Preschool is a difficult time for the kids and for parents. Teachers probably have the most difficult time of it because they have to deal with hordes of tiny children. Preschoolers are cute but they have a very short attention span. They would love to just play, eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom. When they are given a task they quickly shirk their responsibilities and want to do something else. They quickly shift from one thing to the next without thinking. This can be extremely exasperating for a teacher trying to impart some important lesson or teaching.
The key to gaining any preschooler’s attention is through creativity. Typical lesson plans for elementary aged children take far too much time. A typical forty five minute lesson will bore a preschooler to tears. These sorts of lessons do not give the children any type of control over what they are doing. In many cases what kids want is some sort of creative control over their projects or learning. A simple lecture will never provide a preschooler with a good learning environment.
One creative activity that really captures the attention of preschoolers is coloring. Bring out some fun coloring books and you will have everyone’s attention immediately. Coloring gives preschoolers the type of control that they crave. They suddenly gain a little pocket of authority in a sea of control. They also gain the ability to express themselves. Because children at this age do not have a great deal of linguistic ability they like to express themselves through pictures and colors. Sometimes a child’s drawings can say much more than the few words they might speak.
Coloring and drawing are great expressive activities for children that should be encouraged by parents, teachers, and friends. Each child has their own interesting style of drawing and coloring that says something about the way they see the world. Collect your preschooler’s drawings and photocopy them. Put them together in a book and bind it with some electrical tape. Present the book to your child and ask them to color their own drawings. In most cases kids are delighted when they receive a book of their own drawings. This will provide another incentive for doing wonderful coloring in the book.
A child’s own coloring book also shows that you care about your kid’s work and efforts. It shows them that you have a vested interest in their interests. It also provides them with a chance to complete their work by coloring it. Typical coloring books are great for kids because they have their favorite animals and superheros. However, the generic coloring books do not provide anything personal. A child’s drawings are always of things that are important to them: their family, friends, pets, magical creatures. In a sense you can create a book of drawings that are only of the things that the preschooler cares about.
The nice thing about creating this sort of custom coloring book is that it creates a beautiful example of your child’s work when they were young. You will have a lasting record of your preschooler’s thoughts in full color. The book will be much more personal than many of the other things that kids bring home from school because it will be something that you have made for them. No other child will have a coloring book drawn by them and colored by them. It will be a truly unique document. If you want to create a lasting memento you should consider creating a custom coloring book for your preschooler.