Adult Coloring Pages – Have You Tried This?

I’m sure you’ve seen one of the latest trends in crafting/relaxing/re-claiming our childhoods… adult coloring pages. Yes, that is actual get-your-crayons out and relax by coloring. You can find thousands of free coloring pages on pinterest or google, and there are tons of great books for relaxing and unwinding found on amazon, and even artists selling coloring pages on etsy too! Honestly, I can’t go into a store anymore without seeing some kind of coloring book on an end-cap! How about you?

What to Color

Themes for these coloring pages and books include everything from flowers to holidays to animals to dizzy black and white drawings (that may overwhelm you!) Seriously, some of the designs made me blink my eyes a time or two, and I have decided that “less is more” (for me). You might like the more intricate designs though, and it appears I might be in the minority, based on the variety of designs out there.

Here are a few links to free coloring pages:

• Doodle Art Alley – thousands of pages in tons of themes and topics (Check out the Grandma’s are Moms with lots of Frosting coloring page)
• Judy Clement Wall – artist with several adult coloring pages freebies on her blog
• Lilt Kids – several free pages from a book they sell
• Hello Kids – here are some of those more “intricate” designs that I was talking about.

My Adult Coloring Pages Experiment

I decided to try out a few of the free coloring pages, and because it’s been a LONG time since I did some coloring, I asked my daughter and a few of her friends to join in a coloring party. (Ok, so the TRUTH is that I teach a Bible class on Wednesday nights, and Martha loves to color, so we came up with a “color and journal our bible story” plan). I expected to really enjoy WATCHING the girls color… but I found out just WHY this trend has stuck around for a bit.

It actually IS relaxing to color!  And it’s a GREAT way to encourage discussion without looking like you are trying to get kids to TALK to you. I would ask a semi-deep question and then just hush for awhile, listening to all the chatter that came from it. Because everyone is concentrating on colors and designs, the conversation is more unfiltered. I loved it!

And lest you think you can only enjoy coloring alone or with children, I recently read about “Wine and Coloring” parties.  I’m thinking that might be a little TOO much relaxing for this adult!

Guest post by Char Huskins