Good Question: Why Do Grown-Ups Like To Color?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's no longer just child's play. One of our favorite childhood activities is now a full-fledged phenomenon among adults.
Coloring books for grownups are now six of the top ten best-selling books on Amazon.
So, why do grown-ups like to color? Good Question.
"This is just me and I don't have to think about what gets done," Tracy Maas of Ladies Coloring Club said. "I can just chill and put in the colors I choose."
There are no rules in Ladies Coloring Club. Since they began meeting a year ago, more adult coloring clubs like them have sprung up across the metro. Often they'll get together once a month, attracting friends and strangers alike.
"I work with computers all day long, everything I produce is not tactile," Lori Lofstrom said. "When I done, I say, oh, I've finished this. I can touch it and feel it."
Experts say coloring clubs can offer a sense of community and belonging in a judgement-free zone.
"You can start a conversation about you're using that color, what are you using in that coloring book and then you can learn about someone's life," Lofstrom said.
The idea of coloring as therapeutic is as old as Carl Jung, the father of analytical psychology.
"It engages different parts of the brain," Craig Balfany, Art Therapy program director at Adler Graduate School said.
Balfany says it engages the cognitive, sensory and emotional parts of the brain.
"It's not just a thought process, but you're using your hands, your eyes, your senses and that engages the brain," Balfany said.
The original Ladies Coloring Club meets the fourth Thursday of every month at Mountain Mudd in New Hope.