IT'S RAINING BENEFITS WHEN 5-YEAR-OLDS DRAW

Drawing boosts writing skills:

Few activities come as naturally to young children as drawing. This means that you can multiply your 5-year-old's fine motor practice hours many times, day in - day out, month after month, in the crucial year of starting school, simply because they enjoy doing it.

Here are some essential writing skills that drawing helps to develop:

• Fine motor skills (fingers & hand)
• Gross motor skills (shoulder & arm)
• Hand-to-eye coordination
• Spatial awareness: accurate sizing & spacing
• Pen & grip control

Also, since drawing is a hassle-free activity, it's easy to turn it into a daily habit.

Another byproduct of drawing at this age is that it enhances these two key kindergarten skills:

• It helps establish concentration
• It trains kids' ability to follow instructions

Drawing builds confidence:

It teaches the concept of practice as the child experience his or her own skills improving (which happens quickly). As they experience success they begin to feel capable. And feeling capable in one area means greater self-confidence in other areas too, which builds the courage to take on new projects, although they may seem hard at first.

Drawing sprouts creativity:

Few things are as rewarding as seeing one's ideas and imagination come alive!

Great value

• Reproducible: Reuse the book an infinite amount of times (unlike coloring books and other activity books)
• Shareable: Easily shared by multiple kids at the same time (unlike most other activity books)

Level of difficulty

This book uses:

• Simplified shapes
• More steps to lower the complexity of each step
• No guiding lines that need to be erased in the next step (which many kids at this age struggle to do properly)

All this ensures that the book is easy to follow.

And to make it even more beginner-friendly the book's content is in black and white, which makes the entire book traceable.

While tracing paper is easier to see through, I've found that many kids prefer to simply use standard copy paper and plenty of light. You can see through the paper just enough to get the lines right, and the finished result is more like a real artwork and is easy to color on.

Help your 5-year-old reap all the benefits of drawing -- get him or her started NOW

Shiny, colorful toys that bring excitement for a few minutes and then lie around never to be used again are a waste of money.

Why not take the opportunity to make a huge, positive, long-lasting impact on your 5-year-old for a fraction of the price of many other toys?

Something they will look back on as they grow up and say, "This is where it all started. This was the spark of inspiration that got me going. Without this considerate and thoughtful gift, I probably wouldn't have gone on to make and create all this."

Something the child's parents and teachers will appreciate and be thankful for. Something for you to rejoice in as the child proudly shares and shows off his or her creations to family, friends, and in school.