I guess you couldn't see with your naked eyeballs the extra development in fine motor skills, any more than you could the stunted creativity, am I right?
You of course wouldn't see her creativity stifled when coloring; you are predisposed against the idea, and you'd have to observe what she could have drawn by herself without someone else's lines in the way, and then compare it to the colored book. Which would show and encourage more creativity?
I think for most children, scribbling is a natural part of the development of early art ability and interest. It's just another thing that's discouraged by the stay-within-the-lines mentality of most coloring books, and of the people that rely on them to keep kids quiet and occupied.
It would be hard to measure the impact of coloring books on creativity, though I guess one could form a study. But just like I don't let my kids watch a lot of TV, I don't/won't let them do coloring books. It's passive; why color in someone else's drawing when one could be drawing instead? I just don't see the point. Plain paper is easy to keep around.
I wasn't meaning to be confrontational on this. Remember, I started by commiserating with someone. I just feel the way I do, and am honest about it. It's okay for us to disagree. I don't think anyone here seems to be doing a bad job with their kids, and I'm no expert on raising kids in general.
Last edited by Iucounu; 07/12/10 03:25 PM.
