Coloring books are where most kids start to develop their artistic dexterity. They are available relatively cheap, they are often related to cartoon characters or objects familiar to very young children. They provide guidelines for children who are learning to control their hand movements by “coloring inside the lines”.

Just like reading stories in picture/illustrated books with their children, parents often use coloring pages to teach children and stretch their imagination. Standard coloring pages provide outlines within which children can color, but some art educators believe that free-form pages are an even better tool. A good example of these coloring books can be found at CreativeColoringBooks.