Coloring - A Fun Family Art and Craft Activity

While families in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving this month, here in Australia we celebrated Melbourne Cup Day. A lot of people attend the horse race, but even more Aussie families enjoy spring carnivals, BBQs, or enjoying the warmer weather. (That's right, it's spring here in the southern hemisphere.) 

Regardless of where you are, we all have that one thing in common. Family. If your family spans a wide age gap, there's one activity that you can do together--coloring! You might be thinking, What? That's for kids! But coloring offers benefits for everyone. 

For Kids:

• It can improve hand eye co-ordination
• Helps with focus and concentration
• Improves hand strength and grip
• Relaxes and calms emotions
• Promotes creativity and self-expression
• Enhances fine motor skills

 
For Teens:

• It can assist with self-care as teens are more likely to open up and talk while doing something creative
• Relaxes and calms emotions
• Promotes creativity and self-expression

 
For Adults:

• Helps maintain focus
• Can assist to lower depression and anxiety
• An alternative to yoga or meditation
• A fun, creative activity to do with your kids

My children like having a family coloring competition, we all have to choose our favorite picture to color and depending on the criteria - speed, color, staying in the lines, you can see who is the winner. It is a great indoor or holiday activity.
 
Coloring books also make fantastic gifts as well - you can either add them to something else you have purchased or pair them with pencils, crayons, glitter, markers to make the gift extra special.

If interested in adding some new coloring books to your household or to give as a gift, remember to check out my coloring books - for kids and adults.