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ryleybob
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Joined: 2025-09-05
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About Me
Coloring Pages Got My Kids Off Screens (And Saved My Sanity)
So my house was basically screen city. Kids on tablets, me on my phone, nobody talking. Three months back I just hit my limit with the whole thing. My son would roll his eyes SO HARD when I asked him to put down Minecraft that I thought they might fall out of his head!
Late one night when I couldn't sleep (probably from all that blue light, tbh) I was searching random stuff and found some coloring pages on ColoringPagesJourney. Wasn't looking for anything special - just SOMETHING to get the kids to look up once in a while. Didn't expect much.
Boy was I wrong.
The Screen Detox That Actually Worked
First day I printed some pages, my son actually put his tablet down without me nagging. For real! I think I stood there with my mouth open like some cartoon character.
A quiet farm scene that reflects simple beginnings of our coloring journey
My Kids Chill Out Now
Before, my daughter came home from school like a little tornado. Cranky, loud, wouldn't stop moving. Now she does this thing where she grabs her coloring stuff, flops on the floor for like 20 minutes, and then suddenly wants to tell me about what happened at lunch.
My neighbor teaches 3rd grade and she told me over coffee, "Kids need something mindless but focused after school. Their brains are fried from paying attention all day." Makes sense.
One time my daughter had a total meltdown over lost homework, but after coloring for a bit she was like "oh wait I think it's in my science folder" and just... fixed the problem herself? That NEVER happened before.
They Stick With Hard Stuff Better
Parent-teacher conference last month, my son's teacher said something that made me feel like mom of the year: "He's getting better at not giving up when math gets tricky."
Before, homework was this whole dramatic event with sighing and "I can't do it" every five seconds. Now he'll try longer before getting frustrated. Not saying it's perfect - he's still 9 - but way better than before.
Why These Work When The Free Printable Junk Didn't
OK so I've printed free coloring sheets before. They usually ended up under the couch collecting dust bunnies. These are different.
Not Too Easy, Not Too Hard
My 5-year-old explained it best when he tossed aside a free mandala printable: "This one makes my hand hurt and it's boring."
The pages from this site have different hard levels. Little kids get big chunky pictures they can actually finish without getting frustrated. My older one gets detailed stuff that keeps her sitting still for more than 3 minutes.
My friend's kid has some motor skill issues and she said these were the first pages he didn't crumple up in frustration.
They Make Up Stories While They Color
"Mom! This isn't just a dragon! It's Sparky and he doesn't like to burn things, he likes to make toast and has 7 pet goldfish!"
My middle kid doesn't just Color page free - she makes up these crazy stories. Last Tuesday they colored these underwater scenes and then spent the next hour acting out a whole play with their stuffed animals as the characters. No screens involved!
A playful picnic scene showing how coloring sparks imagination
What Experts Say (That Actually Makes Sense)
Brain Science Stuff
Kid's doctor told me something interesting at their checkup: "Screens give kids little happy hits all day long, so their brains start wanting constant excitement. Coloring gives them enough to do without overloading them."
I see it happen right in my living room. After Roblox: cranky, hyper kids. After coloring: normal human children who can have a conversation without screaming.
Teachers Can Tell Which Kids Create Things
My daughter's teacher said she can spot the creative-time kids a mile away. "They don't fall apart when things get hard. They try different ways to solve problems."
She does 10 minutes of coloring first thing each morning. Says the kids who fight about everything else never complain about coloring time.
Our Messy Art Wall
We started sticking their finished pages on the kitchen wall. Now it's spread to the hallway and honestly, it's my favorite house decoration ever:
The week of monster drawings my son did after watching a scary movie trailer at his friend's house (oops)
My daughter's "future houses" with weird rooms for her stuffed animals
A huge ocean scene where I colored the water (badly) and they did all the fish
The holiday pages that have coffee stains because I was coloring with them while trying to drink my coffee at the same time (multitasking fail)
Stuff I Had To Learn The Hard Way
Cheap Supplies Are a Waste of Money
Learned this after watching my kid snap his 3rd dollar store colored pencil in 10 minutes. The mid-range stuff is SO worth it. Game changers for us:
Those fat triangle pencils that don't roll away
Markers that don't dry out if someone forgets the cap (hallelujah)
The twisty crayons that don't break when my 5-year-old presses too hard
This rotating supply holder thingy so they're not constantly asking me to pass stuff
Color With Them Sometimes
Huge lightbulb moment: the real magic happens when I sit down too. My 12-year-old told me stuff about friend drama while we were both coloring that I GUARANTEE she would not have shared if I'd asked directly.
We put on music (they pick, God help me), make hot chocolate if I'm feeling extra, and just hang out. Sometimes we talk, sometimes we don't. Both are fine.
A graceful moment on stage, reminding us to join in their world
Questions People Ask Me About This
"How long do they actually sit there?"
Depends on the kid and the day! My kindergartner does about 15 minutes on a good day. My 12-year-old once colored for two hours during a rainstorm. Most days we aim for half an hour or so - long enough to chill out but not so long it feels like a chore.
"Does it really help with school stuff?"
Yep. My son's handwriting was a disaster area. His teacher says his pencil control is way better. Plus he'll actually write more than one sentence without acting like I'm torturing him.
"Do they still want screens?"
Well yeah, they're human children in 2025! But the fights are way less. "Color first, then screens" works about a million times better than just saying no to screens all the time.
What Other Parents Told Me
"My daughter with ADHD can't sit still for ANYTHING. But she'll focus on these detailed pages for 30 minutes. Her therapist is shocked." -Jenny from my son's soccer team
"I'm raising my grandson and was losing the battle with his video games. Now we color together before bed. He actually reminds ME when it's time." -Bob who lives next door
"My twins used to make me crazy during quiet time. Now they color side by side without fighting. I mean, not EVERY day, but way more than before." -Mike from work
"Got stuck in our cabin during a storm on vacation. These pages saved us from three days of whining. Worth every cent." -Aisha from mom's group
It Changed More Than Just Coloring Time
My Kids Make Things Now
Biggest shock: my kids create stuff on their own now. My son designs his own mazes. My daughter started making cards for people's birthdays instead of just texting.
They used to just consume everything - videos, games, whatever. Now they actually make things. In a world where everything is watch-watch-watch, seeing them create feels like winning somehow.
Our Screen Rule That Works
We flipped everything around. Instead of always saying no to screens, we say yes to coloring first.
Our rule is super simple: make something before you watch something. Screen fights dropped like 80%. Not even kidding.
Every evening starts with making something - coloring, drawing, Legos, whatever. Then screens if there's time. The crazy part? Sometimes they forget to ask for the screens after.
When my sister asked how we got the kids off devices without World War 3 breaking out, I told her about Color page free Journey. Sometimes the simple fixes actually work, and these coloring pages brought back the family time I thought was gone forever.
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