There are many reasons why a color by letter worksheet is a resource to build skills. The winter themed coloring page we made covers even more skills than your typical color by letter worksheets…This Winter color by letter supports skills in handwriting, fine motor skills, visual motor skills, and direction-following with a winter theme. Winter is still in full swing, which is a great opportunity to introduce this Winter Coloring Page, just one of our coloring pages here on the site. It is a color by letter and writing task, with a cute winter bear, since we are “bearly” through winter!
Also be sure to grab our new winter crossword puzzle and this winter clothes worksheet to target visual discrimination and other visual perceptual skills.
Winter Color By letter
This winter color by letter activity is an out-of-box letter formation worksheet that is fun and engaging. It is so cold out there, you might be finding more time inside doing activities rather than outside.
This color by letter winter scene is a great addition to your winter theme. In addition to this Winter Coloring Page, the OT Toolbox has some great winter themed kits to make your treatment sessions easier. If you do venture outside, be sure to check out these Snow and Ice Activities.
Color By Letter Worksheets
A color by letter sheet is a printable tool to work on skills such as visual discrimination, visual figure ground, and the fine motor skills necessary to color in a small space.
The nice thing about the winter color by letter activity below is that there is a handwriting component as well.
The printable color by letter page asks children to write the letter that they color in each time they find the letter and finish coloring.
This task offers several skills for children:
- In-hand manipulation to pick up the crayon and then place it on the table to then pick up the pencil. There is a lot of manipulation of writing tools to complete these tasks. This supports development of transfer within the hand and using the writing tool to color or write.
- Copying the letters into the sized boxes for uppercase letter formation and lowercase letter formation. This uppercase/lowercase discrimination supports handwriting and form constancy skill as well as letter sizing.
- Visual motor skills to visually scan for the correct letter form in the color by letter page and then appropriately match the color to the space on the coloring sheet.
Luckily for the bear in the winter coloring worksheet, he has his own built in winter coat. No hoodie necessary! We also have a great winter activity all about hibernation activities where this would fit in nicely.
Why should I use this Winter Color by letter?
To Develop:
- Fine motor skills: Manipulating and grasping a pencil, crayon, marker, or whatever combination of writing implements you use. Coordination to fit the letters inside the boxes. Coloring inside the lines. Remember smaller items such as golf pencils and broken crayons help promote that tripod grasp.
- Handwriting: Copying and writing letters, letter size, and to target letter formation
- Strength: core strength, hand and wrist stability.
- Bilateral coordination: using one hand for coloring and writing while the “helper hand” supports the paper. Keep an eye on which hand is primarily used as the dominant side to discourage switching
- Visual perception: figure ground to pick out the letters from the field of many. Scanning to correctly find all of the letters. Visual memory to remember what color each letter section needs to be. Form constancy to recognize the letters in their different forms or sizes
- Executive function/behavior/social skills: following directions, attention to detail, waiting, social skills, compliance, behavior, and work tolerance
- Proprioception: how much pressure is used on the crayon/pencil/marker, and how much pressure is put on to the paper
Use a color by letter Worksheet in therapy
A color by letter worksheet is a powerhouse of skill building.
What should I look for when observing or assessing this snow coloring page?
- How many times do you need to repeat the directions so your learner can follow them?
- How many reminders does your learner need while doing this color by letter sheet?
- What is your learner’s frustration tolerance if they make a mistake or have to erase?
- Is there any cheating or cutting corners going on? There always is.
- How does your learner motor plan this task? Do they do all the coloring first, then write all the letters, skip around, haphazardly complete the task, write the letters first, or something else?
- While your learner switches between tasks such as writing and coloring or using different utensils, how well do they switch focus?
- Take time to work on executive function if your learner is doing this task the hard way, being inefficient, or missing vital steps.
Modify a Color by Letter worksheet:
You can adapt or modify a color by letter worksheet to support different skill development:
- There are endless utensils to use for coloring. Markers, crayons, colored pencils, paints, watercolor, chalk, or dry erase pens all provide different input, and require different levels of fine motor skill to manipulate.
- Small one inch crayons are excellent for developing those tiny hand muscles.
- Chalk, with its grainy texture, provides sensory feedback and can be a positive (or negative) experience
- Markers glide easily, requiring less precision and grip strength
- Change writing utensils to appeal to different students and improve their level of motivation.
- Some learners do not seem to notice the black borders around coloring sections. Highlight these with different colors, or trace around each section to demonstrate what “inside the lines” means.
- Coloring can be assessed by noting the percentage of the item that is filled in, and the number of errors outside of the lines. This can be tricky sometimes as there are often dozens of stray marks outside of the lines. Try this: the learner was able to color a two inch shape with 75% coverage and greater than 5 errors out of the lines.
- Use multiple types of work pages or activities to address each skill. An easy way to work on these skills this winter is this Snowman Activity Kit
In addition to using this Winter Coloring by Letter Page in your treatment plan, check out the Winter Fine Motor Activities with links to activities, resources, and valuable products.
Because many learners are resistant to doing writing tasks, try and make this color by letter winter scene multidimensional. Add a sensory component, a gross motor task, glitter, fun pencils, or a book to motivate your learners. Need to work on self regulation?
How about a Winter Mindfulness Exercise? As you can see, there are tons of resources out there to spice up your winter themed lesson plan, without ever having to venture out into the frozen tundra.
Stay warm and bundle up!
Free Winter Color by letter worksheet
Want a copy of this color-by letter worksheet? Enter your email address into the form below.
This resource is also inside our Member’s Club. Level 1 members can find this on the Handwriting toolbox. Level 2 members can find it on the Handwriting toolbox and in the Winter Therapy Theme.
Victoria Wood, OTR/L is a contributor to The OT Toolbox and has been providing Occupational Therapy treatment in pediatrics for more than 25 years. She has practiced in hospital settings (inpatient, outpatient, NICU, PICU), school systems, and outpatient clinics in several states. She has treated hundreds of children with various sensory processing dysfunction in the areas of behavior, gross/fine motor skills, social skills and self-care. Ms. Wood has also been a featured speaker at seminars, webinars, and school staff development training. She is the author of Seeing your Home and Community with Sensory Eyes.
*The term, “learner” is used throughout this post for inclusivity. This information is relevant for students, patients, clients, preschoolers, kids/children of all ages and stages, or whomever could benefit from these resources. The term “they” is used instead of he/she to be inclusive.
