The Quilts Zone Blog

To the casual observer a child who is drawing or coloring in,  is merely scribbling. The marks seem to be haphazard, almost meaningless. But there is much more happening in your young child’s mind as s/he engages in the physical act of drawing and coloring.

In fact, examining children’s drawing may give us important insights into how drawing fits into the overall physical, emotional and cognitive development of the young child. From toddlerhood through primary school, children choose to draw and color, but the process starts much earlier – during toddlerhood.

At around the age of a year and a half toddlers become interested in scribbling. It appears to provide sensory enjoyment, but the child is also interested in the marks that are made. The act of doodling or scribbling can serve several useful purposes for the young child. Small muscle coordination and control improve with practice, cognitive abilities are exercised, opportunities for social interaction arise, and the physical movements provide emotional release.

Because a toddler’s fine muscle control is not fully developed, he may approach the coloring sheet by grasping the marker with his or her fist and may have difficulty placing the marks exactly where he or she wants them. Movements are typically large, involving the whole arm and sometimes the upper boyd with very little finger or wrist control. This is because the process of physical development always begins from the center of the trunk outward.

While full control will happen much later – in the short term the toddler will naturally improve his or her control. A few toddlers rest the forearm on the drawing surface to give them additional control. A rhythmic, repetitive, scrubbing motion is common among two-year-olds, providing sensory enjoyment and making drawing a very physical act.

By providing children with the materials and opportunities to scribble we can promote physical skills. Just as babbling is a natural way to gain language, scribbling is a natural gateway to muscle control and coordination.

Form an intellectual point of view young toddlers care about both the process and results of their art. They really do not intend to represent objects at first. Instead, they are mainly concerned with color and line. However, they may actually look at the scribbles they have made and, in surprise, recognize a shape and name it. While they may not have intended to draw a car, a house or a tree, the scribbles suggest the shapes. Children interpret, rather than intend. In child development circles this is referred to as fortuitous realism and becomes common as a child approaches three years of age.

As a parent you can encourage your child to draw and color by offering him or her opportunities to do so. Provide them with blank sheets of paper to let their creativity run wild or supply a coloring book or coloring sheets – many of which are available free of charge online. Little boys may enjoy coloring images of  cars and trucks or of favorite characters such as Spiderman and at sites like Spiderman Coloring you’ll find Spiderman kids as well as coloring pages, funny pics and more. For little girls search for coloring pages of princesses or fairies or anything else she may be interested in such as Disney characters or even trucks!

Remember to always supervise toddlers while they draw and color – due to the choking hazard that crayons pose.

The simple acts of drawing and coloring are  literally childs’ play, however, they both play an important role in a child’s physical, emotional and cognitive development. Like no other activity, drawing and coloring allows young children to express themselves and their emotions, experience autonomy and build their confidence. Drawing and coloring are also excellent pre-cursors to developing writing skills because the toddler is honing his or her fine motor skills which are essential when learning to write.

Parents and caregivers can promote drawing and coloring  as a way to improve physical, social, emotional and cognitive development – and to have a lot of fun along the way too. Here’s a few pointers:

1.Provide kids with nontoxic materials, blank sheets of white paper and coloring pages.

2. Model drawing. Show children that you like to draw and color too -  make designs but do not show your children what they  should draw.

3. Encourage all drawing and coloring  efforts by talking about the beautiful colors, the lines and  shapes the child has made.

4.Rather than ask, “What have you drawn?,”  say “Tell me about your drawing”.Asking “What is that?” suggests to the child that s/he has failed to depict what they intended.

5. Talk about concepts like  thin, thick, wide, narrow, dark, light, edge, shape, contour, etc.

6. Display their art on the kitchen fridge, in their room and in places where visitors to your home will see them. Point them out to visitors, friends and relatives – the praise fthey will receive for the work will boost a child’s self esteeem and confidence.

7.Give kids the freedom to choose the subjects of their drawings and the types of coloring sheets they would like. For example little boys  may enjoy coloring images of  cars, trucks or a favourite character such as Pokemon -  and at sites like Pokemon Coloring Pages you’ll find free Pokemon coloring. Little girls on the other hand prefer images from fairy tales such as Princess pictures - choose whatever pleases your child to encourage their enthusiasm for the activity and their interest in it. 

8.  Always supervise younger children while they draw and color – crayons pose a choking risk.