Initially, he had wanted to do water colour painting. His painting has always been just colouring and scribbling. He is never interested in painting on objects, except on paper. Even though it is just colouring and scribbling, he is able to interpret what his artwork is about (which is worth celebrating). When he just draws in circles, he could still tell me that he is drawing the MRT Network Line (Now I know in J's mind, our MRT Network is so confusing... lol).
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| J loves to paint with brushes |
After painting with brushes, J would like to get his hands on the paint. Maybe, he loves the sensation of touching the paint. Today, he had his hands printed on papers.
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| After printing his hands on paper, he showed me his dirty hands |
Lastly, J sponge-stamped numbers. There were lots of interaction, initiated by J, when we were doing this activity. When he stamped number '4', he said that he is 4 years old. When he stamped number '5', he said Froggy is 5 years old. When he stamped number '6', he said that his baby is 6 years old.
His painting activities will always end in putting his hands in the water and go round and round, seeing the water changed colours and squeezing the sponge. He hand-painted the wall too. He said, "Today, I am painting my house."
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| Stamping, sponging and hand painting |
Painting is a good sensory activities for children, whether neurotypical or special needs. Painting not only invokes and foster creativity and imagination, they learn a lot about primary and secondary colours and what happen to colours when mixed up, texture of paint, helps in hand-eye coordination, brain or cognitive development and emotional expression. For children on the ASD spectrum, painting can be one form of Art Therapy.
Perhaps the greatest benefit is the fact that painting provides us and our children a great platform to bond and spend valuable time together. Today, it has been an interactive session. The whole activity lasted about an hour and a half. In fact, the activity we had today helps in the development of Interactive Attention Span, which is one of the important goals in the Son-Rise Program® Social Development Model.
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| Painting on easel on 14 Nov 2016 We created an art corner for J. |
Dear parents, I would encourage you to let your little ones paint. Do not be bothered by the outcome of your child's paint works. If getting messy is of your primary concern, do like what I did - I put J in the toilet (My toilet is very airy) and after the paint works, it is toilet washing time.
Most importantly, enjoy the bonding, have fun and invoke interaction by talking about your child's works (Remember, no criticism but PRAISE AND CELEBRATION).
If your child is non-verbal, painting can help to teach new words and even working on eye contact when your child asks you for the colour.
If your child has sensory challenges in touching the paint, do not force the child, help the child to explore and feel the paint. Take a step at a time!
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