Beyond the Usual Coloring Book

Can coloring help your child practice skills related to creativity and working with others? Yes!This guide goes beyond the usual coloring book to provide practice with perception, experimentation, emotional awareness, and adaptability for cooperative projects. It is divided into two sections. The first part is written for parents, homeschool teachers, grandparents, or other helpers. It includes a brief introduction about the development of creativity, ways to encourage it, and its...
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Can coloring help your child practice skills related to creativity and working with others? Yes!This guide goes beyond the usual coloring book to provide practice with perception, experimentation, emotional awareness, and adaptability for cooperative projects. It is divided into two sections. The first part is written for parents, homeschool teachers, grandparents, or other helpers. It includes a brief introduction about the development of creativity, ways to encourage it, and its importance for future leaders. This is followed by a description of related skills, the different types of coloring pages provided in the book, and activities and tips for using them. The second part of the book is for children, including a bit of optional written instruction, some teaching examples, and three groups of 8 specially designed pictures for practicing different skills. Coloring pages are blank on the back and perforated, so they can be torn out and laid flat for easier coloring and display. Drawings and models are organized into the following categories and designed to encourage these skills:Getting To Know Your Crayons: - using existing crayons to mix and invent new colors - learning ways to perceive colors and their possibilities as tools of expressionMore Than One Way: - using a variety of mixes rather than one traditional color to a space - experimenting with atypical use of colorsColoring Feelings: - perceiving and expressing reactions related to emotional drawings - experimenting with coloring as an expression of feelingMaking Something Together: - combining efforts for the unknown outcome of a shared project - understanding the value of adapting to a partner's view - adapting to different skill levels - perceiving that a variety of methods and interpretations can be equally valid for different peopleAppendices include: - a list of emotion words to facilitate communication - a list of books, articles, and internet links related to suggestions given in the book