History is such an important subject for our kids to learn.
We want them to know the past so they can be discerning in the future. When our children were younger, we loved using history coloring books for kids as a way to help reinforce and expand what they were learning in history.
We used historical coloring books while our kids were listening to read alouds or audio books, and they often picked them up in their free time to complete a scene. Coloring books aren’t just for girls–both of my boys loved their history coloring books. One of them even had an elaborate coloring scheme he used throughout the coloring book. I was constantly running out of the gold and brown colors he favored, and one year he went through so many books we added them to his Christmas list for friends and relatives.
Historical coloring books have a scene for your kids to color, along with a few sentences about an historical figure, battle, or event.
Coloring is a great way to engage your children while you read to them. We tried other activities they could do with their hands, like building with LEGOs, but most were too loud and distracting for our kids. When we read aloud for school and to wind down, I preferred to have them color. They preferred to color about history.
I found that my boys learned a lot about history from their coloring books. They read the description on each page before I began reading. Not only did they end up remembering information about the scene they were coloring, but they remembered the information I read as well. Years later, my boys can point to a scene they colored in one of their history coloring books and tell me what I was reading to them at the time. Score!
I put a great big list of history coloring books for you. Before you check that out, I want to tell you about a coloring book for kids that I’m particularly excited about.
A Unique Christian History Coloring Book for Kids
Author and Pastor William Boekestein has put together a wonderful resource on Christian history for kids. A Colorful Past: A Coloring Book of Church History (Reformation Heritage Books, 2018) is a wonderful way for your children to learn all about the history of the Church in a hands-on way. The book covers important figures from the 1st to the 20th centuries, with drawings by Naomi Kamphius. Your kindergartner can feel successful coloring each scene, while your upper elementary school child will feel satisfied taking care with coloring the details.
Church history is our family history. Pastor Boekestein has created a wonderful resource for your family. As they color their way through church history, your children will find that the focus of A Colorful Past is firmly fixed where it should be: on the sovereign hand of a God who oversees all of history.
A Colorful Past: A Coloring Book of Church History covers a number of people your children should know about. Check out this list of people your kids will have the opportunity to color and read about:
- 1st Century: Paul
- 2nd Century: Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr
- 3rd Century: Tertullian
- 4th Century: Emperor Constantine, Athanasius, Augustine
- 5th Century: Patrick of Ireland
- 6th Century: Columba
- 7th Century: Gregory the Great
- 8th Century: Boniface, Charlemagne
- 9th Century: Gottschalk
- 10th Century: Vladimir of Kiev
- 11th Century: Anselm of Canterbury
- 12th Century: Bernard of Clairvaux, Peter Waldo
- 13th Century: Thomas Aquinas
- 14th Century: John Wycliffe
- 15th Century: John Hus, Girolamo Savonarola, Desiderius Erasmus
- 16th Century: Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, Thomas Cranmer, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Heinrich Bullinger, John Calvin, John Knox, Lady Jane Grey, William Perkins
- 17th Century: John Owen, John Bunyan, Matthew Henry
- 18th Century: Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield
- 19th Century: William Carey, Charles Spurgeon
- 20th Century: Abraham Kuyper, J. Gresham Machen
Let your children color their way to a knowledge of important figures from Christian history. You’ll want to grab a copy for each of your children.
Historical Coloring Books – Fun Tools to Use
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More Coloring Books for Kids
There are so many wonderful historical coloring books to choose from. Take a look at this great list of coloring books for your kids!
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Bible Resources for Your Kids
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Christian Biographies for Kids | Christian History for Kids | Theology for Kids
Christian History Matters for Our Kids.
History matters. Now, more than ever, we see how important it is for our children to know and understand history and the Bible.
Here’s why:
- God is the sovereign ruler of all things. It’s important for our kids to see his hand in the history of nations and in the lives of both peasants and kings.
- Christian history is the story of our family history. Our kids get to see how people who love Jesus follow him.
- Understanding history can help our kids learn historic and biblical theology. They learn what the Bible says and what that means for us. They also see when the study of Scripture has taken important turns that have changed the Church.
- Reading Christian biographies and history can be a wonderful way for kids to think outside their own time and culture. God’s Church spans centuries and includes people from every nation.
- Christian biographies help kids consider their own faith, walk with Jesus, and the impact their witness may one day have on others–and on history.
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