Color Me A Picture

Coloring. Kenz can spend almost an hour at a time, coloring. She prefers coloring books like Hello Kitty, Bratz and even the generic ones, especially if they have a message relative to her world.

The picture above came from the coloring and activity book I LOVE YOU... Play Day. She received it as a gift from my niece Lara. What a nice surprise it was to see all the pages that had grandparent people (and animals) doing things with grandchildren such as lunch, gardening, walking, hugging and galloping (with Grandpa). There's plenty of Mommy pages, mazes, connect the dots and find objects that match. This book has 200 pages, but it's lightweight and doesn't feel bulky.

Before Kenz colors a picture she sometimes asks for it to be removed from the book. Some of the coloring books make it almost impossible to remove the page without almost destroying the picture. This one has a nice perforated edge, making removal of the page successful.

It's important to Kenz that the page be presentable because she--- presents them. On Christmas, before everyone arrived she colored each guest a page from a Santa Claus coloring book. I was the wrapper, rolling and taping the art in Christmas wrap.

She was so glad to have a personal gift for each person. Before she chose the picture for the recipient, she studied it to see if they would like it.

Nana, do you think Uncle Mi Mi would like Rudolph? Then with jumping delight, Aunt Rita would love Mrs. Claus. These were hand picked, hand made gifts from her heart. She was serious about

making each person something special.

Color is so much a part of life, that I forget what an awesome gift it is. Maybe children who love to color see the benefits of color, that is how it stimulates, heals, calms and delights. A Google search of color therapy reveals how extensive this phenomena is. Soon after Kenz was born, I read an article about how black and white designs stimulated infants brains, so I had a group of drawings that I rotated and taped next to the changing table. Coloring books seem to have always had an appeal to children, and to some grown-ups (I like to color). Maybe the black and white page is what is comforting to the 'colorer' and adding color either with the crayons or markers is the frosting on the cake. Besides that, on a coloring page, you can make the picture whatever colors you choose. And you don't have to draw the pictures, just make them come alive.

I LOVE YOU has a website. www.modernpublishing.com

The Grand Link on this page http://www.childfun.com/ has lots of pages to print and color.