Anyone had experience of this?

Sorry, I meant to say that although sewing is a craft activity, it is making something useful rather than something out of toilet rolls which doesn't have any purpose at all. Not sure if a 4 year old would think like that, but I always encouraged my kids to make things with a purpose, and taught them to sew on buttons, etc. They are grateful for it and are better with a needle than their wives!

My husband is 78 next month and I am 62.
He has COPD, and gave up smoking when he was diagnosed nearly 3 yrs ago,
He now has CKD, chronic kidney disease.
He us waiting to see a specialist, which is in a couple of weeks
Do any GN have or know of anyone with this condition and what do we need to know?

Hello Jeanie59 - Please begin another thread otherwise your post may be overlooked on here and that would be a shame.

(Go to FORUMS, click on HEALTH and then click the button for new discussions and create a title - then post your question.)

I'm with your granddaughter on this: drawing, colouring, painting or any other craft activity was the bane of my life as a youngster. I had no talent for art and no interest and just wanted to be left alone to read my book.

Perhaps she would like to try something musical - a xylophone perhaps and some manufacturers make boxes of simple musical instruments.

My older DGD liked making hand puppets from kits, the hole were pre-punched and the needle very large for little fingers to manage. She then put on puppet shows for us.

If she enjoys making up stories maybe she'd be interested in using fuzzy felt to 'act' them and share them with you.

My granddaughter at that age had no interest in colouring or crafts although she loved Lego and Playdoh - now at 7 there is no stopping her when it comes to crafts!

One of my boys wouldn't read at Infant school, although he could read perfectly well at home, neither would he draw. Went to university to study Environmental care and Land use. He's now a stone mason, much in demand for his excellent work. He used to spend hours in the garden and shed putting things together. At three years of age he made a sewing machine from Stickle Bricks (never see them now)you could turn a handlle and the needle moved up and down. He has a library of about 500 books in his home now, all of which have been read. No worries, let the child do what he/she likes best.

My GD isn’t interested in art. A colouring book when she was small, I used to encourage her but she was interested.
Primary school she would do a few things but had no interest at at all. When she got to secondary school is was quite upsetting the art teacher would shout at her and moan, she did ring me about the lesson and I explained that she is not interested and I said she insist she cannot draw.
I got a bit annoyed with the teacher because she kept putting my gd down.
If they don’t like a lesson they dig there heels in. Now English she loves writes lots of story’s and songs.
She at 6th form college now and doing very well.

Ive had 7 children-got 8 GC and some like drawing some dont- its not a big problem,maybe later if school mention it to HER PARENT then yes im sure if theres any difficulty it will be sorted.but right now just enjoy her company.some kids dont take to drawing (my 15 yr old is one) his motor skills were never great and he couldnt keep in the lines of colouring books so disliked them! He was so relieved at school when art became a choice so he simply didnt choose it! Not everyones arty;live with it.

Missed a bit not interested

Several supermarkets are selling magic books, just 'paint' on water. Picture disappears after a while. They practise counting, alphabet etc.

Had to smile at jackyB's post- my older kids were same- i showed them sewing/knitting etc.though the girls can sew enough to mend clothes they dont 'make things' now or knit either but when i asked my DIL if she had needle&thread for a repair at their house she brought out my SONS sewing kit.lol!And on a visit when he was younger(11)my grandson asked me to teach him to knit when he saw me knitting something.(dont know if he still can do it though,hes 20 now.

I too detested colouring, drawing and painting as a child.

I notice that your granddaughter answers politely then goes and does something else, so why worry? She has obviously learned good manners, which will do her a lot more good in life than being able to draw or make useless articles out of clay or toilet rolls, if that is the standard in her nursery.

I do know that children's motor skills develop through drawing and handicrafts, but unless she is a very clumsy child, I do not think you need to worry, at all.

I would be proud of a four year old who says "No, thank you" and has other ideas of how to use her time.

I agree with grandetante above.
My daughter was not keen on colouring. Her favourite was to plan, write, cast and direct plays and shows, using her brother, neighbours’ children and anybody who was willing to join in. She was always the chief actor too.
Her son loves drawing but not colouring in. He has a great imagination and also a sense of perspective, so his creations are very good.
All children are different and should be encourage to do what they enjoy.

When I was at junior school (many years ago!) I flatly refused to do needlework. In the end they gave up and allowed me to read to the class instead. I was a latchkey kid so was not used to being told what to do! To this day I can’t sew (though I can knit) and I’m so useless at drawing that I struggle even to play Pictionary. But I think I turned out all right, thanks to a Mensa-level IQ and a passion for language.

Nothing to worry about. She's probably really 'arty' (no, not artist) and outdoorsy.
Swimming, gymnastics, riding, dancing (not necessarily ballet) gardening...?
Creativity come in lots of guises. Could she get involved with local theatre productions? It might be worth looking into activities such as these rather than the 'sitting down' variety.

Would she be interested in doing something 'large scale' outside- fill empty spray cleaning bottles with watered down paint and get busy on large old packing boxes, have a bowl of soapy water and a large decorating brush and 'paint ' the fence, chalk on the pavement, stick bits together to make a junk model, cut pictures out of a magazine and glue them to make a collage ( or just rip them out), cooking activities and so on so she realises that craft doesn't have to be too formal. You can join in the activity too just to get her interested.

She may enjoy using those fat pavement chalks on your patio or paths outside - it feels just a little bit naughty (but soon washes away when it rains).

Oh - quizqueen already said that

We have an old easel which we put outside so that they could slosh paint around - much more fun than carefully colouring in with pencils.

The other thing we did was to go for a walk, collect fallen leaves and make an 'autumn collage'.

teabagwoman .What most children of her age would be interested in appears of no interest to your GC.
Do not as yet be concerned. Most likely she requires far more stimulation than crayons and toys can give her
See what happens when she enters into full time education.

I'd be glad she's so polite, knows her own mind and is confident enough to express it!
I love this new generation of strong girls.
So she may not grow up interested in painting, sewing or baking - maybe she'll be a brain surgeon or a nuclear physicist, an alternative therapist, a concert pianist or have her own on-line business. The world is wide open for girls. Hooray!

This resonates horribly with me. One of my sons was exactly like this. I put it down to him being clumsy and having no success in that arena. However, I did mention it to any medic we happened to be seeing for something different. I will never forget 'Does he eat well, sleep well and do his bowels move regularly?' 'Yes' 'Then STOP fussing!' At the age of eight this same child was referred to a specialist for lack in the airts of coordination. What did the professor say in a severely chastising manner? 'Mother, why had this child not been brought to me much sooner?' He was diagnosed with dyspraxia and I have never felt so guilty in my life. Still do. This diagnosis has not kept him back too much but it could have been so much better had the original medics been more perceptive and aware. I will always regret that I didn't 'fuss' more. It was my first attempt at Motherhood and that's all I can say in my pathetic defence.

Does it matter if the child is not what we call 'creative'? I can't say I've ever been recognisably creative but I can follow instructions, knit, bake and put together flat pack furniture. I was delighted to be able to give up art classes at the age of 15. My art marks always dragged my average down! Teabag, does your GD show interest in music, singing, dancing? She might be more interested in participative activities than in making marks on paper.