It is a true struggle to find activities for kids to keep them busy. While games, treasure hunts, and outdoor parks can be fun options, there is no harm in going back to basics. Although drawing and coloring for kids are simple, they can be beneficial and help you create fun memories together. If you think your kid will be bored after a couple of coloring exercises, we got you. We prepared a list with great options for creative and educational ideas on coloring for kids.
Why is Coloring Important For Kids?
Shapes and colors are really crucial elements for a kid's visual world. They start defining everyday objects, animals, plants, and flowers by their shape and color. Therefore, especially for toddlers, it is essential to teach them how to use colors. This is where coloring takes place!
By coloring, toddlers and kids gain the ability to analyze shapes, recreate them, and develop their imagination. Also, grabbing and holding paint brushes, pencils or crayons help to improve their fine motor skills. After your kid has a grip on the coloring material through coloring exercises, their hand-eye coordination will be improved on the way as well. Even though it may take time for a toddler to fill in shapes or track the lines, never forget that these are all part of the process.
Kids tend to learn easily by experiencing. Therefore with educational themes, you can also use coloring as a way to teach your kids subjects such as numbers, animals, food names, body parts, and such. Being introduced to colors, shapes and textures will definitely affect their imagination. Moreover, if your kid is big enough to read or understand audible stories, you can also create your books. Being familiar with shapes and geometry will also be effective on their writing skills since it is known that kids who start drawing exercises as toddlers are early writers. For more inspirational creative ideas like this, let's move on to our list!
Best Materials for Coloring for Kids
First and foremost, the coloring material should be suitable for your child's health. We never know how kids react to new objects. Especially if they are just toddlers, they may tend to put the pencils in their mouths, draw on their legs and arms, or throw them around. So we do not want your kid to hurt themselves. Even though they will play under your watch, it is essential to pick the correct supplies.
So we can list washable paints, again, washable markers, crayons, gel crayons, and chalks to be kid-friendly materials for coloring for kids. They won’t easily break or leave permanent stains. Kids can be messy, and these supplies are easy to come off. Once your kid gets familiar with these materials, they can move on to watercolor or acrylic paint, which requires brushes of different types.
If you have decided on your coloring supply, we can check the creative ideas for coloring!
A Classic: Coloring Books
This is the easiest way to get your kid used to color in shapes. Nowadays, it is possible to find any sort of coloring book or sheet with your desired theme. There are blank shapes of vegetables, animal farms, wild animals, flowers, jobs, underwater creatures, numbers, landscapes, and even famous paintings. Even though the results may change for every kid, most kids start to color books when they are 10-12 months old. It depends on their interest in coloring and potential. However, it is possible to say most of them start their coloring books journey when they start being curious about their surroundings.
Therefore if you want some calmness when you are cooking, you can give your child a fun coloring book and watch them in the kitchen. Or, if you visit a friend and want your kid to be soothed while you are chatting, a coloring book and some paint will do the trick.
If your kid is old enough to draw shapes, humanlike forms, buildings, etc., you can also create your own coloring book—first daydream of a town and a superhero. Then with a black sharpie, draw your storyline. You can print photocopies of this beautiful story and then color it together. This will not only help their drawing and coloring skills but help them to be imaginative. Moreover, once your superhero is all designed, you can scan the drawing and print it on a tote bag as a gift to your kids and loved ones. We guarantee you that this will be a core memory for them.
Coloring Frames
Family photos are just heartwarming to look at. While time passes without being noticed, immortalizing those special moments can be precious. To make your family photo more personalized, you can paint the photo frame with your kids! Whether it is a wood or a plastic frame, using acrylic paint, you can cover the whole material with the colors of your choice. You can also paint sunflowers, stars, hearts, or initials on the frame. Once done, you can use a clear coat to avoid any deformations on the painting. After the whole art project is dried, hanging it on the wall with your other family photos is time.
Painting on Tote Bags
When you think about it, anything can be a canvas. You can carry the canvas with you everywhere to make your kid feel appreciated. How, you are asking? By coloring on a custom canvas bags !
Tote bags made of cotton or canvas materials are perfect for printing, embroidering, and painting. They have a light natural color that will show the beautiful colors. Get yourself some fabric or acrylic paint and draw some sketches on your canvas bag. After the coloring for kids is done, you can set it with a hair spray. However, keep in mind that hand-painted bags may dissolve in water, therefore, it is essential to keep the bags clean or clean them with wet wipes and the like. If you want to read more about painting on tote bags, you can visit our blog post on this topic by clicking here.
Texture and Colors
While kids learn by coloring, you may also consider teaching them about texture. For example, you can use uneven or granular textured surfaces for painting. Walls, paving stones, ceramic vases, and raw wood materials are perfect for teaching your children textures. Crayons, gel crayons, or brush paints can be great for using paint and textures together. By painting on textured surfaces, your kid will be able to observe how color reacts to different materials and be able to paint more realistically once they are older.
If your kid is old enough to be gentle with paint, you can also let them do your make-up. Face skin is a naturally textured surface; painting on it can be way more fun than you think. So with simple products, you can let your kid help you with your makeup to create a bonding moment as well.
Using Chalks on Surfaces
Chalks are excellent coloring materials since they are washable, colorful, and affordable. Get a crayon set of multiple colors and gather your kids' friends at a painting party. With chalk, kids can collectively work on a big area such as a parking lot. You can let them create a giant artwork altogether. This is a great daily party activity when it comes to coloring for kids. Especially on birthdays or barbeque parties, you can keep all the kids with a painting with chalk exercise. As a bonus point, they will also learn to work as a team.
Family Portraits
Kids love drawing and coloring the things they see the most. Therefore you can ask your kid to draw and color your family every single year. This way, when they get older, you will have an amazing archive of family portraits over the years to remember. Also, this can be turned into a great gift option for family parties as well. For example, if you are giving a Christmas party every year, you can scan the family portrait of that year and use it as an artwork. Christmas cards, printed socks, mugs, or even tote bags as gifts can be amazing options. You can place the gifts in your customized tote bag and give them to your loved ones like that. You can also add your family initials under the design or on the back of the bag. Believe us, and your guests will love this cute tote bag design.
Blank Masks Coloring for Kids
Superheros are great idols for kids, and they love to dress up as them. And superheroes we do are not only talking about the ones from comics. Kids are imaginative, and they may want to be a lion, a dog, or a dragon when they grow up. You can help them with their simple costumes to encourage their imaginative scenarios.
Blank face masks are easy to find in gift shops, party stores, or stationeries. So you can simply find the one that fits you or your kid's face. By using sharpies, acrylic paint, crayons, or whichever art supply you want, you can customize your masks together. With this idea, DIY Halloween masks will be popular in your neighborhood. Moreover, they are going to be perfect for party activities for kids. With everyone designing their own mask, you can let them play while cosplaying.
We are sure your kid is going to love these creative coloring ideas. If you have decided which activities to go with, we hope you have fun too!