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Coloring activity is beneficial to kids’ development and artistic expression. As a result, there are skills that kids need to learn to carry out these activities efficiently. Adequately explained below are 10 skills to teach kids. Pay attention and learn!
- Line Awareness Skill
This is a skill that must be taught to kids of all ages as it makes their work tidy and aesthetic. Although, many kids find this particular activity quite tedious but a fantastic skill that will yield the best art work.
Line awareness skill will enable them to color within the lines which will form their pre-writing skill. This involves using colors on images on straight lines without going out of the border lines. This skill is very important for toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners and little kids who are just trying to start to learn to color. They learn the usefulness of cause and effect, being aware of boundaries and how to deal with them as well improve their critical thinking and planning capability.
More so, this skill helps them to develop size and space awareness, using boxes and dots to form images and the overall development of their tactile awareness. The control of lines help kids have proper pressure with their writing tools and improve their visual perception.
- Grasping Skill
The ability to grasp the coloring tool is another important skill that kids must be taught to have a great time during coloring activity. It is quite difficult for little kids to be able to grasp and hold their crayons, pencils and other tools when starting out. If this persists, it can lead to frustration and the kid hating the activity.
Many kids want to be independent when grasping their tools and do not want to be corrected. The best way is to find simple methods that can help them develop this skill. Kids need to be guided through the palmer grasp (holding with fisted and flexed hands) to the thumb and fingers (tripod grasp) working together to effectively manipulate their tools, finger control and other ways that can help your kid learn this skill.
- Holding and Moving Brushes
Many people may not see the significance of this skill but it is essential for kids to have it for effective coloring activity. There is the right way to hold and move the brushes when engaged in coloring pages. Coloring brushes come in diverse sizes which should be introduced to kids from their initial stage of coloring.
They should be allowed to explore with those sizes of brushes with colors on sheets of paper. This is also part of their grasping ability as they hold the small sized brushes at the tip for convenience and the big sized brushes should be properly held during coloring. You can also teach them the various ways to use the brushes such as strokes and so on to create the desired effects on their artwork. Also, kids can be taught the right way to use brushes to color with the lines or boxes.
- Visual Perception skill
This skill enables the development of visual motor abilities when engaged in coloring. This skill is essential for kids to recognize the similarities and differences in the angles of images, colors, objects sizes, shape patterns, dots formation and much more. More so, it can aid them to recognize the side of the coloring page to begin the coloring to create a masterpiece.
This skill makes use of the brain to make meaning of what is seen during the coloring activity. This will aid them to have sustained effort, take away distractions and be able to have a long attention span to complete their coloring activity.
- Body Movement and Stability
Many kids are known to be restless when engaged in a task as they cannot sit still for long to get it completed. So, there is the need to build their body strength, regulate their body movement well and have the stability in their upper body to finish their coloring task. Kids should be taught how to develop their stomach and back core muscles, have stability in their shoulders and have stronger muscles to help them stay longer to finish the coloring activity.
- Online Coloring skill
In a digital driven age, coloring activities have gone beyond using papers, printables and crayons. The internet has provided the chance for kids to be on their tablets, smartphones and computers to have an awesome time coloring. Having the online coloring skill will still enable them to develop color recognition, match colors as well as reading ability. All they need to do to build this skill is to have basic computer knowledge that can enable them to move and maneuver the icons to achieve their coloring goals.
- Eye-Hand Coordination Skill
This is one of the basic skills and must have for coloring activity. The different aspects of the coloring activities such as picking the coloring tools and placing them back appropriately, using the colors in the different angles of the coloring pages or images, coloring with the lines with adequate concentration and consistently coloring with the borderlines is as a result of mastering the eye-hand coordination during coloring activities.
- Modeling and Creativity
Coloring activities aren’t just about coloring alone but can also involve tracing images or objects, connecting the dots or creating lines to form a particular image. So, for kids to carry out an efficient coloring activity, they must showcase their creativity and their ability to follow the modeling instructions.
- Self-confidence and Expression
Coloring activities require self-confidence and the ability to express yourself in any way you can. Kids have to have confidence in their ability to deliver using their own expression methods. The skill will aid them to complete the task to give them a sense of accomplishment and build self-esteem. Also, this helps them to use colors that appeal to them to express their own content.
- Color Recognition Skill
Colors are key components of coloring activities. Without it, the objects will only appear in white and black which will reduce their appeals. When kids deploy their color recognition skill, they understand the different ways to use the crayons, markers, and paints. They learn to explore diverse color combinations and how to mix colors to achieve the desired effects.
