This is her coloring...on her 3rd attempt at this particular paper (I had multiple copies).
So, to switch it up a bit, we changed sheets. Again...yikes.
As you can see, the face and pants I colored. I sat with her and thought, maybe coloring isn't something you should always just let go without some instruction. And I wondered, Has she ever seen me color? Really color? How about learning how to make the strokes? Decide which colors to use?
So I sat with her. Talked about what colors we could use. We've worked on correct positioning for pencils/crayons, but we continued to talk about how smaller strokes help with staying in the lines. Lighter, controlled motions help mistakes not seem so noticeable. Because they ARE going to make a mistake. And some, like my oldest will want to redo the entire sheet. And others, like my second daughter, will chalk it up as "too hard" and list it among Activities I Don't Enjoy or Care About. (Also known as Scribble Everywhere So I Can Get Through This Faster).
So I taught. And she watched.
And something happened.
My child that abhors coloring sat and colored. Happily. And even drew a duck at the top of her paper (I haven't worked out why yet, but I see the duck). :)
We've got lots of work to do, but it certainly was a teachable moment. And fun.
I forgot how much I love coloring, too.
Be on the lookout for some teachable moments at your house this week. Take advantage of it and forget about the laundry for a few minutes. It'll be worth it. :)
2 comments:
How old is your daughter when she worked on these? My 2.5yo likes to color - sometimes - but often gets impatient and scribbles fast and says she's done.
She'd just turned three. My goal (which I didn't mention) was ALSO to help her learn to sit and work on a given activity to the best of her ability. She may not ever love coloring, but I could tell it was an area that needed help. And I recognized that I'd offered NO instruction at all.
Post a Comment