March 31st is National Crayon Day!
The therapists at Collaborative OT Solutions use crayons for much more than coloring. Crayons can help with so many additional skills such as…
- Fine Motor skills and Gross Motor strength
- Hand strength and Pencil grasp
- Hand eye coordination and Bilateral coordination
- Color identification/Color matching
When your child uses a crayon, they are improving their ability to manipulate other similar important items as well such as pencils, utensils, toothbrush, scissors. This is because your child is strengthening their hand muscles to help with these tasks. Coloring with crayons can also assist with upper body and core endurance, and while your child is supporting the piece of paper with their non-working hand they develop Bilateral coordination and Bilateral integration skills.
We want to give our Collaborative OT Solutions families a secret trick for crayon use. Keep the broken crayons!!! Yup, broken crayons prove to be equally as useful for your child’s development as whole crayons. In fact, a broken smaller crayon will naturally encourage your child to “pinch” the crayon in their thumb and index finger to develop a more mature and skilled grasp for writing and coloring.
Speak to your treating therapist today or come into our clinic for information regarding the different types of crayons that can be used in treatment. Your child may benefit from a triangle crayon, jumbo crayon, circle crayon, rock crayons . . . there are many more options than you may think!
Watch your child develop their endurance and strength, fine motor skills, grasp pattern, and coordination with creativity and coloring. OT is the place to be!
