Coloring
The crazier life gets, the more important it is to have one or two things that your child can do on their own that they enjoy. When Mikey was young, he would color with us often, but he would always wait for us to tell him which color to use. It wasn’t fun for him to choose his own colors, it was stressful. If you’re judging…how long did it take you to choose the last paint color you put in your house? See what I mean? Choosing colors can be tricky.
So, one of our go-to independent activities is color-by numbers. He has an app for it called Happy Color and he has a set of coloring books that he adores that came with numbered pencils. We have copied the pages of those coloring books and replaced the pencil set a few times because he does some coloring almost every day. It is calming for him and gives me some time to get some other things done while he is happily engaged.
He’s satisfied as long as there is direction on which colors go where and I’m happy that I don’t need to be the one to tell him. Peace.
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About the Author
Erica Mauro is a mom to two teenage boys, Will who is neurotypical and Michael with Autism and cognitive delays. She holds a BA in Psychology from Colgate University and a Masters of Psychology in Education from Columbia Teacher’s College. Before staying home with her children, she worked as an elementary school teacher. For five years, she served on the Board of Directors of the Molly Ann Tango Memorial Foundation, a charity dedicated to enriching the lives of children with special needs. In partnership with her husband Dave, she aspires to parent by using daily life as an opportunity for therapeutic intervention, seizing on real experiences as opportunities to build skills and strategies for Michael in a joyful, loving home environment. On the tougher early days, she just tried to get everyone safely to bedtime and start fresh in the morning. *wink* 
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