Should I let a 7yo scribble when coloring?

[psreit]

Dd does not particularly like to color, but she can do it very nicely if she puts her mind to it. We did the Egyptian collar today, which she seemed to be excited about. I thought she would have fun making designs and coloring it bright. I know she doesn't have a lot of creativity yet, but, after making lines on it, she just started scribbling and got tired of it. Should this be treated like sitting and listening to a story or taking her time to do neat handwriting? I now she can color neatly, but how much should I require when it comes to coloring?

By the way, when I put the collar on her, she enjoyed pretending she was Pharoah's daughter finding Moses in a basket. She does enjoy dramatic play. It's the artwork that sometimes frustrates her.

I was just thinking, maybe I should have let her paint it instead. She does seem to enjoy that more than coloring.

[Tansy]

I would say yes. You need to treat it like it is "work" even tho it is supposed to be fun.
scribbling would be unacceptable because she can do it the right way neatly. The scribbling is not promoting brain function at this age. I believe it actually promotes dis-organization within the brain. Think of the coloring as Occupational Therapy, and developing fine motor control.

I also would say "Oh I see you are getting tired of doing it neatly. If I help you do you think we can finish it together?" that way if she is feeling overwhelmed at the scope of the work, she sees you will help her and this helps with bonding. Also It stops a habit of not completing projects, I would make sure you give her the very last bit to do and walk away for that last 3-5 min of work so eventually you can fadeout of "helping"

[psreit]

Thanks Tansy. DD does get O.T. She had CP which weakened her left side. I think she has problems with eye-hand coordination, especially when she needs to create something on her own. It's not that she can't do good coloring. I've seen wonderful coloring by dd. But, it's like some days she does beautifully and then there are days where she just scribbles. It's the same with her reading and handwriting. One day she breezes through and the next day....well, let's just say, the brain is just not connecting. Some days it is like she's not processing. Then she gets frustrated and doesn't want to do something. She wants to do things perfectly the first time. When that doesn't happen, she gets upset. I guess with her, repetition is the key. Once something sticks, she doesn't forget it.

I was encouraged this morning as far as the Egyptian collar goes. We were reading from one of the Bible story books. There was a picture of Joseph in Egypt with one of those collars. Angie took notice to it and said, 'I should have made mine like that.' She noticed the pattern of colors. She said she wants to make another one. Hopefully we can try again with a visual that will give her some order to the coloring.

[Tansy]

Ya that brain not connecting thing is exactly what I was referring to. I have a pendulum child as well one day good every thing is clicking the next day slow as molasses. For us it goes to that brain on trauma* syndrome. I ask My self what can I do to heal the trauma and create new healthy pathways in the brain. Which is why I suggested the action of let me help you.

Since scribbling is a very Young action I would be assuming her brain has clicked downward today and she is in younger place. My dd's therapist asked me once "would you expect a 4 year old to do multiplication?" I said "of course not!" And she pointed out that many days My dc is only functioning at a 4 year old lvl... It was like a light bulb went on in my head, suddenly behaviors that baffled me made sense. She then talked about the way to heal it is to do what you would do if she was 4. In this case sit with the child and help her finish making it. This sets up the first family mother/child relationship again and lays the pathways in the brain that should have been laid when she was 4.

The most wonderful thing is this: Science has recently found what they knew about the brain is not exactly right. Our God created brains are far more flexible than Science has thought over the years. Their ability to heal is incredible.

* trauma: loss of a parent, abuse , neglect... any experience that is not within a "normal" parent child relationship. A traumatized brain lives in a hyper aware state so these children tend to all ways be vigilant. Laying dow new pathways helps the brain to relax.