Toddler-Crafts for Your Coloring Pleasure!

Many moms don't have a lot of extra time to arrange

toddler-crafts and projects for their kids.

Sometimes, it's all we can do just

to have time to cover all of the lessons we are trying to teach

with our older students! That's why it helps to find EASY and

INEXPENSIVE ways to keep your little ones busy and content during

your homeschooling day. WHO DOESN'T LOVE TO COLOR? Even I love

to color! Here's a fun and simple way to create your very own

coloring book as a toddler-crafts that will provide hours of

enjoyment! ( I think older kids will like it just as much!)




Easy to Make
Coloring Book Using Free Printable Coloring Sheets

Coloring is still
a realistic activity for young children. It's easy, simple, not to messy (unless
your little Rembrandt starts coloring in the flowers on the wallpaper), and most
children will not need to be supervised while coloring. It's great for a rainy
day or when your little one is in bed with a bad cold.

Coloring books
are portable---take them anywhere! It's is even an activity that can be done in
the car, which makes it great for a long car trip when going on vacation or to
visit out-of-town family and friends.

Coloring is
relatively inexpensive! You can buy coloring books in most supermarkets,
discount stores like Wal-Mart or Target, and dollar stores. But the most
inexpensive kind of coloring book is the one you make yourself using free
printable coloring sheets that you can find on numerous websites offering free
printables, such as

Mom's Break and

The Craft Cafe.

It is easy to
make a coloring book! Here's what you need:

1. Free printable
coloring sheets (download from your favorite free printable website and print on
plain computer paper)

2. A three-hole
punch, or a hand-held one-hole punch

3. Curl ribbon,
string, or yarn

4. Scissors

As an option, create
front and back covers by printing one of the free printable coloring sheets on
card stock. Card stock is heavier that regular computer paper. You can find card
stock at office supply stores such as Office Depot, and sometimes at discount
stores such as Wal-Mart or Target.

Assembling the
Coloring Book

If you are going to
use card stock for the front and back cover, then choose one or two of the free
printable coloring pages and print on card stock. Set these aside.

Print the free
printable coloring sheets on plain white computer paper. Print as many as you
like. Set aside.

If you are using a
three-hole punch, then begin by punching holes in the front cover. Be sure that
the image is facing up, so that you punch holes along the left-hand side of the
page. Punch the holes in the back cover by turning the page image side down, so
that you punch holes along the right-hand side of the page. Then punch holes in
the coloring pages. Do three or four at a time so that the three-hole punch
doesn't jam.

If you are using a
hand-held single-hole punch, then you will need to mark where the holes are
going to go. Use spacing that is similar to paper that you would put in a
three-ring binder. Mark holes on the front cover, down the left-hand side, and
mark holes on the back cover, down the right-hand side. Punch all holes marked.
Now mark the coloring sheets using the same spacing as the front/back covers.
Punch only a few pages at a time so that the hole punch doesn't jam.

Put the coloring
book together: back cover (image side down); coloring sheets (image side up);
front cover (image side up).

Use curl ribbon,
string, or yarn to loosely tie the pages together. Be sure to tie loosely enough
so that the pages will lay flat when you open the coloring book. (Here's a tip:
If you don't have any curl ribbon, string, or yarn, then use twist ties that
come with plastic bags!)

For an
illustrated tutorial for making a coloring book using free printable coloring
sheets, go to: http://www.jansfreecontent.com/printables/July-4th-Coloring-Book.htm

Use this idea to
make coloring books for any occasion, holidays, birthdays, or just to have on
hand for those times when your little one asks you "Mommy, what can I do now???"