Builder Boy's Zoo Mural

Aka: What to do with Kumon coloring workbook pages.

Builder Boy is not a fan when it comes to coloring. He likes drawing well enough, though his drawings, like many kids' his age, require explanation. But he hates coloring, especially staying in the lines and covering the entire area. I've tried various dollar store coloring books, and even a nice color-by-number book. He had to be bribed to do even one page, and he wanted me to do half of the colors. I know a lot of people will wonder "what's the big deal? Why push it?" But this is something that is important to Principal Daddy, something he worries about. So I'm trying to encourage Builder Boy to try. I ordered a few Kumon workbooks to try them out. The first coloring workbook they had seemed too babyish and easy for him but the My Book of Coloring: At the Zoo looked like fun. They have beautiful pictures of animals with, in the beginning, a circle area that needs to be fully colored in with just one color. Builder Boy was not very impressed. I got him to do two pages, and that was it. I cut the pictures out, but I don't remember what I did with them. So I put it away and we didn't try coloring for a while.


I re-discovered the workbook and tried again. This time he was less resistant. I praised his pictures and he asked if we could put them up on the wall (I have their drawings all over the house.) I said "sure!" and asked him where he wanted to put it. He thought about it, walked around the house, and decided he wanted them up in his room. A wonderful idea was born. He had colored in four pictures and we put them together on the wall. He noticed it looked like a zoo and became very excited about the idea of adding more animals and expanding his zoo. He wanted to show Principal Daddy immediate when he got home.







Now he has fun finishing pictures (though he still need coaxing to start sometimes.) We're building a zoo mural in the boy's room and he's progressed in the book to smaller and more precise areas. We do two to four animals at a time depending on how many he wants to do. He chooses where to place them, and I help with the too high spots. I can hardly wait until the whole thing is done. We're only half way through. It's going to be huge!

And to top it off, today when we put up new animals Builder Boy said "lets make observations like scientists!" So we made observations and comparisons about the animals on the wall.
________________________________________________________________________________
(I don't get paid for reviews.) Click here to see how it looked finished!

Pin It