Coloring books are a thing of the past. Kids today aren't as thrilled by a basic coloring book as children a generation ago. That is because these children have been spoiled by all the fantastic new methods of coloring using the computer or with fancy markers and pens. While you might get away with a coloring book and crayons for a long car trip, don't expect your school age children to sit quietly at the table coloring pictures the old fashioned way ? there is a something better around, and they know it.

Online Coloring Pages
The computer and the internet have opened an entirely new spectrum of coloring and drawing. Adults now make very sizable livings creating, drawing and coloring pictures for computer animation including video games, movies, commercials and items most adults would never consider, such as some high-quality information websites. With this option available as a full-fledged career for adults, it is no wonder that the tools and formats used in this style of artwork have carried down to children, albeit on a smaller scale.

Kids are now able to draw online and even animate the drawings. In addition to this, one of the most popular forms of online entertainment is basic online coloring pages. If the coloring books of yesterday are fading away, coloring pages for kids on the internet have definitely taken their place. The coloring pages for kids can contain any style of picture imaginable, and some websites, such as http://www.thedollpalace.com/ , create their own coloring pages using some of the site's most popular dolls.

Coloring Page Communities
Some websites offer very basic coloring pages (http://www.thedollpalace.com/coloring-pages/) for kids that can be printed off and colored. Others create interactive coloring pages that require children to work on the computer itself to color the images. Unlike the basic websites, the interactive coloring pages are often found on more complex websites that act as a full-fledged community. The coloring pages are only one of many things available to do on a particular site.

On TheDollPalace.com, for example, dolls of every shape and size are available for children to play with and create, and then favorites are created into coloring pages. When dolls and coloring pages are complete, there are still interesting articles to read, personalities about the dolls to create, contests to take part in, and even forums and chats to visit to get to know other doll and coloring enthusiasts.

While coloring pages may seem simple in the minds of parents and other adults these days, they are often the passport into a more creative style of play. Yes, your child will simply color the picture online, but by doing so, she is learning not only to stay inside the lines, but to balance color and texture and to simply use her imagination. If a coloring page for kids is the first step into a full-fledged imagination based entertainment package, it is unlikely many parents will find them simple for long.