My kids love coloring! I always make sure to stock up on coloring books at the Dollar Tree so we have a variety on hand.
But, coloring isn’t the only thing we do with coloring books. I love using them as part of school to encourage literacy. We often pull out coloring books during our Family Writing Time. Here’s a look at what we do with them.
1. Color & Cut Out Favorite Characters
Once your child has colored a favorite character, encourage her to cut it out. Keep the cutout in a Ziploc bag, and keep adding to the collection until you have all of the main characters.
Now, your kids can use these cutouts to tell a story. What will the characters do today? What adventure is waiting?
Your child can use the cutouts as picture clues to create their own story, or use them as props and act out the story.
My kids have a folder of Mario cutouts, Pokemon cutouts, Princess cutouts, and more. Sometimes they mix them all up and have a stellar crossover adventure!
2. Name the Characters
Ask your child to go through a coloring book and name all the characters on each page. Sometimes there’ll be a character who doesn’t have a name, or whose name is unknown. I encourage my kids to make up a name when that happens.
Connecting pictures to a word (or name) will help reinforce that words have meanings.
3. Glue Cutouts to a Paper
Once your child has cutout several characters, you can provide a glue stick and a couple of pieces of blank paper.
Have your little one draw a background, and glue the characters in place. Once the sheets are ready, ask her to tell you the story she made.
It’s a fun way to encourage story telling with coloring books!
4. Circle Letters
Hand your child a pencil or crayon and ask her to circle all of the As in the coloring book. Then they can use a different color to circle another letter.
It’s a fun way to practice letter identification skills. Right now, Simon loves finding the letter S. It’s for Simon you know! 😀
5. Find the Letters in Your Name
Can your child find all the letters in their name inside the book? I like to ask my kids to find them in order.
For younger kids, I sometimes write the names of all our family members on an index card, and ask them to find each letter in the coloring book.
Fun with Coloring Books
How do you encourage literacy with coloring books? I know I didn’t name all the possibilities, so I’d love you to share your ideas in the comment section below.
