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The best coloring books for kids can give children a multisensory experience. Both children and adults enjoy coloring. It could seem a trivial task, but the sooner you introduce this brilliant activity to your children, the quicker they develop their motor and cognitive skills (1).
Coloring books can also help boost their creativity and improve their focus. If your child loves coloring, then these best-selling coloring books can be one of your best investments for their development.
Taylor Beal, a book reviewer and a reading specialist, says, “Coloring is a fun yet relaxing activity that can be treated as a break from your child’s study time. Since coloring is a less intensive activity, it allows children’s brains to recover from other intensive activities. Further, as children go back to the more challenging task after coloring, their performance is more likely to improve. To make coloring a multisensory experience, you can play your child’s favorite music, audiobook, or podcast as they color.”
To help you find the right ones, we list some of the best children’s coloring books. So, keep scrolling and pick one that will keep your children engaged.
Top Picks
11 Best Coloring Books For Kids
1. Best For Individual Designs:Silly Bear Unicorn Coloring Book
If your child likes unicorns and rainbows, then this could be the coloring book for them. The tried-and-tested book has 50 individual designs consisting of unicorns, stars, rainbows, and meadows with detailed designs and backgrounds to give the child ample scope to color. All the pages are one-sided in A4 size and are ideal for children from four to eight years. The style of the pictures is simple, and the book comes in paperback as well as spiral-bound variants. Go ahead and check out this YouTuber’s review video for more details about the product.
2. Best For Beginners:Tany Emelyanova My First Toddler Coloring Book
Looking for the first age-appropriate coloring book for your toddler? Then try this kids coloring book by Tanya Emelyanova. This alphabet coloring book is designed for children between ages one and three and also includes fundamental topics such as numbers, colors, animals, and shapes. Each design has bold outlines to help the child color within the image. There are more than 100 simple illustrations that help your child learn the basics while having fun.
Pro tip3. Best Paper Quality:Little Bee Books My First Big Book for Coloring
With kid-friendly designs and chunky lines, this book might become your child’s favorite coloring book. From cute elephants to beautiful butterflies, this book has about 200 images that your child would enjoy coloring, making it one of the best holiday coloring books. The designs are spread on both pages. The quality of the paper is said to be good enough to prevent the color from bleeding out. Each design is spread across the whole sheet, making it easy for the kids to color. Liked by many reviewers, this book is recommended for children between the ages of three and five years.
Why We Think It's Worth Buying
The product has garnered more than 5,459 positive reviews on Amazon.
4. Best For Easy Coloring:Two Hoots Dinosaur Coloring Book
Introduce the great lizards that once ruled earth to your children with this dinosaur coloring book. There are 33 coloring pages for kids with images of giant dinosaurs and detailed prehistoric backgrounds with volcanoes, trees, and comets plummeting in the sky. The single-sided pages prevent color from bleeding out and are sturdy enough to put up the art to display. Each design is made to be simple and easy to color for four to eight-year-old children.
Pro tip5. Best For Toddlers:Happy Toddlerz My Best Toddler Coloring Book
Teach your toddler the basics of letters, shapes, numbers, etc., with this kids coloring book. It has more than 100 illustrations with eye-catching designs. Each page measures 8.5 x 11 inches and is easy for your toddler to color. This parent-recommended book is ideal for children between ages one and five. With large images and bold lines, your toddler can learn to draw within the lines and identify the shape of the object. Learning can be made fun and enjoyable for your kid with this coloring activity book.
6. Best Fairy Tale Inspired:Two Hoots Coloring Mermaid Coloring Book
With 40 unique designs to color, this fun coloring book would take your child into the magical underwater land of the mermaids. In this book, each image appears single-sided with pages that are 8.5 x 11 inches large. Your children will have fun coloring mermaids with rainbow-colored hairs, sea castles, dolphins, corals, and various other sea creatures. The designs of this fairy tale coloring book are elaborate but just right for children between ages four and eight.
Did you know?7. Best For Space Enthusiasts:Blue Waves Press Space Coloring Book For Kids
If your child is fascinated by space, then this could be one of the best coloring books for them. The images include various planets of the solar system, rockets, stars, and meteors that your child can learn about and color. Each page is 8.5 x 11 inches with a single-sided print, so you can take out the pages colored by your child and put the artwork on display. As per reviews, the images have a durable glossy cover. This is a good coloring book for kids between ages six and seven.
8. Best With Illustrations:Coloring Is Rad Super Sweet Coloring Book
From mouth-watering popsicles to super cute cupcakes, all the things that delight children are illustrated for coloring in this adorable coloring book. It is recommended for children between the ages of four and 12. Some images have a dark background, so your child’s art would stand out. All the designs have friendly faces that can put a smile on your child’s face. They also have cute patterns so that your children could enjoy drawing more on each page.
9. Best Inspiring:Jade Summer Books Girls Are Amazing Coloring Book
“Who run the world! Girls”, said Beyonce in her peppy pop song. Just like the song, this crazy coloring book for girls is an inspiration for the many amazing things a girl can do. From an ambitious girl with a lemonade stand to a responsible girl feeding a hungry puppy, each image depicts a beautiful quality of a girl. There are 26 such single-sided images to color. Tested by many reviewers, this book could be a good gift for boys to get to know girls better, and girls to remind them how amazing they are.
Why We Think It's Worth Buying
The 832 positive customer reviews on Amazon are a testament to its quality and reliability.
10. Mew Kids Sea Creatures:A Coloring Book For Kids
Take your child on an exciting underwater adventure with this Mew sea animal-themed coloring book. This book has lots of adorable sea creatures to color: two sets of 45 pages filled with turtles, octopuses, etc., in their natural habitat. Recommended for kids aged three years and above, these designs are simple to color with bold outlines. All the sea creatures in this nature-themed coloring book have friendly faces, which might grab your child’s attention.
11. Best Nature-Themed:Di Books 100+ Characters Coloring Book For Kids
This cartoon character coloring book brings more than 100 Disney’s iconic characters together for coloring. Your child would be thrilled to receive this book as a gift. Quality illustrations bring each image close to the original Disney characters. Each page is 8.5 x 11 inches in size, which is perfect for your little artist. From Disney princesses to modern heroes like Baymax, this book has many characters for coloring. According to the reviewers, the images in this Disney coloring book are single-sided, so you can tear out the page and put it on display too.
How To Choose The Right Coloring Book?
The ultimate goal of a fun coloring book is to get your child interested in drawing, art, and colors, while also teaching them to focus and concentrate on getting the desired results. So, it is important that you choose the right kids’ coloring books for them. Here are a few factors to keep in mind while searching for a coloring book for your child.
- Complexity: Always check out the designs, because the complexity of them varies according to the age. For example, a toddler will be interested in coloring an apple, whereas an older child would look for something more sophisticated and love to try out different color combinations.
- Quality of the paper: Examine the paper quality before handing it to your child. Usually, during the learning stages, children tend to apply more pressure while drawing, so the paper should be able to withstand the pressure of the color pencil without bleeding out or tearing.
- Themes: Each coloring book has its own theme, so choose the one that interests your child. This way, your child would voluntarily offer to color, and most importantly, would enjoy doing it.
- Size of the image: The size of the image also matters. Ideally, the size should get bigger with the child’s age, because younger kids might be more interested in coloring smaller images and older kids, large images.
- Age: There are coloring books for children from two years to 13 years, as coloring is an activity for all age groups. But make sure you check out the recommended age for a coloring book, as the features vary according to the recommended age. You can also opt for parent-recommended coloring books based on the testimonials other parents leave online, to ensure the book is appropriate for your child.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How should I introduce a coloring book to a child?
Start with the simplest books with simple and large drawings. And make it a parent-child activity by coloring them with your child to encourage them to color. Then, as your child grows, you should choose a coloring book with intricate design details to pique their interest.
2. How long should coloring sessions be?
Initially, the coloring sessions should be for a shorter period of time, like 30 minutes, to ensure that they don’t get bored or feel like it’s too much work. And as your child develops more interest in coloring, you can increase the time.
3. How many pages are in a kid’s coloring book?
The number of pages varies with every book. However, you should buy art-based coloring books with 20-40 pages so that you don’t have to buy more products in a short period of time.
4. What makes a coloring book good?
The most fascinating and educational coloring books are those that have a theme. For example, books based on fruits and vegetables can be helpful to teach children how to color as well as the name, shape, and color of the fruits and vegetables. You should also choose a book with more pages.
5. What is the best size for a coloring book?
If you are buying a book for a toddler, the book should be lightweight and small so that they can carry it easily, and the pages should be sturdy enough so that children can’t tear it easily.
6. Which type of paper is best for coloring books?
The best type of paper for coloring books is one that is not easily tearable, has smooth edges, and does not bleed colors. The type of paper also depends on what type of color you’re using.
Why Trust MomJunction?
Wedetso Chirhah loves to spend his time creating content that engages and entertains his readers. He has a particular interest in electronics, automobiles, books, and kids’ essentials, and his articles are detailed and well-researched. Wedesto has conducted an in-depth examination of the features and user reviews of these books, ensuring that parents have a hassle-free experience while choosing the best coloring books for kids. These books are entertaining and help develop children’s creative thinking skills.
The Bottom Line
Coloring is an activity that all kids love. It allows them to become more imaginative, which helps enhance the experience. A wide range of interesting coloring books is available for kids, incorporating cartoon pictures, sceneries, and more. To give your child the best coloring experience, ensure that the complexity of the drawings to be colored matches their ability. Kids are more drawn to theme books as it helps them develop their version of a story. Hence, the Silly Bear Unicorn Coloring Book featuring unicorns and rainbows, Tany Emelyanova’s My First Toddler Coloring Book with educational designs, or the dinosaur-themed Two Hoots Dinosaur Coloring Book are our top recommendations. Ensure to pick the best coloring books for kids, as coloring enhances their imagination and cognitive skills.
Infographic: How To Teach Coloring To Children?
Coloring is an excellent activity for children, and it might also help improve hand-eye coordination and self-expression. But teaching coloring to your child may be tricky when they have no interest in coloring. Here is an infographic with some ways in which you can teach them or make them practice coloring.
Illustration: Momjunction Design Team
References
- Kylie Rymanowicz; The Art Of Creating: Why Art Is Important For Early Childhood Development.; Michigan State University
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/the_art_of_creating_why_art_is_important_for_early_childhood_development - The Benefits of Coloring and Drawing
https://www.scholastic.com/parents/school-success/learning-toolkit-blog/benefits-coloring-and-drawing.html
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