Coloring, how important is it?

[Becky2005]

Here is my 2 cents worth. I had no idea coloring was considered a developmental skill but I'm paying for it now with my boys.

They both have fine motor skill delays. Neither one of them ever liked to color & I never forced them too. I just figured they were interested in other things and so that is where I focused my energy and now we get to deal with the Occupational Therapist for the motor skill problems. My 9 year old is only now getting a evaluation even though we have been trying since Kindergarten to get it looked at. My 6 year old has been getting OT since 4 years old (he has other problems too).

My DD on the other hand, you could give her a box of crayons & coloring book, she's spend 30 minutes just coloring away.

Lesson learned. I haven't read through everything but I do see one that says fine motor skills & that's the issue. As long as you are working on it in some form, then that is good.

 

[JunieJay]

I haven't read through everything but I do see one that says fine motor skills & that's the issue. As long as you are working on it in some form, then that is good.

That is the crux of the issue yes. Using one's imagination is a side bonus, but the real key thing is you want them honing their fine motor skills, especially boys. When my boys didn't want to color I gave them paper to fold, or paper to cut, or clay to mold. Even finger paints work. Sometimes coloring required me to break out the extras, like glitter and a glue stick, to make it more exciting. It has to be fun for the kid and something he likes to do...if coloring isn't it, see if he likes tracing. Mine always liked tracing because they could make a better looking drawing, thus giving them more interest in the project overall.

 

[Jeanny]

maybe it's considered thinking outside the box when you color outside of the lines.
I remember learning how to color inside the lines when I was little and how my cousins made fun of me because I'd go outside once in awhile. Because of this memory, when my daughter was learning how to color I didn't berate her for going outside the lines!!!

I was truly amazed when she came home from a birthday party with a perfectly colored picture, I was so impressed with her art skills... then I found out it was one of those new fangled invention color with water books... you "paint" the page with water and the colors come out.... yeah, but she did a great job and much better than I could have done!!

I may not have been a great colorer, but I made and painted some great ceramic pieces!! and I keep in the lines!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

None of my 3 boys were into coloring "correctly" (the "right" color, between the lines). One is a junior in high school and a very imaginative thinker. It didn't seem to hurt his creative side, although he's on the sloppy side still when writing. My 8th grader isn't so creative, but he's a brainiac and his fine motor skills are good, so it doesn't seem to have hurt him. My 6yo is still a work in progress. He practices his fine motor skills by doing lots of writing--usually the line-ups of all the major league sports teams, from baseball, to basketball, to football. No, it's not coloring in the lines, but it's writing and I've learned not to sweat these things. And the sports nut adults sure enjoy talking to him about the players a heck of a lot more than they'd enjoy talking to him about the picture he colored.

Like others have said, I think as long as children are practicing these small motor skills in a variety of ways, they will find some ways that click and are best for them to learn. Whether it be with coloring, cutting, writing, stamping, etc, etc. They are working the same small motor skills which will help in a variety of areas.

 

[Cool-Beans]

Aiden is 5, right? And he isn't picking one color and staying in the lines?

Well, I'm sorry to say this, but you might as well pull him out of school and get him started on the chain gang now. He is doomed...no hope!

WhatEVER! If he wants green people and purple and yellow houses, fine. If he doesn't stay in the lines, fine. I'm sure some of the worlds best artists, businessmen, and do-gooders didn't color perfectly at age 5.

As long as he brings them to you and is all proud of himself and you smile, that's all that matters!

eta: Oh, my gosh! I got a new tag! And it isn't about me being stupid!!!!! Yea!

 

[Jenn Lynn]

Avery does the multi-color thing also. Each body part is a different color. When we had pre-school orientation I was watching her and one other little girl color. This other little girl colored the dog brown, red collar, etc. Avery used every color of the rainbow and was quite proud. She colors and draws alot at home. She will ask what color something should be and I ask her what she thinks it should be. Sometimes it is true to life, most of the time it's not.

I found some tracing books at the Dollar Tree and she really loves these also. Maybe give them a try.

 

[MosMom]

All kids are different. DD loves to color and now loves to draw as well. Particularly horses, sometimes they are brown and sometimes they are rainbow. It would be a pretty boring world without rainbow horses I say.

 

[powellrj]

Oldest DS HATED to color. He thought crayons were used to stack and build things with. I have to say he has terrible handwriting now at 23, but he has other great attributes so that we over look that one!!

 

[Liberty Belle]

My oldest would always do the muti-color thing. It was really puzzling to me. Like, if there were a picture of a cow, its head would be two different colors and its body would be three or four. Strange. He was pretty good at staying in the lines, though, and while he didn't love to color, he didn't complain about it.

My youngest hates to color. It's one of his least favorite things to do. He can draw with a pencil fine and enjoys that, so I'm not worrying.

 

[challada]

As a school specialist who works w/kids w/delays, I have to concur that my biggest concern for kids who don't color is the fine motor skills. If your son has exposure and can grasp the crayon w/a pincher grasp, then I'm not worried. My bigger concern is if your child (or any child at that age) can use scissors correctly. I see so many kids at 5 that do not know how to place their fingers in scissors, how to hold the paper they are cutting and have the strength to push the scissors together and back. I know parents don't want their kids cutting their own hair or siblings hair, but it's a skill that kids need.

 

[DVC Jen]

The only value other than artistic is getting them to hold the crayons properly and to have better fine motor control. The practice should make it easier to control the hand movements for writing. Don't know why she would care if its a rainbow, unless directions state to use a specific color (testing color knowledge) and the ability to follow directions. I'd rather have him use his imagination if you know he knows his colors.

Denise in MI

Either way I would not be too concerned.

This is exactly correct. I am a preschool teacher and I see ALOT of my co-workers being anal about what color they use for that elephant. If a child wants a purple and pink elephant.. who cares? They are being creative and using thier imagination.

Your teacher should be more concerned about how your son is holding his crayon. Is he getting adequate practice using that crayon or other writing implement? He does need to work on his writing skills..but if he colors, draws or writes lettes and numbers over and over again it doesn't matter.

It really sounds like she is having an issue with control and making sure your son is living inside the box she has placed herself in.

Perhaps if she mentioned it again you could ask her why it concerns her so much that he is not using one certain crayon color for the entire picture? And that you thought it was more of an excersize to work on early writing skills and not something to limit his creativity.

 

[Karel]

The way I read the OP, is that the teacher is more concerned about the coloring skills in general, which is a fine motor concern.

Yes, coloring in the lines is not all that important but it is important to be able to control your hand enough not to just scribble over the paper. When you start handwriting, you need to be able to start and stop on particular lines.

It doesn't sound like the teacher was concerned about using multiple colors but maybe there was a 'listening' activity that involved as in color the cherries red and the blueberries blue.

There is a difference between freedom of self expression and creativity and having a teacher look for a particular developmental skill.

I work with three year old special needs kids and coloring is a big skill we work on. You can tell the kids who do it at home and the ones that have never held a crayon.

 

[Miller1412]

Kindergarten teacher here...

My 2 cents worth...It depends on what the teacher is trying to accomplish with the activity. I wouldn't be too harsh in judging her as a person that "can't think beyond the lines". For art projects where the focus is creativity, I'd agree that coloring isn't important. The expression and creative thinking are the skills to be focused on.

If it's a worksheet or structured activity, I might stress carefully coloring to focus on taking time and doing the job well. Some kids do a quick scribble just to get the job done instead of focusing on doing the job well.

When we write in kindergarten, it's a mix of creativity and structure. For example: I ask my students to draw a picture that tells a story. While scribbling is great in it's place, it doesn't tell a story and at the kindergarten level, this is one of the first ways of communicating with writing. My rule is use as many colors as your age. I don't necessarily care what the colors used are, but I want to see that thought and detail was put into the work. I also do lessons on using "correct" colors when drawing people, animals, etc. Again...the oject here isn't so much art, but telling a story.

So, bottom line, it depends on the purpose of the activity. And BTW, your son taking the time to use many colors is great. Many kids go for the "one and done" when they are coloring :~)

It's all developmental, just keep encouraging!

 

[paigevz]

Didn't read the whole thread, so someone might've said this already...........helps with fine motor skills, but so does play-doh. Does he like that?

My DS doesn't like to color either, and as an Early Childhood/Elementary Education Certified teacher...........I am not worried.

 

[JerseyJanice]

My son always hated coloring. As a toddler and pre-schooler, he acted like it was a waste of his time.

Interestingly, his kindergarten teacher was against using crayons and had us purchase colored pencils to use for any coloring projects. She said that the thickness and feel of them were different than pencils, and in the time when kids are learning to write, it's best to use only pencils.

He couldn't write for beans when he started kindergarten, but by graduation, he won a penmanship award. I really think there was something to her theory about using only pencils until handwriting is mastered.

Also, remember this--boys do not naturally have a desire to hone their fine motor skills. It's the nature of the beast for them to want to use their large muscle groups (that is, their legs). It's programmed in their make-up to want to spend their time doing things like running and riding bikes.

This goes back to the days of caveman survival. Men ran after the game they were hunting, while women did the chores that required fine motor skills (e.g., sewing hides and picking berries).

It's really not in most boys' physiology to want to sit around and color or read, and that's one of the reasons why young boys find school more difficult than girls. Sitting at desk for 5/6 hours goes against their whole grain.

 

[claudia]

I have a funny coloring story (well I think it's funny ) about my DS when he was in kindergarten. He was coloring a farm scene and decided to make the cow blue (where the white was) ...instead of leaving it as it was on the paper, black and white. He teacher gives me a call and is over the top so upset that he has colored this cow black and blue. He must have a problem either with what a cow looks, he's delayed in learning, or maybe his eyes... could he be color blind, and 5 more reasons. So now I'm really wondering what is going on and tell her that I will ask DS about this and then get back to her. So I simply ask him about cows....what they look like, how big they are, what sounds them make, etc.....had all the "right" answers, so finally I asked him the all important question of then why did you color your cow blue? He just told me that he thought it looked prettier that way. So much for Freud.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I have a funny coloring story (well I think it's funny ) about my DS when he was in kindergarten. He was coloring a farm scene and decided to make the cow blue (where the white was) ...instead of leaving it as it was on the paper, black and white. He teacher gives me a call and is over the top so upset that he has colored this cow black and blue. He must have a problem either with what a cow looks, he's delayed in learning, or maybe his eyes... could he be color blind, and 5 more reasons. So now I'm really wondering what is going on and tell her that I will ask DS about this and then get back to her. So I simply ask him about cows....what they look like, how big they are, what sounds them make, etc.....had all the "right" answers, so finally I asked him the all important question of then why did you color your cow blue? He just told me that he thought it looked prettier that way. So much for Freud.

That reminds me of when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I was coloring in a coloring book and the last page was a picture of The White House, which I colored some pretty color. My older brother looked at the page and commented that it was The White House and it was supposed to be white and asked me why I colored it a color. I told him that the way I had colored it was much prettier and white was a boring color to color something (which it is--how boring to leave it uncolored...). Funny how it's such a strong memory 40 years later.

 

[Aidensmom]

Wow, I didn't expect this many replies! Thanks, you have helped me to understand it more in context of what it is for. I had talked to my mom (a pre-K teacher)about this earlier today, and she suggested that I find him some coloring pages that are basically just patterns as that seem to be more interesting to him than coloring pictures. I think I am going to give that a try.

 

[GraysMom]

Hello, former kindergarten and First Grade teacher here . My only though about the coloring might be to help prepare your son for math pages in K/First Grade. For example, I know we did color patterns where the kids had to color one bead red, one green, one yellow, and repeat. Or they might have to color all the squares blue, circles green and triangles purple. Maybe the teacher is concerned your son will make each bead/shape multicolored? Just a thought.

GraysMom

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

you've gotten lots of good responses, I don't have anything to add except it reminded me of a book my kids liked a lot

The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola. The teacher wanted him to stay in the lines and he was only allowed 8 crayon colors!

BTW my oldest daughter was never much good at standard coloring book pages, but she always loved art. She's now in her senior year at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and will get her BFA in May.

http://www.readtomeintl.org/display.cfm?storyID=28&sid=5