Coloring: Not Just for Kids Anymore

Amazon’s best-sellers list is full of them. They’re the hottest item on display at Barnes and Noble. It’s on every woman’s Christmas list: coloring books. Not just your run-of-the-mill, animated Disney Princess scenes either, but beautiful, complex, intricate and entrancing black and white pattern illustrations inviting adults to relax, “relieve stress” and add color.

For years, coloring has dominated the artistic inspirations of countless children: some, inside the lines; some, outside; but all, vibrant and imaginative. Adults are completely attracted to the idea of coloring, with most citing reasons of stress-reduction.

But these newcomers are just finding out what moms of school-age children have known for years: coloring is fun. Coloring with your kids is fun. It’s a great way to explore creativity. It’s inexpensive. It’s easy. And it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of artistic ability because you don’t have to know how to draw. It also offers immediate gratification with every finished page you fill with color.

The jury is still out about how effective coloring is for reducing life stress, or even exercising actual creativity, but the activity of coloring remains an appealing option for spending time with little ones who might be developing their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. The beauty now, is: you don’t have to color commercially-produced images of Barbie or Transformers (and you don’t have to say goodbye to an unfinished image prematurely when your preschooler decides it’s time to turn the page). You can have your own coloring book now. You can decide when it’s time to move on from scene to scene. But you can still share the crayons and have fun collaborating with your kids on the right color choices!