Coloring books have been proven to put the adult mind at ease. The health benefits of coloring include decreased anxiety and increased mindfulness, according to Marygrace Berberian, a certified art therapist and professor at the Graduate Art Therapy Program at New York University in a CNN article.
The process is great, but then what? Really, how many masterpieces can we fit on our refrigerator? How can we sustain the therapeutic flow?
Lynn Tallan, the program coordinator at Tifereth Israel of Columbus, Ohio, came up with a novel way to augment her coloring book bliss. Last year, a series of power outages left Tallan and some colleagues in the dark with nothing but extra time, which they helped fill with Shalom Coloring: Jewish Designs for Contemplation and Calm.
About that time, the congregation’s inclusion minyan - a group of young adults with special needs - unanimously agreed they needed new siddurim for Shabbat. The group had been using dull, decade-old packets of photocopied prayers with clip art.
“The coloring book showed up, and I was like, ‘Wow,’ we should all color different pages and make a book out of it,” Tallan said. She encouraged staff members to join together and create a new siddur using the completed Shalom Coloring pages as artwork. The group of seven support staff members got to work, coloring one or two pages each.
“We used colored pencils, sharpies, and gel pens,” said Tallan, who notes that the vibrantly-colored pages will promote more discussion among the special needs group of about 15, some of whom are non-readers.
The congregation is printing about 50 copies of the rejuvenated prayer book, which will be used for the first time on September 2nd at a special Inclusion Shabbat Service and Friday Night Dinner scheduled to be held in cooperation with the USY Social Action Weekend. In addition to the service and dinner, the weekend will include a day of volunteering, plus a dance to celebrate.
With a creative attitude, putting finished Shalom Coloring pages to use can be fun and rewarding. Here are some other crafty ideas to keep your pages alive:
Make bookmarks.
Cut and paste your colored design onto card stock or any thick paper. (Optional: Laminate, hole punch, and add a ribbon or tassel).
Turn into sukkah decorations.
Laminate, hole punch and string them up for hanging.
Use as scrapbooking paper.
Collect pages in a binder, glue photos, and add stickers.
Make a postcard to send to family and friends!
Write a message on the back and add a stamp. (Optional: Print this postcard template on card stock.)
Decorate a coffee table for your community center, office, or synagogue.
Spray images with Spray Adhesive and coat with Decoupage. See full instructions here.
Use as place mats.
Photocopy your completed Shalom Coloring page (and enlarge if necessary). Laminate, and show them off on your kitchen table.
Please remember to get permission from Behrman House before using Shalom Coloring pages in published works, such as the Tifereth Israel siddur.
Coming this fall! More Shalom Coloring: Bible Mandalas for Contemplation and Calm
The second volume of features 34 mandalas inspired by biblical stories and teachings, and includes perforated pages for easy removal, sharing, and display.
It will be available beginning October 1, 2016.
You can pre-order it now on Amazon.
