We have Arthur Wears guesting on the site today for our 31 days of activities with a lovely colour craft activity.
I love to see young children explore with different art resources and mediums at will. Watching the ‘process’ and honouring this over and above the end result is so important, but, there does come a moment for some children where they are desperate to colour objects and pictures and stay within the lines – which is often beyond their current level of development. It’s very easy as an adult to just do it for them when they ask for help, but in doing so, we aren’t helping them to continue the process independently whilst being on board with their own wishes of a certain end result.
Shop bought pictures with fuzzy edges to help with colouring can help, but they are an expense and can’t always be tailored to the child’s interest or within a topic you are learning about.
Today I am going to show you a really simple and easy way of making your own colouring sheets for younger children to use independently. There will be printable available should you wish to use the same shape activity that I did.
This activity also doubles up as a fab fine motor activity for learning about shapes by ‘feeling’ the outlines, and can also be used for paper rubbings to then have a go at colouring in without the extra guides!
If you would like to view a quick video of how this was made you may do so here:
How to make your colouring sheet activity:
First of all, print off your chosen picture onto paper or card. You can find the same shape picture I used here (insert link to download) or any other colouring sheet of your choosing.
Next, take your glue gun and switch it on. Once it has heated up, use your glue gun to glue a thin line on top of all of the picture outlines. Once the glue has dried, remove and residue, or bits of glue ‘spider web’ to clean up your picture.
You are now ready to start colouring! You could use paint, crayons, felt tip, pens or pencils. Your child should be able to successfully colour within the glued lines, meaning they can focus on choosing colours for a purpose.
Additional activities for your colouring sheet:
Fine motor tracing: This craft activity is also great for fine motor work and sensory feedback – providing a raised surface for children to feel and trace the outlines of shapes or patterns. Have a read of this earlier guest post here for information as to why fine motor pattern tracing is so important for early mark making. This previous craft can be used alongside this glue gun activity as an alternative method.
Paper rubbings: By placing a piece of paper on top of your colouring sheet, you will be able to create paper rubbing images using crayons or pencils, which your child could then use as an additional challenge to practise colouring in without the glued guidelines!
Playdough stamps: If you drew or printed your image onto cardboard, then you now have a fab homemade playdough stamp or base board to roll your homemade playdough onto.
The most important thing is to help and allow your children to express themselves creatively without worrying about them doing it ‘wrong’ or thinking too much about the end result. This activity is great for helping as a guide, but it is also important to value and praise work where children have used colour and filled in images to their own ability and creative levels without worry.
To download the shapes for this activity, just click on the circular image below and you can access it.
We have loads of other amazing activities on the site, so why not sign up to our weekly newsletter and you will get new activities to your inbox every week.
You may also like these other craft posts from KiddyCharts.
Creative activities for kids
Here are some more ideas for kids form the site that include an element of creativity and art within them; from more colouring ideas to arts and crafts.
Unicorn paper plate craft; includes a dragon too!
Gorgeous paper plate craft to inspire your little ones with craft. Simple but very effective.
How to draw a snowflake step by step: Free printable
Simple idea, but fun - how to draw a snowflake.
Learn to draw Diary of a Wimpy Kid #WimpyKidMovie
Diary of the Wimpy Kid is an excellent serious, particularly for reluctant readers; this shows you how to draw just like the author.
Cat mindful coloring pages for adults and kids
Our most popular colouring sheets - mindful cats!
There’s also more great activities for you on the web. Here are some we recommend.
Colour and rainbow activities from the internet
Take a look at these fun colour and rainbow activities from the internet.
20 Engaging Hands-On Activities for Learning Colors
Here are 20 different ideas for learning colours from Homeschool Preschool; a great site for loads of fun activities.
Learning Colors Hunt with Hearts
Strictly a Valentines idea but this is a heart hunt and can be done anytime to help teach colours.
Simple Activity for Learning Colors for Toddlers
This is a really easy way of helping kids to learn their colours.
Thanks for visiting,
Helen
Pin It For Later!
Sarah Hurst
Sarah is an EYFS Primary school Teacher, Blogger and mum of two to Arthur and Charlotte. You can find her over at www.Arthurwears.com, a child development and family lifestyle blog, sharing her favourite tried and
tested ‘Learning Through Play’ activities; thoughts and advice on parent and child wellbeing; and Lifestyle recommendations for busy families. Never without an emergency stash of dark chocolate (or a small child to share it with).
You can also follow her updates on social media: