Colouring is a much-loved activity for children, and right from their very first months: you've probably already seen your baby happily spreading yoghurt across their highchair tray, making sure not a single square centimetre is left untouched!

A little later, it's the sofa, the walls, sometimes even your child's own body that pay the price — with a permanent marker, it's always that bit better!

Colouring has multiple benefits:

• From a motor development perspective, children can practise their pencil grip in a context other than writing.

Opt for thick, short pencils at first for a more manageable grip.

Colouring calls for fine, precise movements, engaging all the muscles of the wrist and hand, which allows fine motor skills to develop.

• We also work on impulsivity. Because yes, you need to be able to inhibit and control your movement when approaching the edges of a drawing so as not to go over them.

It's a skill that requires a great deal of practice — there's no point pushing it too early at the risk of taking all the enjoyment out of colouring for the child. It's generally considered that between the ages of 4 and 5 children are able to fill in a square while going no more than roughly 1 cm over the edges.

• Children also develop their concentration, their patience and learn to plan their actions : "I'll start by colouring the hat yellow, then the buttons green." Giving a picture to colour in is a reliable way to guarantee a few minutes of calm.

• Colouring encourages the expansion of creativity and aesthetic sensibility in children.

They'll often want to use unconventional colours, to experiment, to play with colour combinations : the camel might be coloured purple, the courgette pink, and the characters will sometimes sport… rather original outfits!

Let them explore and experiment, and ask for their opinion : "What do you think of this blue salad? Does it look tasty? And this black-and-green house? Do you think it exists somewhere?"

The goal isn't to judge their artistic choices, but to give them the freedom to express themselves.

• Colouring also provides an opportunity to express emotions : anger can come through as big, dynamic, heavily pressed scribbles, joy through a choice of bright, vivid colours, and so on.

Adult colouring books are hugely popular because colouring helps you unwind, focus on yourself, and stop thinking about your to-do list — it brings a real sense of wellbeing.

• Finally, drawing and colouring builds self-esteem : what pride when your child has finally finished colouring in their favourite character, and rushes to show everyone — parents, siblings, grandparents, teachers…

And what a joy it is for them to hear those they love gushing over their latest masterpiece!

 

As a psychomotor therapist, colouring is a medium I often use in sessions, and very regularly I suggest to my little patients that they colour lying down on the floor!

Here are some of the benefits of a colouring session on the floor:

• It narrows the visual field to what is immediately in front of the child, which helps those who are easily visually distracted to concentrate a little more.

• This position provides stability at shoulder level, allowing movement to be freed up at the wrist and fingers.

In psychomotor therapy terminology, proximal stability promotes distal mobility.

In practice, because the child is resting on their forearms, their shoulder and elbow are fixed and don't move, so to colour they need to make movements with their fingers and wrist.

It's a very useful tip for children who draw or colour using whole-arm movements.

Equally, the tripod finger grip is made easier by this position.

• Colouring, drawing or writing on the floor promotes muscle strengthening, particularly at the axial level: you need to keep your chest lifted off the ground, hold your head up, adjust your balance, position your body weight so as to be comfortable… In doing so, you work on the stability and strength of the cervical and scapular muscles as well as the spinal extensors.

To top it all off, it also builds postural endurance.

• Finally, this position provides proprioceptive and tactile feedback.

Children who seek sensation, who love to move and touch things, who have an appetite for sensory experiences, often enjoy lying on the floor because of the input provided by the pressure of the floor on their tummy.

If some of my patients become restless during colouring, I add weight to their back (a weighted blanket or a sofa cushion) — this provides an extra layer of sensory feedback and helps them channel their energy.

Here's a glimpse of everything that can be engaged by an activity as simple as colouring !

So next time you offer your child felt-tips and coloured pencils, think about varying the positions — standing up, lying on the floor on their life mat, or even on their back (tape a sheet of paper under the coffee table, for instance) — for more challenge and more fun!

 

Marie Vallet – Psychomotor Therapist D.E.