6 Free Ways to Get In On the Adult Coloring Craze

I loved coloring when I was a kid. I have fond memories of sitting at the kitchen table or lying on the living room floor with a fresh box of crayons and my tattered and well-loved Rainbow Brite coloring book.

Fast forward about 15 years and I once again found myself at the kitchen table coloring, but this time with my toddler. My Rainbow Brite book long forgotten, I tried my now much-larger hand at coloring Elmo and Minnie Mouse.

But my entire view of coloring was turned on its head when my then 63-year-old mom introduced me to adult coloring books in early 2015. At first I laughed, but I soon found myself immersed in bringing pages of intricate geometric patterns and floral designs to life with colored pencils and markers. It was relaxing and fun!

According to Forbes, adult coloring books have been around since the 1960s. But the adult coloring craze really took off in the last few years. You can pick up adult coloring books pretty much everywhere these days. There’s adult coloring apps – like Colorfy – and even The Monthly Coloring Club, an adult coloring subscription service. Even Crayola is now cashing in on the popularity of adult coloring.

But it can be an expensive, albeit stress-reducing, hobby. Many of the books can set you back $8 to $10 a piece and a decent set of colored pencils sell for $15 to $40 (like this Prismacolor Premier set from Amazon).

Fortunately, you can get in on the adult coloring craze without spending a dime. If you can supply the coloring tools (crayons, pencils, markers, etc.), here are six ways to get free pages to color:

1. Easy Peasy and Fun: This arts, crafts and coloring blog has lots of links to free coloring pages. With designs ranging from mermaids and forest animals to abstract flowers and winter snowflakes, there’s a little something for everyone.
2. HelloKids: Despite the site’s name, you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy the cool free coloring pages on HelloKids. You can color the pages digitally on the site or print them out.
3. Coloring Pages for Adults: This site offers a huge number and variety of designs that you can download for free and print free. The pages are sorted by category, so it makes finding a perfect picture to color a lot easier.
4. In the Playroom: This site offers a variety of free adult coloring pages, including these inspirational words and phrases pages, which are some of my personal favorites.
5. Art Is Fun: This site has free one-of-a-kind adult coloring pages designed by artist Thaneeya McArdle. She provides free downloads of many of her designs. If you really like her work, she also provides links to purchase her coloring books.
6. Everything Etsy: I love the 15 designs you can download and print for free on Everything Etsy. If you like those, check out 12 more free pages here. “Star Wars” fan? You’ll love these free “Star Wars”-inspired coloring printables.

For more unusual but inexpensive ways to reduce stress, check out “Who Needs a Shrink? 8 Cheap Ways to Relieve Stress.”

Do you use adult coloring books? Do you purchase books or download free coloring pages? Where is your favorite place to get free pages? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.