Oftentimes, kids plus indoors equals restlessness. Kids would either be too rowdy and even do mischievous things; spend too much time playing video games; or watch TV for long hours when at home, and that’s not good. Parents wouldn’t want that. A much better indoor activity that kids can do to pass time that’s not only fun but also very beneficial for them is coloring in coloring books.
For a simple activity requiring only coloring books and a box of crayons that kids can enjoy for a few minutes or hours, coloring in coloring books can give kids lifelong benefits. This fun activity can work like magic on kids. It can aid in several aspects of their early childhood development that are necessary for life. It helps improve physical and cognitive skills as well as can make them more creative, all while it can making them relaxed with its soothing psychological effects that may also help with their emotional growth.
So along with all the fun and excitement that coloring in coloring books brings for children is an opportunity for them to be creative, learn, develop different skills, and relax. Although their coloring might start out not so neat and may go outside the lines, just let them practice, and it will improve in time. They will soon create better results as they eventually get the hang of it, that it would even become one of their favorite pastimes.
Wouldn’t it be better for kids to be quietly enjoying coloring in coloring books rather than being noisy and doing naughty things around the house or immersing themselves too much in technology that can be harmful to them? While kids enjoy coloring in coloring books, parents get the benefit of doing things without the background noise of the kids and any interruptions. And it is not harmful as compared to playing too much with gadgets or watching too much TV. To add to that, this activity is not only limited to the home setting. You can easily pack your kid’s coloring books and crayons to bring during travels so that your kid won’t get bored during long rides.
Coloring in coloring books is an excellent solution for kids’ boredom and development that is not very costly nor a hassle to prepare. Coloring books and crayons may be inexpensive but the smiles on kids’ faces when they get to have fun with those things are priceless. Parents will just have to provide their kids with coloring books and crayons, and their kids can color as much as they want.
Different options for coloring books by Elizabeth Shelby are available here on this website. In Shelby’s collection of coloring books, she caters to the different interests of kids as well as the different age groups. Her coloring books have different themes such as fairies, mermaids, unicorns, and careers. They can be for girls and boys. And in consideration of coloring capabilities, there are coloring books for the four to eight-year-old age group and the eight to twelve-year-old age group.
The Many Benefits Coloring Books Can Bring for Kids
There are many activities that children can engage in for leisure and recreation. But coloring in coloring books is one of the most beneficial activities that they can enjoy. So it’s highly recommended that parents allow their kids to color. Below are the many benefits coloring books can bring for kids.
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Develops Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills are required in doing daily activities. It enables us to manipulate objects with our hands. However, fine motor skills are still yet to be developed in children.
At their young age, children’s finger, hand, and wrist muscles aren’t strong enough and haven’t been fully developed yet. Those muscles need to be exercised in order to develop fine motor skills. Coloring in coloring books allows the much-needed exercise for those muscles for the development of fine motor skills.
Coloring in coloring books involves various hand movements, which exercise the target muscles for fine motor skills development. The act of taking a crayon from the box of crayons, gripping on a crayon, motioning the crayons around the page when applying colors, flipping to the next page, and sharpening the crayons—they all help in improving fine motor skills.
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Improves Hand-Eye Coordination
When coloring pictures in coloring books, there would be different parts for kids to color with different colors. And they would try to keep the coloring within the lines. In doing so, they would have to observe the images with their eyes and coordinate their hand movements with what they see.
They would need to have a keen attention to detail and move their hand precisely to not let the colors exceed the lines. That trains their hand-eye coordination, which when practiced often, improves that skill. At first, they won’t be able to color the shapes in the pictures perfectly. But as this skill is practiced when they engage in coloring more, parents will notice the improvement in their coloring.
Moreover, the training in hand-eye coordination is not limited to just applying colors with the crayons. Even selecting a crayon color, holding the crayon, flipping the page, and crayon sharpening help in fine-tuning hand-eye coordination.
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Contributes to Better Handwriting
Crayons are usually the first things children learn to hold and use. By using them on coloring books, children will be able to learn how to hold crayons properly when coloring, which will be helpful when they transition to writing with a pen. A good way to start for kids would be to let them use larger-sized crayons, which they can have a better grip on.
As children learn how to properly hold and manipulate crayons when coloring in coloring books, hand strength, dexterity, attention to detail, and hand-eye coordination are also developed. And those skills used and further developed in coloring are also necessary for writing. Coloring in coloring books trains kids on how to control the crayon to get it to move and color according to what they see on a page. When they have mastered that in coloring, learning how to write will be easier for them. Their penmanship would be neater as well.
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Educational
Children can also gain knowledge through coloring in coloring books too. They not only learn many skills through this activity. They can also learn many things in an educational aspect. Coloring books can also be considered as learning materials, as while kids color, they are also exposed to different things they can learn in the process.
One of the many things kids can learn through coloring in coloring books is the different colors. As they apply colors to a picture, they can also start distinguishing the different colors and tell the difference between red, blue, yellow, violet, orange, etc. A good practice while coloring in coloring books is, like a naming game, letting kids say the color of the crayon as they use it.
Pictures in coloring books would often include different shapes. So as kids color, they can also be familiarized with shapes. They may also practice identifying the shapes as they color. For example, when your kid is coloring in Shelby’s Unicorn Coloring Book, and in the picture is a unicorn flying in the sky with the stars around it. You can ask your kid how many star shapes are there.
Counting is another thing that kids can learn and practice while coloring in coloring books. You can ask your kid how many of a particular object, character, animal, etc are in a picture and let your kid count them. Like when your kid is coloring in Shelby’s Fairy Coloring Book, where there is a fairy posing with flowers around her, you can ask your kid how many flowers are in the background.
Identification of careers can also be learned when coloring in coloring books. That is possible through Shelby’s Careers Coloring Book. In Shelby’s Careers Coloring Book, kids can be exposed to different careers. They may even start to picture what career they can have in the future. Parents can also teach their kids more about careers and ask them related questions to make their kids think.
Reading and spelling can also be learned through coloring in coloring books too. Some coloring books would involve words in their designs. An example of that would be Shelby’s Zentangle Designs Careers Coloring Book, where different careers are spelled out in the design along with intricate Zentangle designs.
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Stimulates Creativity
Creativity is essential to developing minds. Creative minds can think carefully to create desirable results. Coloring in coloring books is an activity that promotes creativity as well as develops it when engaged into.
When children have a picture for coloring in front of them, they start to brainstorm how to make the image appealing. They would think of what colors to apply to the different spaces and what colors would go well with them. They get to have the freedom to color as they please, which allows them to unleash their creativity and express themselves.
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Prepares Kids for School
Coloring at a young age before attending preschool prepares kids for the activities at school. It practices and strengthens the muscles in their hands, thus making them ready to take on the activities at school. An important skill they have to learn for school is holding the pencil properly and being able to control it with precision. That is because the typical tasks they would do for activities, assignments, and projects at school are writing, drawing, crafting, etc apart from coloring.
When their hands are practiced enough, it won’t be so hard for them to cope with school work. They’ll be able to do various tasks with ease.
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Develops Concentration
Concentration is essential when coloring a picture in order to finish coloring it successfully. As coloring in coloring books is an activity wherein children have to sit still for a period of time to completely fill in a picture with colors as creative and as neat as they possibly can, coloring requires a great deal of concentration. They should also have patience because it is a time-consuming activity that requires much meticulous effort to realize their imagination on paper with their crayons while making sure the colors don’t go past the lines.
Since they are coloring in different enclosed spaces or shapes, they would have to keep focused and move their hand with precision when applying color in those particular areas. Every time they would concentrate when coloring, it betters their concentration. And good concentration is important to develop for taking on different activities and most especially in performing well academically as well as in their future profession.
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Boosts Confidence and Builds up Self Esteem
When children put effort into an activity and finally see the fruit of their labor, it gives them a good feeling about themselves. Coloring in coloring books is an activity that has that effect on them. Through coloring, they get the chance to be productively creative, and the completion of their work gives them a sense of accomplishment.
Every time they finish coloring pictures in coloring books, they would feel proud of their work and themselves, that they gain pride and confidence in themselves. Moreover, being able to accomplish something makes them believe that they have the ability to take on any task.
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Stress Relieving
A feeling of calmness can be brought about in children when they engage in the peaceful activity of coloring in coloring books. This can be very helpful when they are feeling negative emotions. For when they sit in silence and focus their energy on coloring a picture, they can experience the therapeutic effect that comes with coloring. As they make every stroke with their crayons on a picture they are coloring, they would get a feeling of relaxation and comfort.
Engaging in coloring also serves as an outlet for venting and processing their emotions and thoughts. Moreover, focusing on their coloring activity can also distract them from any negativity.
Conclusion
Coloring in coloring books may just be a simple, basic activity. But its many benefits make it extraordinary. This activity will always be in, as it’s highly beneficial and enjoyable for kids, and at the same time, favorable for parents. Coloring books kids will love can be found at letscolorimaginations.com.
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