Colouring Together: Why Colouring Is Great For Kids And Adults

Unless you’ve ignored the Internet for the last year, you’ve likely heard that colouring books—once a staple of childhood entertainment—have found a new audience in adults.

You'll Also Love: Scout & The Gumboot Kids Colouring Sheets (For Kids And Adults)

Adult colouring books like Secret Garden and Colour Me Calm have been on bestseller lists for months. Made especially for grown-ups, they feature beautiful line drawings with intricate patterns and complicated themes. 

For kids, the benefits of colouring have long been acknowledged. Colouring helps kids:

• develop and improve fine motor skills
• learn to hold and use writing and drawing implements, like pencils and crayons
• make decisions—about which colours to use, which page to colour and more
• identify and recognize colours
• express themselves
• and more!

As adults have picked up markers and pencil crayons, experts have started talking about a new benefit of colouring, for both children and adults: colouring can help reduce stress.

Coloring can lead to a state of focus and relaxation. “It keeps you grounded and present in the moment,” clinical psychologist Orem Amitay told the Toronto Star. “Any time people feel really stressed out in a fast-paced work with high technology, doing anything that reminds them of their childhood is almost meditative.”

By paying attention to small details in colouring sheets, kids and adults can engage with the page and the activity and re-focus their attention from distracting or stressful thoughts.

Try paying attention to the details of the design as your colour. Notice the sensation of the pencil or crayon on the page. Encourage kids to do the same. Being mindful of your actions and feelings as you colour can lead to a sense of calm and space in our busy world.

Scout & The Gumboot Kids Colouring Sheets (For Kids And Adults)

Scout & The Gumboots Kids is a new Kids’ CBC show about mindfulness and nature. Mouse Scout guides The Gumboot Kids through nature mysteries and encourages them to mindfully observe the world around them.

Practice mindfulness at home with special Scout & The Gumboot Kids colouring sheets (PDF): one page features a simple Scout for younger colouring artists, while the other is an intricate, complex fall scene for adults.

Try colouring together—a simple activity to help reduce stress for the whole family.  

Click on the images to open the printable PDF.