Art Links – The Benefits of Coloring

Art Links – The Benefits of Coloring

Coloring has the ability to relax the fear center of your brain by inducing a state similar to meditation, calming a restless mind.

Coloring for adults has become very popular. There are adult coloring books for sale everywhere. It is a great activity for the young and old!

Benefits of Coloring for Seniors

  • Improves mood
  • Relieves stress
  • Reduces agitation
  • Promotes social interaction
  • Improves hand-eye coordination
  • Helps to maintain fine motor skills
  • Promotes creativity

Materials

  • Colored pencils
  • Watercolor pencils – can be blended for a nice effect
  • Felt-tip markers are not the best since they often bleed and can be hard to control
  • Pictures that are age-appropriate

Coloring for People Living With Dementia

  • Avoid pictures with too much detail
  • Pick out pictures from daily life that they can recognize – flowers, birds, landscapes
  • Pictures from the past – vintage cars, trains, toys, etc.

Resources

We don’t endorse any of the sites below. These are just some resources we found inspiration from:

Below and along the right are some favorite printable coloring PDF’s to get you started! Click an image to open it then download and/or print.