We have all seen coloring books and activity sheets with color-by-number for toddlers to adults. They are popular with any age group or gender becuase they are fun! But did you know that they also are a great tool to use in your child’s development process?
Research tells us that kids enjoy numerous developmental benefits while participating in arts and crafts. And, while coloring, on its own, can lead to a variety of educational or learning lessons, coloring by number enhances the benefit. By understanding what these benefits are you can easily build activities into your child’s routines that engages their interest and yet helps them to build critical skills needed in school and life.
Improves Hand-Eye Coordination
Coloring requires basic hand-eye coordination skills and coloring by number specifically directs the child to concentrate on the page and identify the color that they need to use. Coloring by number also require that the coloring stays within the lines of the image and that a pre-determined color is used. Children will learn how to hold the marker, crayon or colored pencil while controlling its movement in a way that prevents the colors from going outside the lines.
Number and Color Identification
Children will learn to recognize and identify numbers and match them to the numbers used in the legend and where they are applied to the image. Not only does this reinforce what your child has learned about shapes and colors, but use of various colors also teaches them shading. For preschool age children working with the numbers also helps them transition into mathematics in the next phase of their learning.
While coloring is fun, it is an excellent way to teach the child about focus and concentration. Research also tells us that children who spend time coloring will have better skills in concentration and focus. They will learn to focus not only on the movement of the crayon, but he/she will learn to concentrate on the quality of their work.
With traditional coloring books the child can move at their own pace, randomly picking colors and pages to work on and then they’re done. With color by number the worksheets require significantly more patience and self-control. They need to take care to ensure they choose the right color that corresponds to the number in the legend and to finish the page correctly. The result is a finished product they will be proud and give them a heightened sense of confidence.
Art projects give the child opportunity to learn about shapes, colors, and different actions they can take to be creative. By completing a coloring activity the child can use descriptive language to tell a story about what they have created or the feelings their artwork elicited. This leads to development of critical thinking skills that will be necessary for them as they grow and transition into successful, mature adults.
KidBrainiac has created a learning pack or set of worksheets for preschool-aged children to practice coloring by number. Click here to see more.