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Coloring is a go-to activity when it comes to keeping your child occupied and happy, and National Coloring Day is just around the corner! Coloring has so many cognitive, motor, and emotional benefits that it’s become a trend among adults as well as children. It’s a soothing sensory experience proven to reduce stress in people of all ages. So, it’s likely you and your child will both deeply enjoy celebrating this holiday together. Read on to find out why and how to celebrate National Coloring Day this year.
What Makes Coloring Such an Important Activity for Kids?
The benefits of coloring on your child’s mental, emotional, and physical growth are numerous and diverse. For one, coloring has a tremendous impact on kids’ fine motor development. Learning to hold and manipulate writing utensils like crayons, markers, and pencils is a major landmark in a child’s movement skill development. Coloring also improves kids’ hand-eye coordination. Lots and lots of coloring practice will likely result in your child developing clearer handwriting.
Coloring also introduces kids to art fundamentals such as hue, color, line, shape, and perspective. Your child’s knowledge of color will blossom the more they explore different shades and hues. They’ll learn to use color creatively and experiment with their own choice of color combinations. This also promotes self-expression and the development of visual sensory processing skills. Development of spatial awareness also comes with learning to color inside the lines. Or, if your child scribbles outside the lines, they may be taking advantage of the therapeutic stress-relief benefits of coloring!
It also takes patience to color well, and focus. These are skills that will serve your child well in school! If you’re raising a pre-school aged child, you can give them coloring pages to acclimatize them to receiving structured assignments on paper!
Ways to Spice Up Your Coloring Activities!
3-D Coloring Book!
Cut out (or have your kids cut out) some images from coloring books. Let kids color in the images, then glue them onto cardstock and trim away the excess. Now you’re ready to set up a 3-D scene! Use a cardboard box as a frame and glue down the cardstock-mounted images to create a three-dimensional image!
Glue Outlines
Make it impossible for your child to miss the lines! This hack makes coloring easier for younger, less coordinated little artists. Outline the lines on the picture with white or clear glue, and when it dries, it will form a little barrier your child won’t be able to color on top of. Or, for a fun color contrast, use colored or glitter glue. Older kids can even do the outlining themselves, and enjoy choosing their own color combinations.
Personal Placemats
Cut out colored images from your child’s coloring book and sandwich them between two layers of contact paper to create a personalized placemat for them. Kids love making things they can use, so this will motivate them to practice their coloring skills to create something individual to them!
You’ve Been Framed!
Try creating cardboard or cardstock frames for your child’s coloring pages, and then set them loose decorating it with any drawing utensils, stickers, and other craft supplies you have. They’ll feel so special when you hang their framed artwork up on the fridge, in their room, or in your office!
Grade-A Greeting Cards
Another practical way to use finished coloring page images is to cut them out and decorate blank greeting cards with them! Learning how to address and send an envelope is a great little adventure, and an opportunity to teach your child some practical life skills about how mail works!
Color With Patterns
Keep things fresh by prompting your child to fill in the spaces on their coloring book with patterns as well as colors! From polka-dots and stripes to chevron and plaid, patterns will challenge their motor skills and activate their systematizing skills.
But This Is Baby Stuff!
If your child thinks coloring is too juvenile or easy for them, give them a little extra challenge! Have them try to color with their non-dominant hand, or with one eye closed, and they’ll soon see that coloring can be tricky!
Get Creative With Coloring Book Pages
Here’s a question—how do you color without any drawing utensils? What would you fill in the blanks with? What about dried beans? Lentils? Flower Petals? Glitter Glue? Pom-poms? Beads? The possibilities are endless, and the use of many different textured objects can make this a tactile as well as visually stimulating sensory activity.
Go Wild with Watercolors
Once your child has finished their coloring book page, give it a wash in watercolors! Kids will love seeing how the paint stains the paper, blends with ink, and beads up off waxy crayons and colored pencil lines.
Interest-Based Themed Coloring
Try to find coloring pages that play to your child’s specific interests. There are a huge variety of coloring books of all themes and styles available online! You can even download and print free coloring book pages based on your kid’s favorite TV shows, movies, books, and other interests.
Musical Coloring
Playing soothing music while your child colors creates an immersive, multi-sensory experience that your child will love!
Coloring Party!
While we’re kicking it with some music, why not invite a few friends over? Kids can create a sense of artistic community by comparing and contrasting their artwork with their peers. Just make sure everyone knows there’s no “right” way to color—as long as they’re having fun!
Free Coloring Pages Online!
Check out this collection of free coloring pages we’ve found all across the web. Download and print cute and creative coloring pages from:
We hope you and your child have a terrific time celebrating National Coloring Day. For more info on how to keep your child engaged with fun learning activities every day of the year, check out Wondrfly’s exciting selection of activities for kids near you! Search our extensive database at www.wondrfly.com, today!
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