At 8, kids are increasingly independent and very aware of what’s "for little kids." Coloring can still be a favorite activity, but it needs to feel grown-up enough. The good news: the right pages and projects make coloring as engaging at 8 as it was at 4.
What 8-year-olds want
- Cool subjects: sci-fi, monsters, gadgets, creatures
- Humor: gross, silly, surprising
- Challenge: detail, technique, projects
- Independence: coloring on their own terms
Pages for 8-year-olds
- Trace Then Color: Alien Cyborgs: sci-fi characters with plenty of mechanical detail.
- Trace Then Color: Crusty Goobers 2: gross-out humor that 8-year-olds love.
- Trace Then Color: Cool Stuff: monsters, aliens, robots and more.
Projects for 8-year-olds
Comic strip
Trace a character and make a three-panel comic with speech bubbles.
Character redesign
Trace a character, then redesign it with new armor, new powers or a new species.
Trading cards
Color characters, cut them out and glue onto cards. Add stats on the back: strength, speed, grossness.
Shading challenge
Color the same character twice: once flat, once with shading. Compare.
Collaborative poster
Color characters with friends and assemble them into a big poster.
Techniques
- Shading, blending and highlights
- Texture for fur, slime and metal
- Inking with fine markers
- Color schemes and complementary colors
See our tools and techniques posts.
Coloring as a calm break
Third grade often brings more homework and more pressure. Coloring is a great way to decompress after school. See using coloring to ease transitions.
Questions parents ask
My 8-year-old says coloring is for babies. What can I do?
Offer cool or gross subjects, real art supplies and projects like comics or trading cards.
Are tracing books OK for 8-year-olds?
Yes, especially with detailed characters and inking techniques. See is tracing only for little kids?.
How long should an 8-year-old color?
As long as they enjoy it. Many 8-year-olds happily color for 30 minutes or more.
About Kevin Coulston
Kevin Coulston is a cartoonist and member of the National Cartoonists Society who has written and illustrated more than 100 drawing, tracing and coloring books for kids, including the Trace Then Color series. Meet Kevin or browse all his books on FirstArtBooks.com.
