Working on Coloring Skills~

I have several kids on my caseload who do not enjoy coloring- these are usually the kids with poor fine motor skills or weak hands.  They also are usually not fond of crayons and prefer markers- crayons require more pressure and offer more resistance than markers do.  I would suggest to parents and educators that this is exactly the reason that crayon use should be encouraged!  Here are some ways to work on coloring skills with your kids/students:

• Crayons require more pressure for the colors to be bolder.  This is good for kids who have weak hands or who have sensory issues that make it difficult for them to grade the pressure that they exert.

• Keep in mind that developmentally, coloring on a vertical surface comes before coloring on a horizontal surface (ever notice how kids like to color on walls when they are toddlers?)  So, use an easel when coloring, or tape the paper to the wall.

• To encourage a refined grasp pattern on a crayon, you can have your child use larger diameter (Jumbo) crayons, triangular shaped crayons, left right crayons, finger tip crayons or use old short/broken crayons to facilitate a more finger tip grasp pattern.  

• Crayons offer more resistance on the surface of the paper- this provides more sensory feedback than markers do.  Other ways that you can offer more sensory feedback when coloring:  put a piece of sand paper underneath the paper (more coarse paper provides more feedback), put a piece of plastic craft mesh under the paper.

Coloring with sand paper under the paper for more sensory feedback

• To encourage coloring within lines or within an area, trace the lines with a hot or cold temperature glue gun.  You could also use Wikki Stixx to outline the area that you would like the child to color within.  Wikki Stixx can be found at any craft store, or at the Therapy Shoppe here:  www.therapyshoppe.com/category/P342-wikki-stix-rainbow-pack-pak-wicki-wiki-stick-fine-motor-toy  There are also raised line coloring books available, some are quite expensive, but Mead brand has some that run about $7:  http://www.amazon.com/Mead-Color-Bound-Grades-48100/dp/B00BTSZD9K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426041048&sr=8-1&keywords=raised+line+coloring+book

Raised lines on a coloring page from use of a glue gun

• Does your student or child keep his or her forearm up off of the table when coloring?  It is important for the weight bearing side of the hand and forearm to be touching the table top.  To encourage this, have the child lay on the floor while coloring.  You might also accomplish this by taping the paper to the wall, and having the child lean their forearm on the wall as they color.

My own child laying on her bed, coloring an art assignment~