Halloween has some sweet treats for tummies, and it has activities that are a form of “brain candy”. For some fun, learning, and kindergarten readiness, kids can color, draw, and paint. For children who are reluctant to draw and color, Halloween can be a wonderful way to help them have fun and build their confidence with art materials like paper, crayons, markers, paints, etc.
For younger toddlers, anything with orange on a piece of paper can be a pumpkin. Kids can paint or draw, exploring how to make marks on a paper. There are certainly programs for screen devices where kids can do the same thing, but holding a brush or marker in their hands is a more powerful sensory experience. Making monsters on a piece of paper is pretty easy because they can be any shape, size or color. Lines can go anywhere and in any direction to create scribble monsters.
Pictures do not necessarily have to “be” something. They can simply be what the child wants to do at that moment in time. Instead of asking kids “What’s this?”, we can ask them if that picture has a story. By asking if there is a story that goes with the picture, we introduce kids to the idea that squiggles and lines on a piece of paper have meaning. That’s what writing is all about, even if we call the squiggles and lines letters. Pictures are a form of communication and another way to express ourselves, besides words.
Drawing and coloring exercises both muscles and brains. Kids are not just learning to use the small muscles in their wrists and hands, they are also learning to concentrate and make pictures in their minds. For some Halloween fun, learning, and kindergarten readiness can your child play with these materials?