Creative ways teachers are using coloring pages to engage students
A lot of teachers come to ColorBliss to make coloring pages for their students and classrooms. I love hearing from teachers on how they use ColorBliss, and I thought putting together a collection of how teachers are using coloring pages for students of all ages. would be helpful for other teachers as well!
Using coloring pages to keep sixth grade students engaged during read aloud time
Wendy Peterson is a sixth grade teacher who uses ColorBliss to make custom coloring pages for her class. They have a reading period where the students listen to the class novel.
Wendy goes through the chapter and pulls out the most important parts and themes from the chapter, and uses those as inspiration for creating coloring sheets. She says it’s especially helpful for her kinesthetic learners while they are listening–it keeps the kids engaged (and Wendy enjoys it too)!
Coloring pages as a reflection activity for high school students
Leanne Koffskey is a high school teacher at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Greenville, South Carolina.
Their school theme for the year is the story of the Good Samaritan, and they are spending a lot of time reflecting on Van Gogh’s painting of the story.
Leanne put together a reflection activity for students to reflect on the story of the Good Samaritan in various different ways: games, discussions, videos, articles, and songs. She thought a coloring page would be another good way to give the students an opportunity to reflect.
She couldn’t find what she was looking for, so she used ColorBliss’ image to coloring page converter to turn Van Gogh’s Good Samaritan into a coloring page for the activity
Add creativity to document-based learning with coloring pages
Sonya Hightower-Routt is an 8th grade US History teacher in Houston, Texas.
One way she uses coloring pages is doing what she calls “primary source mash-ups”. She’ll take iconic imagery like the Boston Tea Party or the signing of the Declaration of Independence and create colorable versions of the scene.
(Pro tip: here is a step by step guide on how to turn images to coloring pages: Turn Iconic Photos into Coloring Pages with AI)
Then while students are coloring, she has them annotate their coloring page with the answers to the following prompts:
- “What’s happening?”
- “Who is involved?”
- “Why does it matter?”
This helps reinforce the subject matter in a different way, by engaging their visual thinking as well.
Coloring pages can help calm and reinforce learning
Sonya has another way she uses coloring pages, in “review stations”.
During a review week, she will set up a “Color & Connect” station. This station will have simple coloring pages, for example, the causes of the American Revolution illustrated as puzzle pieces).
Students will color the page, and then on the back of the page, they explain the connections between the puzzle pieces in words.
Sonya says her students love these activities–they are good at helping reinforce content while also having a calming effect on the students.
Using coloring pages to activate both sides of the brain
Caitlyn Danka is a Veterinary Assisting teacher at Upper Bucks County Technical School. She uses coloring pages to engage students on both sides of their brain to help them stay engaged and retain what they are learning.
And the science backs this up! A study on fifth grade students found that when science lessons were integrated with the arts, students not only learned the material just as well as through traditional instruction, but in many cases remembered it even better over time. The arts-based approach also boosted their engagement and motivation — key ingredients for lasting learning.
Colors can help students distinguish and remember concepts
Dawid Siuda is a tutor who teaches kids and young adults the basics of AI and programming.
When introducing programming concepts, he uses color as a memory tool — for example, marking classes, variables, and functions in different colors so students can more easily distinguish and remember them. He’s found that this approach works not only for kids, but also for adults, since our brains naturally latch onto color cues.
The same principle applies to coloring pages in the classroom: giving students the opportunity to engage with content visually and through color can help reinforce memory and understanding across any subject.
Coloring pages to teach biology and build focus
One biology teacher on Reddit shared how they use coloring as a major tool when teaching topics like cell theory, anatomy, physiology, botany, and microbiology.
They rely on detailed coloring books, sometimes pulling out specific pages for interactive notebooks, to help students engage with the material. The teacher even used coloring books themselves while preparing for certification in biological sciences.
“You can’t color a picture of a heart without looking closely at the details and color-coding them for at least 15–20 minutes. It forces concentration on the topic and provides success for students who need it.”
They also use fun coloring sheets as a sponge activity (a short task to keep students engaged when they finish early).
The benefits of coloring for kids and students
What I found interesting in all these examples is how teachers are leveraging the benefits of coloring for students as another tool in their toolbox. Some use coloring pages to keep kids engaged during read-alouds, others to spark reflection, and others to help students focus on details in history, science, or even veterinary training.
In all these cases, teachers have identified some of the key benefits of coloring for learning and for students. Coloring pages can calm the room, help students concentrate, and make it easier for students to retain the knowledge they are learning over the long term.
More than that, the benefits of coloring go beyond just a fun or calming activity. Because coloring pages offer a hands-on way to process information, it can help antsy kids focus and connect with the lesson in a memorable way.
If you want to try any of these strategies in your classroom, check out our coloring page generator and picture to coloring page converters at ColorBliss!
