Mistakes

I coloured over the line

What happened

A colouring picture with colour going over the outline

Your crayon went over the line. There's colour outside the shape.

What do you want to happen?

For the grown-up

One line over the edge can make the whole picture look spoiled to him, and telling him nobody would notice does not reach that. Ask whether he'd like to work the mark in or leave it — having the choice matters more than which one he picks.

Say what they wanted before you say what can happen. A child who is handed a solution first hears it as being told off.
The true thing beats the soothing thing. “The cup is in the wash” is something a child can be disappointed about and then get past.
Wanting the impossible thing is not a mistake. It is what they want, and this resource agrees with them before it says anything else.
It works far better on a calm day than in the middle of one. Going through it when nothing is happening is what makes the words available the next time something is.

This is a rehearsal tool, not an assessment, and it does not know your child. You decide whether what it says fits them — if a scenario is not right, close it and pick another.

Your crayon went over the line. There's colour outside the shape.

What do you want to happen?

Rub the colour off — You wanted your picture with nothing over the line.
Start the picture again — You'd rather begin on a clean sheet.
Colour the rest in — You want to keep going and fill it in.
Stop colouring now — You stopped wanting to colour once that happened.

Crayon doesn't come back off the paper. The rest is still yours to colour.

What can we do with the picture?

Colour the rest in — Yes. The rest of the shape is still waiting for colour.
Make it a shadow — The bit outside can be a shadow, or grass, or sky.
Leave it as it is — Okay. The picture works with the colour where it is.

The colour is staying outside the line. The picture still works.

For the grown-up: One line over the edge can make the whole picture look spoiled to him, and telling him nobody would notice does not reach that. Ask whether he'd like to work the mark in or leave it — having the choice matters more than which one he picks.

All 33 situations