12 Coloring Activities For Preschoolers That'll Have You Saying, "Bless This Mess"

Your preschooler probably loves to color. In their coloring books. On any piece of paper. In the bathtub. On your freshly painted wall. If it’s a flat surface, they want to color on it… and sometimes it doesn’t even have to be flat. Sure, you can keep Mr. Clean in business by constantly buying magic erasers to get the marks of the wall. Yes, there are a million and a half expensive, single-use products you can buy to help channel all of your kiddos’ Jackson Pollock tendencies onto something other than your home. But, then what? Crayola may not be the enemy, but you probably don’t want to give them your entire paycheck, either. With a little research (that we’ve done for you) and enthusiasm on your end, these coloring games can be a ton of fun for your sweetie. Bonus: All you need to buy are the crayons and paper. (And maybe some more printer ink.)

RELATED: Free Online Games For Toddlers That Are Educational And Surprisingly Fun

Great Places for Coloring Pages

1. Education.com

You can just have fun with coloring or you can use it as a chance to expand your preschooler’s mind. This is the place for tons of fun, educational printables. Not only do they offer coloring sheets, but there are even some dot-to-dots.

2. Super Coloring

Super Coloring is another excellent source for coloring pages. You can find some educational sheets (like simple math and work on the alphabet) and tons of pages dedicated to all your preschooler’s favorite “celebrities” — Peppa Pig, Barbie and the Toy Story gang.

3. First School

If you’re looking for some subject-specific coloring pages First School is the answer. It should be your go-to for coloring pages that line up with whatever theme you’re exploring together at school or home, whichever season you’re experiencing or any current preschooler obsession.

4. Crayola

You can’t escape Crayola, huh? While they offer a load of cool, specialized products to siphon out all your money, they’re also pretty generous on their website. Crayola offers a slew of coloring pages related to holidays and seasons, plus sheets linked to all your preschoolers’ favorite shows and movies. As an added bonus, they update and add new stuff constantly.

Coloring Beyond Pages

5. Color Your Feelings

Have you taught your little buddy that being sad can be called “feeling blue?” What other colors are associated with emotions? Print out coloring pages (or make your own) displaying different, simple emotions. Help your kiddos decide on the colors that best fit that emotion and then let them color. Having more than one way to talk about their feelings is incredibly beneficial to little kids who are still trying to understand their emotions.

6. DIY Play-doh

Playing with Play-doh may not seem like a color-based activity, but it absolutely can be if you do it right. You can start by making your own and using dyes to make it colorful. Instead of using the green or purple dyes, show your preschooler how to mix primary colors to create them. Once you’ve got a base set of colors, you can then show how to mix the Play-doh even further to create an even broader spectrum of colors.

7. Color Scavenger Hunt

Kids love having an objective. When they call something “boring” it is often likely that they just need something to focus on. A color scavenger hunt can take place anywhere: Home, the playground, Target. Ask your kiddos to find something red. Next ask them to find something orange. Continue down the list of colors in the rainbow. As that gets easier, teach them more specific colors like Hot pink, teal, magenta. What can they find using those directions?

8. Sort The Colors

Give your preschool a ton of anything: buttons, (shatter-proof) ornaments, marbles. As long as each one has a distinct color, they can separate and group the items that are the same or similar colors.

9. Color Rubs

Using thin paper and the side of a crayon, show your preschooler how to place bumpy objects under the paper and then color over top of them. Not only is this just another fun use for your massive stock of broken crayons, it’s also a chance to teach your kiddo about texture.

10. Color-themed Sensory Bins

Are you already using sensory bins? They can be as monochromatic or multi-colored as you’d like when you’re just using them to teach your little bug about textures, scents or feeling for things. But, did you know you can also teach their colors? There are two options here. You could consider making a multi-colored bin and then giving your kid a certain color to search for. Another option would be to make color-specific bins filled with various shades of the same color. This will help your teach your preschooler than red doesn’t always look like a fire engine. Once they’ve sifted through and pulled out any larger colored pieces, help them line things up from lighter to darker.

11. Create A Rainbow

Outline a giant rainbow onto a piece of posterboard. Next, help your preschooler go through your craft supplies and find objects to glue onto each band of the rainbow until they’ve filled it in with the proper colors.

12. Practice Coloring Inside The Lines

Learning to color inside the lines is a process, but it’s never too early or late to learn. Focus on proper crayon holding and smaller strokes. Meanwhile, look for coloring pages with extra thick border lines. As your child’s coloring gets better, expose them to thinner lines.

Related: 17 Fun Coloring Games For Kids So They Can Finally Stop Drawing On The Couch