A Budding Artist

At some stage, children start having an interest in drawing when they are able to hold a pencil in their hands.  I can say Zack is a late developer but beware! he is catching up!

On Sunday, we had a BBQ with friends in our place, and my friend’s daughter found a piece of paper, and she started drawing on it.  When she was done, Ethan continued drawing on the other side of it, and when Ethan was done, I was surprised that Zack started drawing on it.  The surprise was not only that Zack had a desire to draw, but I was also surprised because the TV was on, and though Zack was watching, he somehow was able to realise something was going on, and decided that he also wanted to join in.

I observed him from a distance, and the funny thing is, in the noisy environment of TV, friends chatting, and children moving around, he could focus on getting a piece of artwork done!  It was a great achievement to me, in terms of SPD, as I might say that someone with SPD would normally not be able to focus in such a multi-sensory environment around him.

So, I realised that Zack was drawing his super-yo-yo, and he was able to colour the roundness of the yo-yo and draw a string attached to it.  After he was done with this, he found a colouring worksheet of a train, and continued to colour the train (within the lines), and write his name on top of the worksheet (to declare it belongs to him!). 

Colouring within the lines is a sign of good control of his pen, and I know that he has been having lots of practice since the beginning of this year.  In school, they actually start off by giving physcial barriers (eg. bumpy glue along the lines, so kids hit the bump and know they cannot colour outside the lines) as a way of colouring within the lines and I see it in the artwork that Zack brought home from school.  Now, I know for sure that he has gone past the ‘physical’ barriers, and is able to do it by himself.