Coloring books are a thing of the past. Kids today aren’t as excited about a basic coloring book as kids a generation ago. This is because these kids have spoiled all the great new methods of coloring using the computer or with fancy markers and pens. While you may get away with a coloring book and crayons for a long car ride, don’t expect your school-aged kids to sit quietly at the table coloring old-fashioned pictures; there’s something better around, and they know it.

Online Coloring Pages

The computer and the Internet have opened up a whole new spectrum of coloring and drawing. Adults now make a substantial living creating, drawing, and coloring images for computer animation, including video games, movies, commercials, and items that most adults would never consider, such as some high-quality informational websites. With this option available as a full adult career, it is no wonder that the tools and formats used in this style of artwork have been carried over to children, albeit on a smaller scale.

Children can now draw online and even animate the drawings. Besides this, one of the most popular forms of online entertainment is basic online coloring pages. If yesterday’s coloring books are fading away, kids’ coloring pages on the internet have definitely taken their place. Kids coloring pages can contain any image style imaginable, and some websites, like TheDollPalace.com, create their own coloring pages using some of the most popular dolls on the site.

Communities Coloring

Some websites offer very basic coloring pages for kids that can be printed and colored. Others create interactive coloring pages that require children to work on the computer itself to color the pictures. Unlike basic websites, interactive coloring pages are often found on more complex websites that act like a full-fledged community. Coloring pages are just one of the many things available to do on a particular site.

At TheDollPalace.com, for example, dolls of all shapes and sizes are available for children to play with and create, and then favorites are created on coloring pages. When the dolls and coloring pages are complete, there are still interesting articles to read, doll personalities to create, contests to enter, and even forums and talks to visit to meet other doll and color enthusiasts.

While coloring pages may seem simple in the minds of parents and other adults these days, they are often the passport to a more creative style of play. Yes, your child will simply color the image online, but by doing so, he is learning not only to stay within the lines, but to balance color and texture and simply to use his imagination. If a kids coloring page is the first step toward a full-blown imagination-based entertainment package, it’s unlikely that many parents will find them simple for long.