Patty Mayeux Blog

I recently hung out with two adorable girls who are the age of coloring with abandon. We engaged in a doodling craft time with precut bookmarks and crayons, then gathered brown grocery bags when the paper supplies ran out. If you haven’t colored lately, I recommend it. But there can be no rules – set aside value judgements, artistic insecurities and that list of shoulds. Scribble like a first-grader with a brand-new box of pointy crayons.

It is neither silly nor a waste of time. It can unstick a creative block, an unsolved problem or a plain grumpy mood. Pick colors that don’t jive and see what comes of them blending or bumping into each other. Draw stick-ish figures or wash clashing colors in shapes and patches over the surface. It will never be framed or given away. That’s the point. You are playing for the sole purpose of play.

If you have an opportunity to hang with kids this season, don’t relegate them to the children’s table or backyard. Engage them in a coloring session, for their joy and your own well-being. Kids are experts at play, something we adults forget to do in a world that leans toward a dark and dreary palette. Go color.