Did you know that coloring can help in your child’s development? That’s right, it’s simple, fun and developmental all at the same time.
Coloring books or activity sheets are important educational tools to help prepare your child for school. It’s also one of the most favorite pastimes activities of kids and adults too. It sparks the imagination and gives them an opportunity to express themselves.
Here are some of the benefits your child gets from coloring:
- Improves Handwriting by building hand strength and dexterity as they learn to manipulate a pencil or crayon on the paper. They also learn how to hold the writing tool correctly which improves their handwriting in the future.
- It develops hand eye coordination as they learn to color inside the lines. As the difficulty of the coloring or activity increases their cognitive function also increases.
- Develops patience and is relaxing. There is a sense of accomplishment they have when they finish coloring a page.
- Focus is another important lesson kids learn from coloring. Coloring builds concentration and the ability to focus.
- Coloring also helps kids to learn about color, hue, perspective, shape and form. They come to recognize patterns and eventually they will use what they learned from one picture to create a better picture the next time around.
- Finishing a coloring sheet helps to build a sense of confidence and accomplishment which, in turn, builds self-esteem.
- No surprise here but coloring helps to build fine motor skills. The motion of holding the pencil or crayon helps to develop the muscles in the wrist, fingers and hands that are also used to write and manipulate small objects. It’s also been shown that children who color perform better academically.
- Coloring stimulates creativity and while learning how to control the pencil or crayon is important it’s also important to let them choose the colors and to express their artistry in- and outside the lines.
- Children, and often adults, like to express themselves through words while others use art form, such as coloring.
Next time you sit down with your child to color, observe these skills above. Even better, pick up a crayon and color with your child!