Empowered Persons with Visual Disabilities (Dehradun). Reach out to NAB India for a full list near you.

My relatives say teaching colours is a waste of time. What should I say?

Politely tell them that colours are language, and language is power. Your son deserves the same language as any other child. Then keep teaching him.

Final Thoughts

Your son cannot see colours with his eyes. But he can feel red in a warm chapati. He can taste yellow in a ripe mango. He can hear blue in soft rain. He can smell green in tulsi. He can touch white in cotton.

The whole world of colour is still open to him — through you.

Be patient. Be creative. Be kind to yourself. And keep going.

He is going to be okay. So are you.

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