Articles in "Parenting & Creativity"

A cozy blanket-and-cushion fort by a large rain-streaked window, warm string lights, a child's coloring pages and crayons and colored pencils spread on a soft rug inside, a mug of cocoa, golden aftern

What to do with kids on a rainy day, before the tablet comes out

The tablet is the easy answer on a wet afternoon. Here is a calmer one: low-prep, screen-free activities matched to your kid's age and mood.

6 min read

Bright flat-lay photographed from directly above: a printed coloring page of a flower partly filled in with bold non-realistic colors, next to a blank white sheet showing a young child's colorful free

Coloring inside the lines won't limit creativity, but one habit can

Coloring books have been accused of squashing creativity since 1947. The truth is more useful, and it comes down to how you offer them.

6 min read

Overhead flat lay of four children's coloring pages arranged left to right from a very simple bold single-shape outline to an intricate detailed design, each page partly colored, a chunky crayon resti

Best coloring tools by age, from the first fist grip to fine detail

The best coloring tool matches your child grip and patience today. Here is what to hand each age, and what to save for later.

6 min read

An editorial flat-lay seen from above of several children coloring pages arranged in a row, from a big simple outline shape on the left to a slightly more detailed picture on the right, a couple of ch

When your child refuses to color, change the setup before you change your mind

A child who refuses to color is usually telling you the task feels too hard or too rigid. Small changes to the setup do more than any amount of coaxing.

5 min read

A short loose stack of simple black line-art coloring pages fanned out on a pale wooden floor beside a small woven basket and a few chunky crayons, the top page showing one big simple flower, the page

A calm down corner works when it asks almost nothing of your child

Most calm down corner lists say to add a coloring book. The page you choose is the part that decides whether the corner gets used at all.

7 min read

A giraffe pushing a shopping trolley down a supermarket aisle, its neck bent right over under the ceiling, trolley piled high with groceries, painterly childrens book illustration, warm and completely

Funny coloring page ideas start with one broken rule

A breakdancing dinosaur is not a distraction, it is how kids think. Why the best silly ideas break one rule, plus twelve to steal.

5 min read

A child's coloring book page of a garden where all the flowers have been colored in with the same single bold blue crayon, while a small handful of unused crayons in other colors lie beside the page,

Why does my child only use one color?

Coloring everything green? A one-color phase is usually normal. What it means at each age, and the rare times it's worth a closer look.

5 min read

Overhead flat-lay of several stacked reams and loose sheets of paper in different thicknesses and shades of white and cream, arranged neatly with crayons, felt-tip markers and colored pencils, one fre

Best paper for coloring pages, and when plain copy paper is plenty

Markers bleeding onto the table? Here is which paper to print coloring pages on, by tool and by budget, and when cheap copy paper is genuinely enough.

5 min read

An intricate dragon coloring page on a wooden desk, the left half richly colored with markers and gel pens in emerald and bronze, the right half still crisp black-and-white line art, around it a pair

Coloring for tweens, when the page finally gets as complicated as they are

Most tweens have not outgrown coloring, just the baby pages. What the activity really does for 9-to-12s, and how to keep it something they still want to do

5 min read

a printed coloring page of a friendly cartoon dragon lying on a light wooden desk, the left half filled in with bright colored pencil and the right half still black and white line art, a neat row of c

Coloring for school-age kids, when getting it right starts to matter

The age a child can finally stay in the lines is also when they start judging their own work. What to expect at five to eight, and how to keep it fun.

5 min read

A clean black-and-white line-art coloring-page style drawing of a tall rocket lifting off among stars, with only the engine flame colored in bright orange, yellow and white, the rocket body and starry

Space coloring pages for kids who'd rather invent than copy

Space is the one subject with no wrong colors. Planets, rockets, astronauts, and galaxies to color and invent, all summer long.

4 min read

A cozy coloring corner on a living room floor near a glowing television, two young children lying down coloring soccer-themed pages with crayons, scattered coloring pages and a cup of crayons, warm ev

A coloring corner that keeps kids happy through a World Cup match

Set up a simple coloring corner so the kids stay happy and you actually get to watch the match. What to pack, and how to time it to the ninety minutes.

4 min read