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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

What age did your LO like to sit and colour or draw

24 replies

lollipoppi · 03/12/2013 11:30

DS1 has just turned 3

He has never really liked to sit and colour or draw, he prefers to play with cars or trains or do jigsaws

Should I encourage him to do more drawing and colouring or just accept it's just not something he is interested in?

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Joyx2boys · 03/12/2013 12:20

My son started when he was 1.4 he always tried to get hold of a pen we were using & scribbled on the papers, so my mum got him a paint set and started sitting him at a table, with lots of stamps & brushes, I've got a picture framed of his hand prints, he's now 2.4 & points at it when he passes then points to himself with a big smile. you could try sitting painting with him, hand & footprints are fun & try making your own stamps with sponges or potatoes, and encourage him to help its messy but fun. every childs different, and arty stuffs maybe just not for him.
You could try making a kite together as well, put cars or trains on it :-)

spritesoright · 03/12/2013 15:37

DD is 2.2 and she likes colouring but doesn't have a particularly long attention span with it. She will do maybe 5 minutes of painting (before starting to paint herself and nearby objects at which point I take them away). She will sit and colour in a colouring book with pencils for about 10 minutes. Her favourite thing to draw is 'snakes'.

Unfortunately I can't just leave her to colour. I find I need to join in or ask questions/make suggestions in order to extend her interest.
I'm hoping once she gets a bit more skilled with the pencils it will be more interesting for her...

hopskipandthump · 03/12/2013 15:41

DS1 didn't get interested until he was about 5.5 - now (a year later) he will sit for hours and draw/colour.

DS2 aged 4.5 has recently got a bit interested and will do it for up to 20 mins at a time.

DD aged 2.5 will do it for hours already. I think (based on my statistically invalid sample of 3 children) that boys come to it later than girls.

I wouldn't push him, he will come to it on his own. In our case, school is what made the difference.

singarainbow · 03/12/2013 15:42

My DS (now 7) did not want to draw, write or colour for fun until he was 6.

SteamWisher · 03/12/2013 15:44

er Ds is 4.2 and I'm still waiting. He's much more of an imaginative play kind of boy i.e. will make up games with his lego and playmobil for hours. He will occasionally draw but gets frustrated that the pictures don't come out as he would like.

DD who's just turned 2 likes to draw and will do it for a bit longer.

Bragadocia · 03/12/2013 15:47

DS wasn't bothered at that age - if we tried to encourage him, he would ask us to draw things for him instead! Things changed at about three and a half and now, at almost 4, he draws and colours a lot. Cars are still his preferred toy, and Lego/Duplo.

Original poster

lollipoppi · 03/12/2013 16:31

Thank you, I was just a bit worried as he starts pre-school in january and I didn't want him to not join in with craft activities or feel left out that he doesn't want to do it if that makes sense

I will maybe just get the paints and colours out once or twice a week and let him decide if he wants to do it

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Squitten · 03/12/2013 18:43

DS2 is 3 and quite enjoys drawing and painting but still has a short attention span for it.

DS1 never enjoyed it and it still isn't his favourite thing. When he went to preschool, I was the parent who never got anything crafty made for me, unless the entire class were doing an activity. Now he's 5 and in Reception and is starting to take an interest. He's just not an especially creative kid TBH - he likes to build stuff and do puzzles!

barnet · 03/12/2013 18:46

Dd was about 3. Ds never does, he is 5.5 yrs. He has just started scribbles

lanbro · 03/12/2013 18:46

My dd1 is asking to draw at 21 months. She has an aquadoodle but with a limited attention span it only ladts 5-10 mins!

Pascha · 03/12/2013 18:51

Hi Lolli. DS1 is 3.2 and has a positive hatred for most arty things. Never sat for more than 20 seconds to draw, even now he can only scribble and do a circle using a basic grip. Since he started pre-school in September they have got him doing painting once or twice, and other arty-crafty stuff which he would never entertain outside that environment. We had parents evening a couple of weeks ago and they are quite happy that he's not interested, they find other ways of making him develop the motor skills. A good preschool should find ways of making it interesting for him, a bit at a time.

HanShotFirst · 03/12/2013 18:51

DS1 (5) has doodled from about 2 years old, but he doesn't ever ask for pens; it's always on my suggestion and doesn't last very long. He'd rather play with lego or Star Wars figures.

DS2 (2.10) has very little interest and doesn't last 5 minutes at home but will (with a lot of encouragement from staff) sit and finish a set task at preschool. Like DS1, he likes playing with lego and figures making up his own little world.

bigTillyMintspie · 03/12/2013 18:53

DD, about 18mths
DS, still waiting. He's nearly 13

DD(14) is now doing fabulous work for her art textiles GCSE
DS's strengths lie elsewhere. It is not holding him back!

BusyLittleSpider · 03/12/2013 18:58

DD has always loved colouring and drawing for as long as she could hold a crayon.

DS on the other hand just couldn't sit still long enough to be bothered. He's 5 and a half and has just started to be interested in colouring.

The school suggested encouraging him to play with play doh, rather than drawing, as this helps build the strength in their hands and fingers ready for learning to write, perhaps this worth trying with your DS?

NorthernLebkuchen · 03/12/2013 19:57

Dd3 is now 6.5 and this Christmas is the first Christmas I'm thinking it's worth buying her art stuff. It really does vary enormously.

DeathMetalMum · 03/12/2013 20:38

Dd started around 18 months and can spend hours colouring. My brother is 16 now and has always disliked colouring. As pp said his strengths and interests lie elsewhere.

NanaNina · 03/12/2013 21:46

I think girls are far more likely to want to draw and colour than boys and I think this continues through childhood, especially in relation to colouring. My grand daughters still love colouring (when they're in the mood) at aged 12 plus but you wouldn't catch boys of that age doing that. Boys are often better a jigsaws than girls and tend to have less concentration than girls but these are generalisations of course.

blossombath · 03/12/2013 21:52

One thing I read suggested leaving crayons and paper in places which are accessible to them, so they can do it on their on whim, rather than you prompting or them having to ask you. Not sure if it would be feasible for everyone (depend on siblings and house lay out I guess) but we have crayons on a low shelf in living room. DS (21mo) will get them, bring to table and say his word for colouring so I can get him some paper to 'colour' on.

Original poster

lollipoppi · 04/12/2013 08:36

Blossom, If I left crayons around the house I would find his artwork on the walls, he drew a lovely "monster" on my wardrobes once! In his credit it was actually quite good

He loves playdoh he will sit for a while playing that.

All my friends have little girls and they all LOVE to sit quietly colouring, whilst DS reeks havoc with the cars on play dates

Reassuring to know it will come with time, thanks all

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Northumberlandlass · 04/12/2013 08:37

DS is 10 and I'm still waiting

Northumberlandlass · 04/12/2013 08:38

Oh hang on - do you count the time he drew a race track on our cream carpet with blue crayon ?

msmiggins · 04/12/2013 08:58

I too hate to be sexist- but I think boys are less likely to enjoy this type of activity than girls.
My DD love from the age of 2 upwards, my son ( now 16- and extremely academic) never enjoyed drawing or colouring.

Original poster

lollipoppi · 04/12/2013 09:15

Northumberland

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Pascha · 04/12/2013 09:18

actually I remember resorting to getting him to dip cars in paint and letting him loose on a big old sheet . He only did it once anyway, he thought it was a big ol waste of cars!

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