Colouring Books For Creative Kids

Coloring has been a favorite activity for kids for decades now, and you probably remember your coloring books from when you were a kid too. Coloring for kids encourages artistic behavior as well as concentration and critical thinking.

There are a few different types of coloring books. The first are with blank pictures, lines and numbers. Each number is associated with a different color, so your kids can turn a blank white page into an amazing piece of work, like a sunset with giraffes in Africa. These types of coloring puzzles require your children to pay attention to what and where they are coloring, so that their picture turns out they way they want it to.

For younger kids, a coloring book without the numbers, just blank characters would be better. This type of coloring book will expand your child’s creativity very well. Giving them the chance to turn a color-less lion into a half purple half green creature of their imagination (or dreams) will have a profound effect on your kids later in life. People tend to lose their creative side when they get older, so it’s important to encourage this when your kids are young.

Coloring books are usually pretty inexpensive, but you don’t have to go to the store to get a coloring book. You can find blank coloring sheets online, print them out and make your own coloring book with and for your kids. There are plenty of websites you can find these blank sheets on, my favorite is Pitara because they have such a big selection of coloring sheets.

You could also find a picture of your child’s favorite cartoon character, load it up in some type of photo-editing software and manually remove all the color from it. Then print it out and let your kids re-color it in however they want. This is a very simple thing that can keep your kids active all day long.

Nature Trail – Learning Activity for Children

There are many wonderful outdoor activities you can share with your children and a nature trail is a perfect example.

When the weather allows, children should get as much fresh air as possible, and running around outdoors is a perfect way for your kids to learn more about the world around them. It will also help them to appreciate nature and learn to respect the environment.

Pick a walk in a national park, that is specified to be an easy trail and suitable conditions for children. Try to stick to shorter walks, your kids won’t tire as easily and will absorb much more in shorter patches of time.

* Point out different objects to your children:

Talk about all the different things that you see, and allow your children to do the same. It will be very interesting what they observe and they might even notice things that you missed. You could encourage this by playing the old favorite “eye-spy” Don’t make it too hard for younger children, and there is no harm in giving them clues. This will help kids look more closely at their surroundings, and notice things they wouldn’t have noticed before. Ask your kids to name everything they see that is a particular color, or everything that flies, or breaths, for example.

* Make up a story:
Get creative with your child, and help them use their imagination. You can make up a story about what you have both observed in nature. Make it fun, by taking turns in telling what happens next. It doesn’t matter if the story makes not sense, or is funny, or silly. Your children will thrive on the experience.

* Listen to the sounds of nature:
Ask your child what they can hear, and see if they can guess what is making that sound. Encourage your child to be a quiet as a mouse for a short amount of time, and see how much they can hear that they couldn’t before.

Talk about the seasons with your child, and help him observe the changes that are happening in nature at that time of the year. Flowers might be in different stages of growth, animals might be hibernating if it is the right time of year. The leaves on the trees might be changing color depending on the season.

If the park you are in has an observation or information center, be sure to visit it with your child before you leave. This will be an excellent learning experience as well, as there might be maps, and further information on what you and your child have already observed during your walk. Many national parks also have exhibits that are very hand on learning for children, and an experience that shouldn’t be missed.

Nature walks are a perfect outdoor activity, and better still there are so many different ones to go on, that your child will learn new things about nature and different landscapes and types of environments. For example a nature walk by the ocean will be a very different learning experience from one in a forest, but just as valuable to your child’s learning.

Detergent Box Blocks – Free for children to make

All kids love building, and making things. Lego and other blocks can be expensive, so what better than a free alternative that allows children a lot more freedom of creativity.

What you need:

• Empty Laundry detergent Container (square or rectangle)
• Masking Tape
• Adhesive Book Covering (colored or patterned)

Note: if you don’t have any adhesive book covering, let your little ones get creative and colour the blocks in with texters, paint them, cover with some coloured clothe, or even coloued paper!

Be sure to wipe the detergent boxes out with a clean clothe until all traces of washing powder are gone. After they are clean, tape the lids closed with maskig tape. before tapeing closed you could consider whether you want to make the boxes heavier. For older children this is probably a good idea. For very younge children, be sure not to make them so heavy that they become a hazard if they were to fall on a small childs head. You can make them heavier by adding sand or another kind of safe material that is not a choking hazard.

Most parents go through a lot of washing powder! So your children can add new blocks to their collection regularily.

Children love these blocks to build castles, houses, fences, or to see how high they can stack them before they fall down. Younger children will probably enjoy kocjing down a tower of blocks that you set up for them.

The possibilities are endless really, and you can let your childrens imagination run wild!