My three children (ages 1, 4, and 5) love doing projects together, and coloring is one of their favorite things to do. These Michigan coloring books are the perfect way for them to be able to work on a shared project in a way that keeps everyone entertained.
Learning From Each Other
Ruby (5) loves to spend hours and hours doing quiet activities like coloring and reading. Elliot (4) would rather be moving, dancing, or playing video games, but he loves to watch his sister work. These two are as different as night and day, but they love the heck out of each other, and it is a true delight to watch them play together.
Elliot is Entranced by Ruby Coloring her Michigan Coloring Book
Working at Their Own Levels
After watching Ruby color for a bit, Elliot decides that he wants to give it a try. You can see that he is a total lefty! While Ruby enjoys coloring with detail and staying in the lines, Elliot likes to scribble with big lines using single colors. This is very developmentally appropriate for his age. Ruby was the same way when she was 4. Even though her kindergarten teacher made it a goal for her to “color in the lines” at the beginning of the year, I never pushed her to do it. I knew that she would do it when she had the dexterity and desire. I also knew that if she never learned how to color in the lines, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
Ruby, Elliot, and Ophelia Color the Michigan Coloring Books Together
You can see how Ophelia (21 months) loves watching her big brother and sister at work. I tried sitting her down in her own chair with her own coloring book, but she decided that she wanted to get up on the table and see what was going on for herself. She’s got her crayon in hand and “helps” Elliot color his picture by adding random marks on his page. She knows that her big sister will not appreciate her page being colored on, so she avoids it! Smart girl!
Great Michigan Coloring Books
I like using these Michigan coloring books because they have simple pictures that are easy to color and they also teach interesting and important information about Michigan. It makes it fun for me as an adult to color with them because I can learn something too!
Ruby Coloring her Michigan Coloring Book
Elliot Coloring his Michigan Coloring Book
The book we are coloring in these pictures is the Maki Coloring Book from a local Michigan author, Diane Napierkowski (also my mother!), and local Michigan Fundraising Company, Great Lakes Promotions. There’s some great information in here about the Mackinac Bridge, and the kids love finding Maki the Mouse on every page. These would make a great teacher gift! Teachers and schools might also enjoy checking out their wholesale prices to get a copy for students in certain grade levels or for the whole school. Coloring is a great transition activity and with these books you can learn about Michigan at the same time.
They also have an Amazing Michigan Coloring Book that has 80 pages of high quality illustrations with state facts, notable Michiganders, and locator maps that would appeal to all ages.
In Conclusion
Coloring is a great way to do an activity with children of multiple ages that doesn’t cost a lot of money or take a lot of time to prepare. All you need are some crayons, some interesting coloring books, and an imagination.
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