Nursery World - Budding artists

Introducing children to art software is a great way of improving mouse control, with the knock-on effect of developing fine motor skills and eye to hand co-ordination. So, in the next few ICTarticles we are going to explore a progression of different ways of using art software with young children. Using an art program requires children to move a mouse with some degree of precision while also holding down the button - 'dragging'. These are difficult skills for young children to develop, so the first step may well be to use the fill tool (usually a paint bucket icon) to encourage them to fill areas of the screen with different colours.

Using an art program requires children to move a mouse with some degree of precision while also holding down the button - 'dragging'. These are difficult skills for young children to develop, so the first step may well be to use the fill tool (usually a paint bucket icon) to encourage them to fill areas of the screen with different colours.

To do this you don't necessarily need art software. There are CD-Roms, such as Reader Rabbit Toddler, and websites that have online colouring programs, for example Bob the Builder, Kinder Art and Colouring Corner. These allow the user to select pictures and colours from a paint palette. Some completed pictures may animate. These programs will develop essential directional mouse movement skills and an understanding of the fill and palette tools.

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