Do you know that the simple activity of coloring can provide lifelong benefits to your toddlers? Yes, you read it right! Coloring activity helps children to develop cognitively, psychologically and creatively. Kids love to do it and it could lead to a healthier and happier life in adolescence and even in adulthood. Art teachers from Preschool Sierra Madre, CA are sharing some of the key benefits of coloring pages in kids' holistic development.

Improves motor skills:

The act of coloring and drawing can help children to develop their motor skills. The hand movements and precise pencil grip involved in the activity can aid the development of the muscles of the fingers, hands, and wrist. Developed fine motor skills can help children write more skillfully as well as manipulate small objects.

Concentration:

Coloring activity helps children to be more attentive to the task in hand. Coloring and drawing require good concentration and this type of focusing on one task can help children develop their overall concentration levels. According to the art teacher's observation children who do coloring very often, perform well in their academics.

Stimulates creativity:

Giving children the opportunity to color helps stimulate the creative centers in their minds. Colors, shapes, interpretations, and imagination all become active in their mind when they are coloring. If your children draw the same picture again and again, they are still engaging the creative cells of their brains that process colors and shapes.

Hand-eye coordination:

In Preschool Sierra Madre, CA students are encouraged to do coloring as it is a great activity for the development of hand-eye coordination of children as they learn to color within the specified area. When children start coloring, they have a tough time keeping within the lines but as they practice their skill develops. When they master the skill; they have a sense of pride and achievement.

Language development:

It has been observed that when children are coloring, they become chatterboxes about what they are doing on the paper. This can seriously improve their language development and improve their vocabulary with recognition and learning of descriptive adjectives and color names.

Improve handwriting:

It has been proved many times that the earlier your children can grip a pencil and feel comfortable and confident in using it, the greater the control and confidence they show while writing on paper. Hence the art teachers use coloring activity as the foundation for writing.

Therapy and stress relief:

Coloring can be a very useful activity for overtired or over-excited children. It provides relaxation to children, so it has become the 'go-to’ stress buster for them. If you want to spend some quality time with your children, do coloring together as it gives their little minds the time, they need to process their day and make them feel much relaxed.

Confidence and self-esteem:

Coloring is very helpful to increase children’s confidence and self-esteem. They feel proud and satisfied when they complete a coloring page.

Recognition and awareness:

Spending time with children doing coloring and drawing can help develop their recognition and awareness of form, shapes, colors, boundaries and many other things.