Why should my child learn to colour in?

Colouring is a multi-sensory activity that develops fine motor skills and visual perception. It engages the senses through the smell and feel of the paper and crayons, the gentle tug of resistance as the crayon is drawn over the paper's texture, and the proprioceptive sense of the arm, wrist and fingers moving together to create the desired result.

Colouring benefits our children in other ways too, by:

1. Improving eye-hand co-ordination

2. Developing colour awareness and discrimination

3. Improving handwriting

4. Encouraging creative expression

5. Developing a sense of pride and achievement

6. Developing the perception of foreground and background

7. Developing the ability to focus and concentrate

8. Developing patience and perseverance

Read more about the benefits of colouring here.

Part of developing self-confidence in our children is setting them up for success and not failure.

Most store bought colouring books have fairly complex pictures with very thin lines. For the developmentally younger child, this may be too difficult.

We recommend using pictures that are simple in nature and that have thick black outlines. If the lines are not thick enough, you can always broaden them with a black marker.

We create our own colouring books for our learners based on their developmental level, interests and the current theme.

You can download some of them here.