Top Picks: Coloring Books for 4 -10 Yr Olds

Why coloring books? Detailed coloring books are a great addition to your stash of art supplies. They help kids develop fine motor skills & creativity, color selection, patterning and color combination. Some art teachers dislike coloring books, but for us, highly detailed coloring books - not the standard Spongebob fare - are excellent.

Be sure to get a good set of quality colored pencils with at least 36 colors to really allow your child to explore this medium. You may find yourself coloring too. All of these books are perfect for colored pencils or a set of fine magic markers which do not bleed. Colored pencils and a few coloring books make a great holiday or birthday present.

When we travel we always bring along a plastic container of sharpened colored pencils, 1-2 coloring books per child, along with pens, markers and wire-bound lined notebooks. With this variety, the kids can write or draw freehand using their imagination in their notebooks, or draw in a coloring book, free to focus on patterns and colors. My kids currently work about 10% in detailed coloring books. If you want to see the entire list with images of the coloring books, you can see my Coloring Book Listmania List at Amazon.