6 Benefits of Coloring with Your Children

While recovering from my surgery, Adeline and I started coloring together.

Though all my kids love art, Adeline is truly passionate about it. She colors and creates from morning until night. I have little pictures and creations from her all over my house. It is a delight to see her living out her creativity daily.

Sharing in Adeline’s creative experience is one of my greatest simple joys each week.

Lately we have been coloring in Emily P. Freeman’s new coloring book, It’s Simply Tuesday, which Adeline calls the bench coloring book. Revell sent it to me for this sponsored post and we have so enjoyed it, particularly because the illustrations are more detailed than a regular coloring book, but more doable than coloring books like The Secret Garden. It’s perfect for a little girl and her mom.

6 benefits of coloring with your children

Working on this book inspired me to share the benefits I’ve seen in coloring together. If you are a parent, I want to encourage you to try coloring with your child.

Offers quality time

Every time I color with Adeline I am reminded of the importance of 1:1 time with our kids. Now I realize, the more kids you have, the more difficult this is. But that quality time together, just the two of us working on a single page, is precious. I asked Adeline what her favorite thing is about coloring together and she said “that we get Adeline Mommy time, without anyone else.” Quality time doesn’t need to be elaborate to be significant to a child.

Prompts meaningful conversations

Coloring with Adeline gives me the opportunity to have meaningful conversations with her. We talk about school, her friends, God and life. That 1:1 time is a gateway for conversation. I make a pointed effort to ask Adeline questions that are open ended and pay attention to where the conversation can go.

The coloring books can also help guide conversation. In the It’s Simply Tuesday coloring book, scriptures and quotes are peppered throughout. Adeline and I always talk about whatever is written on the page we color.

Fosters creativity

Now this might seem like an obvious one, but that time with Adeline fuels our creativity. We talk about colors and patterns. We work together to create something beautiful – and it is always beautiful. I strongly believe that our children’s creativity is expanded when we provide opportunities for it to thrive. Detailed coloring books like It’s Simply Tuesday is one way for this to happen.

Gives satisfaction

Since we only color in “adult” coloring books with lots of details, the pages can sometimes take days to complete. But when we finish a picture, we experience immense satisfaction. I love seeing Adeline proudly show it to Matthew, Elias or basically anyone who will look.

Teaches self-care

An important life lesson I want Adeline to know is that taking care of herself and making time for her passions is important. By us spending quality time creating together, which is something that we both enjoy, she learns that time spent being creative is healthy, normal and good.

Slows life down

Our lives are busy. Sometimes, the thought of doing something slow like coloring might feel foolish or even stressful. But every time I pick up a pencil or marker with Adeline and begin to bring those black lines to life, I am thankful. Life slows down and peace enters in.

Get started

If you have never colored with your child, I encourage you to do so. Order Emily’s It’s Simply Tuesday and a box of markers, pencils or gel pens and get started right away. I promise, you will be blown away by the impact it makes on both your child and you.