How Does Coloring Help Improve Math Skills?

This post is from my old blog, and was written in April, 2015, but I thought it was worth transferring here and sharing:-)

Today, as my students were working on a color by number in math class (which I thought was a fun, different way to practice math), one of them asked "How does coloring help with math?" The question was asked with a "there's no reason I should have to do this" attitude. I explained that it helped with motor skills and helped one to use the brain in a different way, and that exercising the brain in different ways could help in all things that require thinking (not just math). I don't think he really appreciated my answer:)

So, I decided to do a little research, to see what I could find. Most of what I found (not a super-long time of searching, because I didn't have that much time!) was related to the benefits of coloring for young children (and did relate to math skills) and for adults. Here are a few things that I found, as coloring relates to adults:

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According to the Huffington Post (10/13/14), coloring benefits adults (and I would assume children as well) because it "generates wellness, quietness and also stimulates brain areas related to motor skills, the senses and creativity." In addition, psychologist Gloria Martinez Ayala states that when we color, we activate different areas of our two cerebral hemispheres. "The action involves both logic, by which we color forms, and creativity, when mixing and matching colors. This incorporates the areas of the cerebral cortex involved in vision and fine motor skills [coordination necessary to make small, precise movements]. The relaxation that it provides lowers the activity of the amygdala, a basic part of our brain involved in controlling emotion that is affected by stress."

Click to download from TPT.

According to PenCentral, coloring benefits adults in helping them to maintain fine motor skills -this requires extra work by your brain to coordinate your actions and muscle control in your hands and arms. Coloring can help delay the loss of fine motor skills as people age. Coloring may also help fight cognitive loss, especially
​if challenging pieces are completed every so often.

I didn't necessarily find research to answer my student's exact question, but what I found was quite interesting! If anyone knows of other articles or published research to support the role of coloring in improving math skills, please let me know!

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