Markers Make You Lazy

I heard this from a friend of mine at the playground this week. When said like that to a 5 yr old, it does not make much sense. But she is right in the underlying concepts that prompted her statement. Markers are much easier to draw/color with and do not use anywhere near as much muscle energy or strength as crayons.

Froggy's OT tried to have Froggy color with crayons to build her strength but the process was so hard and overwhelming that she switched to markers. The plan was to build strength and confidence and then move to crayons.

It is working. Froggy has turned a corner. It started when we went to the beach for vacation. To help her get through long car drives, she always gets a present at the beginning of the drive (sometimes with other little surprises during the drive as well). Well for this trip I pulled an untouched dot to dot book that she had been gifted ages ago and a unopened box of crayons to present her. She loved it and it kept her occupied for most of the 4 hour drive. The crayons unfortunately melted in the car and were replaced by markers.

Just getting her to put a crayon in her hand and to paper by herself had been a challenge and now she coloring every time she gets in the car. At first she would only outline or follow the numbers but now she is actually coloring an area. She loves to color now. For our trip to the beach in late September, she will get another coloring book and box of crayons and the markers will be retired. But for now I am loving the markers even if they are the "lazy" version of coloring.

Comments

  1. Natalie PlanetSmartyJuly 6, 2010 at 4:43 PM

    I take it that Froggy is 5 now? It gives me hope that eventually Anna will be more interested in coloring. Right now she has practically no interest in it and very little interest in drawing/writing. Her preschool teachers say that she is entirely "age-appropriate" with her fine motor skills, but I admit that she seems a bit behind when I compare her with some other kids her age. I guess I just have to be patient and continue with Playmobil play, playdoh and other games to build her muscle strength.

    ReplyDelete
  2. FairionJuly 6, 2010 at 8:59 PM

    Froggy won't be actually be 5 until late October. And really if you had asked the first week of June if I thought this was possible anytime this summer I would have said not a chance.

    ReplyDelete

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