You can use the jQuery Color plugin.
For example, to draw attention to all the divs on your page, you could use the following code:
$("div").stop().css("background-color", "#FFFF9C")
.animate({ backgroundColor: "#FFFFFF"}, 1500);
Edit - New and improved
The following uses the same technique as above, but it has the added benefits of:
Extend the jQuery Object:
var notLocked = true;
$.fn.animateHighlight = function(highlightColor, duration) {
var highlightBg = highlightColor || "#FFFF9C";
var animateMs = duration || 1500;
var originalBg = this.css("backgroundColor");
if (notLocked) {
notLocked = false;
this.stop().css("background-color", highlightBg)
.animate({backgroundColor: originalBg}, animateMs);
setTimeout( function() { notLocked = true; }, animateMs);
}
};
Usage example:
$("div").animateHighlight("#dd0000", 1000);