Have you heard the latest news? Some of the biggest selling books are coloring books for adults!

Coloring is a great stress reliever. I loved to color and draw when I was young, and still do.

How about your child? Did you know that several skills developed through coloring can also help your child develop reading skills?

Good to know parent tips for encouraging your child to color:

Coloring builds…

• concentration and focus skills

• a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem

• patience and staying on task to complete a project

• memory

• vocabulary

• spatial awareness

• sequencing and patterning

Build creativity in your child through coloring and develop reading skills.

• A fun activity is to ask your child to describe, talk about, or create a story about a picture they have colored. Write their words down for them to read to you and other family members.

• Ask your child to listen to a story read aloud to them and then draw and color a picture storyboard that shows what happened in the story. This is a fun way to check for reading comprehension.

• Is your child struggling with ‘sight words’? In a small notebook or on index cards, have them write the sight word and then on the back draw and color a picture that helps them recall that sight word.

• Have your child draw and color a picture and then ask them to create a story around that picture. You can be their scribe and write the story down for them. There! They have started a library of their very own. Outstanding!

Get those crayons out, kids! [and parents too]