There are times when parents would let out a forced half-laugh when I tell them that their kids did well during our table-top coloring task, when all they can see were random strokes of various colors strewn all across the paper. There are also some who would verbalize their thoughts when I would show the work their child did, and some of the most common response is “Ooh! That’s nice but it has a lot of deviations (maraming lagpas), and I would just redirect them back to the good coloring skills that their child showed- like how they looked at the work continuously as they color, their grip on the crayon and how much of the whole image (coverage) were they able to cover.
This post aims to teach you and be aware of the skills that you have to look for when your child colors, and not only focus on the finished product.
Everyone is born an artist but we have to develop the skill one at a time. So read the list below for you to appreciate your child’s inner artist.
The following are important skills to look for when coloring:
1. Tool use: when your child is given a crayon, make sure she or he makes scribbles on the paper and doesn’t put the crayon in her or his mouth. If your child puts crayons inside her or his mouth, model or demonstrate how crayons are used. You can hold the crayon in your child’s hands and make scribbles or color pictures in a coloring book. Another is that make sure that as you use the crayon, your child looks at it, so she or he can discover that various colors and strokes can come out using a block of crayon coupled with various hand and arm movements.
2. Coverage: Here, your child may not cover the image fully and stop the task. You can give promtps to your child to color the white spaces. Over time, the child must remember the coloring rule that the whole figure must be covered with color (without you guiding or telling them).
3. Attention to details: In the beginning, even if you give your 3-year-old child a Mandala Flower coloring page, all he or she sees is the flower and not the minutest details. This is normal. However, as your child matures, your child pays more attention to the small details to actually color it properly and even use multiple details to create a cohesive theme for the work.
4. Stroke Control: at the start of coloring, she or he may color with random lines. As your child becomes skilled, he or she uses a more repetitive or monotonous up or down stroke. Eventually your child’s coloring pattern adapts the stroke itself to fit the area (coloring a car image with up and down strokes and then to color it fully while minimizing deviation, he or she may use horizontal strokes to avoid going out of the line).
5. Use of colors: initially, your child may use only 1 color per picture. As your child becomes good at coloring, she or he uses colors that are appropriate for the object (e.g. red for apple). Eventually, he or she colors scenes or various details with appropriate color schemes.
Until you read from me again.
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