Coloring Books-Not My Idea of a Good Time

Any student who has taken a class from me at the university knows how I feel about coloring books and other pre-drawn images for children. Some adults tell me it is 'relaxing' for children to just color. Coloring books are designed to occupy a child's time. For some adults that is a good thing. If you have ever taken young children on a long car trip or to the doctor with a long wait, coloring books may serve a purpose. If for no other reason than to spread out the time between, "Are we there yet?" questions.
In school, however, color book-type pages are not appropriate, especially for young children. Teachers sometimes use those pages to keep a child busy so they can work with other children. Reading the research of Victor Lowenfeld, we find out that coloring book pages can take almost all creative thinking away from 50-60% of children. The other 40% may be effected as well, but may have been nourished enough to at least maintain some creativity. In fact, if a child continually uses pre-made pages, he may never be satisfied with anything that he draws. He will be upset that his drawings look like a child's drawings, not the adult drawings in coloring books.

There are much better things to give children to occupy their time. Crayons and a blank sheet of paper are much more appropriate. Paints and watercolors are also effective to allow the child to create. One of my favorite activities is to give children construction paper and glue (scissors for 4+ children). I ask them to create a picture of themselves using just tearing/cutting the paper and the glue. This can be done with any theme or activity. Many adults would be shocked at the amazing projects that the children create. So, in my 30+ years working with children, I am even more convinced that coloring books can be the enemy. I want the children I have in my care to be thinkers and creaters, not colorers.

Scratching the Surface

I'm sure that many educators have done scratch art with a group of children. Whether you use commercially prepared scratch paper or create your own, it is a fun activity. The procedure usually involves children scratching the black covering off a piece of prepared paper. Hidden underneath the black are different colors that are revealed when the black is removed. I love to use this analogy with teachers about discovering the colors that lie underneath the surface of a child. Sometimes it takes a bit of work and creativity to discover those colors, but it is always worth the effort. As with scratch art paper, underneath the black there is a rainbow of colors. Those colors allow the artist to create an amazing picture as the colors pop out of the darkness. Many children come to our classrooms with a layer of dark. It is up to the educator to do more than just scratch the surface, but find the hidden colors and beauty beneath.

Paradise Where You Are

Here we sit in the snow and cold as another winter is upon us. We recently returned for a trip to Hawaii. How glorious it was to experience 'paradise' and get a break from the cold weather (which has been unseasonably cold this year). As the snow was falling today, I found myself wishing I was back sitting on the Waikiki Beach. Then I remembered, as so often before in my life, that paradise is where you are. It is up to us to create our own paradise and be happy with our surroundings. I have always felt sorry for those people who seem to stumble along daily wishing they were at another place in life. One can waste an entire life wishing for different circumstances. As usual, this always brings me back to the classroom where the same thing applies. Are the children sitting there wishing for a different setting, or are they experiencing paradise? It is up to the educator to make sure it is the latter.

Going Bowling

We went bowling with the grandkids the other day and it was great. I had forgotten that they have these nifty metal racks for the children to roll the ball down to hit the pins. I wanted one of those (along with the bumper rails!) for my bowling. I'm not a good bowler, but then I only go about every 10 years. As I was watching the children use the bowling rack I was struck with thoughts about the other 'racks' that we can provide for children. Racks that will help children reach their potential. Reaching that potential is just has hard as a small child trying to maneuver a heavy bowling ball. They are much more successful if given a sturdy structure to begin the journey. I think we should all take a minute and go bowling with a child. It is a humbling experience when they get a higher score than you!

Spring in the Fall

I was struck by an extraordinary thought the other day as I was raking up leaves. We go somewhat overboard with our yard, so every fall we must clean up the falling leaves and dying plants. It's like a right of passage into winter (whether we want winter to come or not). As I was raking, I thought about how much of our yard will 'sleep' for the winter and come alive again in the spring. Each perennial plant will have another chance to grow and flourish, trying to surpass the previous year. I was thinking about how wonderful it would be for children who suffer an emotional or developmental setback to have a spring, where they could have another chance to flourish. Maybe this time, with the right light, water and nourishment, he just might flourish. Then it hit me that every fall when we begin a another school year, a child may have a new 'spring' in learning. If a teacher works hard to provide the right amount of nourishment, the child can flourish, even more than the previous year. Even as I watch the new trees I planted begin to grow and spread, that same anticipation should be occurring each school year as we watch our students grow and spread their wings.

The Human Family

I was having a conversation with a coworker recently about supporting children who come from different family configurations. I told him that I really enjoyed using multicultural play sets, or block people, to allow the child the opportunity to build a model of his own family in dramatic play. Even though many of the play people produced commercially come in racial family compositions, I like to get them all and allow the child to mix and match and create her family as close as she can. The make-up of the American family in 2009 has no one model. Families may have a father and mother, bi-racial members, single-parent households, gay parents, grandparents, foster parents, and the list could go on. Our job as early childhood educators is to validate and support every child in our care. Regardless of our own background or value system, we must realize that the child is the most important part of our classroom. Our support and validation is critical to help the child become well-adjusted and resilient.

Building Brain Connections

I was traveling on an airplane this week and I had the privilege of sitting next to a mechanical engineer. He was traveling for work on his latest project, a new medical device for heart patients. I was fascinated by the new procedures he was explaining, but he seemed just as fascinated with my early childhood knowledge. He has two small children and admitted that he and his wife don't always know the best approach for teaching their little ones. Our conversation evolved to a discussion about building capacities in the brain. I told him how critical it was to give young children as many experiences and support as possible so they can build as many brain connections as possible (check out Dr. Jean's information). We know that the connections formed during early childhood will have life long effects. We discussed how his new device might help patients avoid a heart bypass operation, but there was no shortcut to providing young children with positive, supportive experiences during these critical years. Early childhood is the time to build strong brain connections. I continue to admire all of the wonderful people in the world that devote their lives to young children.