First, there are five basic things that children should know that they can not get away with when using crayons. Warning: Parents may have to repeat these often! They are as follows:
Drawing Paper Only
Children should be encouraged to draw only on paper given to them by a parent, teacher, or childcare provider. Otherwise crayon ends up on walls, furniture, and important paperwork.
No Electrical Appliances
While any appliance should be unplugged after use, it would be pretty disastrous to find a crayon that went unnoticed at the bottom of someone's next smoothie. Keep appliances out of the reach of children.
No Body Parts
Children LOVE exploring with their mouths, which can be nasty enough when it comes to coloring. But toddlers also love sticking things in their eyes, ears, and noses – and crayons can become lodged in any of these cavities, and be both difficult and painful to extract.
No Breaking Crayons
Parents should explain to their children that the crayon becomes small and hard to use when it is broken. Children should also be taught to respect and appreciate the things that belong to them.
No Crayons In The Sun
If parents don’t want to clean up a small mountain of melted wax from their backyard patio, they should supervise all outside coloring and remind their children to put the crayons back in the box when they are finished.
Secondly, there are many ways in which children can engage in artwork and enjoy themselves. Parents can suggest one of the following:
- Color in a coloring book
- Encourage the child to draw a picture of her own
- When age appropriate, children can practice their alphabet and numbers with crayons, or write a letter to a loved one
- Parents can make a picture for your child to color
- Parents should encourage children to be courteous with their crayons and share them with others
- Parents should praise every effort at coloring
Parents will most likely need to reiterate the do’s and don’ts of coloring frequently. However, it is worth their while to not have to scrub drawings off the walls, hunt for the balance on their scribbled-on credit card bill, or rush their child to the emergency room due to crayon-in-the-nose syndrome. Children will also learn that there are many exciting, fulfilling ways they can use their crayons.
The key is, toddlers must be watched whenever doing any activity, and coloring is no exception. Parents should review these tips with their children and remind them whenever possible of proper "crayon etiquette" until the idea sticks – and they shouldn't forget to praise those scribbles to the high heavens.
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