A Simple Visual Choice Board for Coloring Time

A small picture-based choice board can make the next step in a coloring activity easier to see. Keep it simple, predictable, and responsive to the child.

Set up the activity

Choose three or four options the child can actually access, such as “pick a page,” “color,” “show or save,” and “finished.” Use small drawings or familiar page thumbnails alongside short words. Point to the current choice and allow time to respond by speaking, pointing, or moving a picture. The board should describe available options, not demand that every child complete them in order.

Leave room for the child’s choices

Head Start notes that visual supports can help children engage across routines and activities, and suggests discussing pictures to generate play ideas. Adapt the board with the child and family, use the communication methods already familiar to them, and remove any step that creates pressure. A visual board is not a treatment plan or a substitute for individualized support from the child’s team.

Choose the pages

Start with the Easy Coloring Pages collection. Combine your selected pages with the PDF creator.

Make the board together and keep it flexible

Start with three picture cards: choose a page, color or draw, and finished. Add a “take a break” card if that is a useful option for this child. Use photographs, simple sketches, or familiar printable thumbnails; pair each with one short phrase. Show the board before the activity, point to one option at a time, and wait for the child to choose by pointing, speaking, looking, or moving a card.

When the child changes their mind, move the card rather than insisting on the original sequence. “Finished” can mean stopping, saving the page, or switching activities; it does not need to mean the page is complete. For a group, each child can have their own small choice board or use a shared board with movable name markers.

Head Start describes visual supports as useful across routines and recommends discussing pictures to help generate play ideas. Ask the child and family which pictures and communication methods are familiar. Review the board after a few uses: remove confusing steps and keep only choices that are genuinely available.