The song gives a frame
A 2-year-old doesn’t color for long with nothing to hold on to. A nursery rhyme they already know gives them that frame: they know how the story starts and how it ends, and the drawing becomes a picture of that very story.
The word and the picture, at the same time
Singing “coccinelle” while coloring a ladybug ties the word, the sound and the picture into one moment. Nothing to prepare: sing quietly next to your child while they fill their sheet, and repeat the line that matches what they are coloring right now.
One series, one song
Our series are built that way: five pages drawn in one go on the theme of a rhyme. Laid out on the table they make a set — and children invent an order for them by themselves, which is already an exercise.
And when they don’t know the song?
Sing it twice before the pencils come out, without showing the drawing. The third time, hand over the sheet: your child recognizes the scene, and that is often enough to get them started.
