Were you one of those kids that would take great pride and effort in making sure you colored within the lines? Or were you the kid that rushed to get it done and didn’t care how it looked as long as it was done?
This had me thinking the other day as I was sitting in the restaurant with my daughters. I’m sure most parents out there love those menus that are there strictly to maintain your kids attention, and your sanity, while you wait for the food. My youngest was quickly moving through the coloring with blatant disregard for any lines. I asked her what happened to staying in the lines and let her know that she needed to make sure she took the time to give her best effort, take pride in her work, and stay within the lines.
But is this true? I guess there are two ways to look at it.
Staying in the lines means you are attentive to details, understand the constraints you work within, and enjoy the ability to control your output. You enjoy the process and work that needs to be done in order to see a beautiful result. You are more methodical and measured in how you approach the task. You are analytical, focused, and intent on producing quality regardless of how long it takes or whether it will limit your ability to move to the next task.
Going outside the lines means you aren’t afraid to break the rules, at least a little. You may have a creativity that is hard to control. Your goal is to complete the task quickly, with sufficiency that meets the goal yet allows you to move on to the next conquest. You might be a risk taker or blossoming entrepreneur. Someone that doesn’t want to be constrained by the rigidity of what you are supposed to do.
Perhaps the ideal approach is one of convergence. Hone your ability to stay within the lines to the point that you may move swiftly with mastery and accomplish more than you imagined. I would like to teach my kids to target the result of staying within the lines yet approach it with the creative mind that takes you beyond the lines (TWEET THIS!).
Where do you fall? Or how do you approach it when your kids are coloring outside the lines? Do you let them explore and do as they want or do you interject and reinforce the fact they should stay within the lines.
I personally am a perfectionist when it comes to coloring, I don’t like coloring outside of the lines. Kids are so carefree and aren’t worried if they accidentally color outside of the lines and are proud to show off their work no matter what.
I only tell my boy to “try to color within the lines” but never emphasize or make it a point that he MUST do it. To me kids are carefree and they color or paint or draw according to what they imagine in their head. They can color a person green or purple and to them this is perfectly ok or right. Why can’t a person have huge hair and purple skin color?
It has never crossed my mind that color within the lines means I’m constrained or following rules, or coloring outside the lines are being creative etc. To me these are another whole set of teaching which has to be approached in another angle.
Love your comment. I especially like what you said about the creativity and how they can color people green or purple. So true! Wish more adults held onto the carefree approach to living.
Leave it to the creative mom to find this post. Funny you bring this up – I’ve always thought about this from the time my daughter could hold a crayon. In the beginning little ones lack the motor skill development to be able to control their crayons – so crazy coloring everywhere! Eventually when they gain more control – it becomes choice. To me it’s this: The choice of doing what everyone says I’m “supposed to do” or just do what I want to do. I always let my daughter decide how she wants to color and she surprises me all the time. Sometimes she is so methodical and attentive to detail I’m amazed, other times it’s just here there and everywhere. In the end – as long as she’s happy and created what she set out to do – then I’m happy too.
When we started thinking yesterday, and after I visited your page, this post immediately came to mind. Glad you found it. I agree with your approach and love the fact you encourage your kids to embrace the creative side. It’s something I’m learning to reconnect with in my own life. My inner creative is starting to emerge again.
Our inner creative is so important. I realized it myself that since my daughter was born and I work full-time, I hadn’t really been creating anything in that time – just working my day job and being a parent (while my job is supporting creativity through managing art studios – I’m not creating myself). I really felt disconnected from that side. Just creating my blog in WordPress brought back those feelings of making something and see it coming to life – I remembered what it was like to be creative again. I also realized how fast time was passing and before I knew it my daughter would be grown up and that was a turning point. I knew I had to make creativity a priority in our experiences together. It’s just that important and it needs to be supported and nurtured in everyone and especially our kids! As my daughter would say – Be Creative! Jared Easley also says hi!
I thanked him for introducing you to me via a tweet!