TY colouring book to support Dyspraxia

BY JACKIE KEOGH

STUDENTS at Mount Saint Michael secondary school in Rosscarbery have turned an international craze for colouring books into a mini-company that will support Dyspraxia Ireland.

Sixteen-year old Transition Year students Alice Buckley Healy and Marie Keating have created the Wild Atlantic Colouring Book, which features beautiful but naive-style drawings of popular local scenes and animals.

Designed and printed by Star Creative in Skibbereen, the new colouring book will be available in local shops, hotels and tourist offices, and can even be ordered by emailing: [email protected] or through the Wild Atlantic Colouring Book page on Facebook.

It is the simplicity of the colouring book that makes it perfect for people of all ages, but it is particularly appropriate given that the sale of the books will help young children with Dyspraxia – children who have difficulty planning, sequencing and carrying out everyday actions.

It was Alice who had the idea for the colouring book, having particular fond memories of a holiday in Germany and a hotel that handed out colouring books to children to keep them entertained before dinner was served.

Both Alice and Marie were aware there was nothing else like the colouring book available in West Cork so they suggested it as a model for their mini-company in Transition Year, and they developed it from there.

An interesting feature of the colouring book is that there are general questions and answers on each page, as well as an image to be coloured in, and there’s also a hidden owl on each page, which adds more fun, as children love to see who will find it first.

As well as being supported by Star Creative, the Celtic Ross Hotel, Michael Collins House, the Model Railway Village, and Skibbereen Heritage Centre have all taken support advertisements on the inside back cover of the book.

Look out for the Wild Atlantic Colouring Book in shops in your area.