Using Coloring Pages in Middle School Science

Using coloring pages in middle school science may seem a bit unconventional, but it is a powerful tool! Let’s look at how incorporating concept based coloring activities into your science lessons can benefit you and your kids!

Concentration Boosters

Have you ever watched the transformation of a middle school classroom when they are handed coloring sheets? It’s like a switch goes off!  They turn their attention to choosing colors, and staying in the lines, and the overall volume lowers.  Everyone exhales!  We all have those days where we need to bring the tone down a bit.

Engaging Both Brain Hemispheres

As the students color, they use the creative right side of their brains to choose the colors and design. Meanwhile, since you are using concept related coloring sheets, the left, logical side of the brain is absorbing and retaining the scientific information. For example, I have my students color for my Laws of Motion and friction unit. Images on the coloring pages don’t have labels about what they have to do with our unit. As the students color, they talk about how each image is relevant to the topic.

Technology Free Zone

You know I’m all about using iPads for a good part of my curriculum, but there is a lot to be said for telling students to leave their iPads in their backpacks for a while. They will connect to the coloring activity in a more tactile and sensory way, which can be a welcome break from the screens. Plus, many times we create on the iPad and I wish I could “hang up their projects” because they are so great! This coloring activity gives me a chance to use their creations to decorate my classroom.

Self Esteem Boosters

Coloring is an activity anyone can do, regardless of skill level. This makes it a fantastic self-esteem booster for students who may feel insecure about their academic abilities. When I display all of their creations, it gives them pride. 

I have also noticed that while the students are coloring they are engaging in quiet conversations with the people near them. This often includes the quieter students who don’t always get involved in the conversations. Just discussing the images on the coloring pages, and even the choices of colors, gets the interactions going.

Reinforcing Concepts

As the students color, you can play a related podcast. This makes a multi sensory experience that reinforces scientific concepts. A lot of students learn by association, so as they are looking at the image and listening to the information it makes a good connection.  Being relaxed while learning has definite benefits to getting important information into their brains!

Creativity Unleashed

Encourage students to think outside of the crayon box! By allowing them to use unconventional colors for objects, you are giving creative freedom and encouraging them to see things from different perspectives. Who says a zebra has to be black and white or an elephant is always gray? My students seem shocked when I give them this option, but they really enjoy it!

Flexibility in Lesson Planning

Concept oriented, coloring pages are a lifesaver on those chaotic days when schedules are disrupted. We all have those days where you have kids pulled for testing, an assembly that cuts into your class, or snow is falling and half the students aren’t present. It’s great to use them to maintain a sense of structure and productivity, while still learning concepts.

Versatile Classroom Tool

I don’t use these coloring pages just as time fillers. They can be integrated into all parts of my classroom. I use them a lot for early finishers after a test or written activity. They are also great as a five minute bellringer activity. The kids can work on one page for over a week.

Once the students finish coloring, I might ask them to explain each image, and how it pertains to our unit. This can be simply verbal questions or as a more formal written assignment. I have found that the students will take their time on the coloring assignment if they know that the information on it is important. They like trying to figure out why each image was added.

Conclusion-Using Coloring Pages in Middle School Science

Adding concept oriented coloring pages into your middle school classroom is more than just a fun activity. It is a choice with lots of benefits. You can slow the craziness down in your classroom with a relaxing, two sides of the brain activity that can still be legitimized as concept learning.

I have been using coloring pages in a lot of my units for just those reasons. I have quite a few of them in my Science by Sinai Teachers Pay Teachers store.  I will soon be adding more since I have seen the incredible benefits!