Screen-Free Activities – Magazine

A clean black and white line art coloring page of a friendly excavator on a construction site, drawn in bold simple outlines, with only its round safety warning beacon light glowing bright colored yel

Construction truck coloring pages, and the one job each machine does

Meet the construction crew one page at a time: what the digger, crane, mixer, and dump truck each do, ready to print.

5 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

A child's vivid crayon-style drawing on white paper of a huge whale shark next to a tiny lanternshark to show the size gap, bright waxy blue and grey colors, bold playful strokes, cheerful, no text or

Shark coloring pages, from the biggest gentle giant to the one that fits in your hand

Sharks come in wild sizes. Color them from the school-bus-long whale shark down to the one small enough to hold in your hand.

4 min read

Flat overhead view of a homemade tournament wall chart on a big sheet of white paper, a bracket of empty hand-drawn boxes connected by lines, several brightly colored small paper flags placed in some

Turn the World Cup into a color-in wall chart for kids

Channel all that tournament energy into a wall chart your kids color a flag into after every match. Here is how to set it up in about five minutes.

4 min read

A clean black and white line art coloring page of a standing unicorn with a long flowing mane and a single spiraled horn, where only the horn and one sweep of the mane burst into vivid rainbow color w

Unicorn coloring pages for kids who know the difference

Classic unicorns, cute foals, rainbows and castles, and the real difference between a unicorn, a pegasus, and an alicorn.

3 min read

A peacock's fanned train shown as a bold near-symmetrical radial pattern like a mandala, the left half richly colored in teal, royal blue and gold, the right half left as clean black-and-white line ar

Peacock coloring pages, and where the blue actually comes from

The blue on a real peacock is a trick of light, not paint. On paper, your child gets to decide what color those famous feathers are.

3 min read

A whimsical illustration of a hot air balloon drawn as black and white line art on a sheet of white paper, lifting up off the page so that the part of the balloon that has risen above the paper turns

Hot air balloon coloring pages for a slow summer morning

A balloon flight has a clear little arc, from the dawn launch to the gentle landing. Print a page for each part of the ride.

4 min read

A clean black-and-white line-art sunflower with a perfectly round seed center and a full ring of long petals, where only the round center is fully colored in glowing golden brown while the petals stay

Sunflower coloring pages, and the pattern hiding in the middle

A sunflower hands you its colors and hides a pattern in its face. Print pages for the spiral, the petals, and a whole field, then color it your way.

3 min read

A black and white line art castle drawing on a sheet of paper, where the flags and the tallest tower lift up off the page and turn fully colorful as they rise, a few crayons nearby, sparkles trailing

Castle coloring pages from the moat to the throne room

Color a castle the way you'd explore one: moat, gatehouse, towers, throne room, one named part at a time.

4 min read

A cinematic photo of a half colored rainbow coloring page resting on a wooden windowsill, soft rain running down the window glass, a faint real rainbow arching in the cloudy sky outside, warm afternoo

Rainbow coloring pages and the rule you get to break

Real rainbows always stack their colors the same way. On a coloring page, yours can do anything. Here is why, with pages to print.

3 min read

A symmetrical butterfly drawn as clean black-and-white line art, the left wing fully and vividly colored in like a finished coloring page while the right wing stays uncolored line art, plain white bac

Butterfly coloring pages where both wings have to match

Color one wing, then match it on the other. Butterfly pages are the rare ones that check your work, until you decide to mismatch on purpose.

3 min read

A black-and-white line art drawing of a campsite on paper, where colored sparks and smoke from the drawn campfire lift off the page and bloom into a fully colored starry night sky above it, playful st

Camping coloring pages, from tent pitch to first light

Camping pages for the slow hours of the trip: tent, fire, dark, and dawn, plus the packing trick that keeps paper alive outdoors.

3 min read

Articles in "Screen-Free Activities"

Construction truck coloring pages, and the one job each machine does

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

Shark coloring pages, from the biggest gentle giant to the one that fits in your hand

Turn the World Cup into a color-in wall chart for kids

Unicorn coloring pages for kids who know the difference

Peacock coloring pages, and where the blue actually comes from

Hot air balloon coloring pages for a slow summer morning

Sunflower coloring pages, and the pattern hiding in the middle

Castle coloring pages from the moat to the throne room

Rainbow coloring pages and the rule you get to break

Butterfly coloring pages where both wings have to match

Camping coloring pages, from tent pitch to first light