GulluColor by Number for Kids: What It Is, What It Practices and What Age It Suits
Short answer: Color by number is a picture divided into numbered areas, with a key that tells which color goes with each number. It gives practice in recognizing numbers, matching color words and following a key, but we found no study that measures what children learn from it. NAEYC's description of art with instructions and a set result fits it, so it works as a matching game next to free coloring, not in place of it.
What is color by number?
It is a coloring page with a code. Each area of the picture carries a number, and a key at the side says which color belongs to each number. For example, 1 is red, 2 is blue and 3 is yellow. The child finds every 1 and colors it red, and so on until the picture appears.
Common versions:
- Color by number. The classic form, usually with crayons or pencils.
- Paint by number. The same idea with paint, often sold as kits.
- Color by letter, shape or word. The code uses letters, shapes or short words in place of numbers.
- Color by sum. Each area holds a small sum, such as 2 + 1, and the answer points to the color. This is for children who already add.
In every version there is one correct result. That is the main difference from an ordinary coloring page, where the child chooses the colors.
What does color by number practice?
It asks a child to do three things at once: read a number, look it up in the key, and find the matching crayon. We describe those steps here. We do not claim learning gains, because we found no study of color by number in young children.
What a page asks for:
- Recognizing numerals. Telling a 2 from a 5 on the page.
- Matching. Finding the same numeral in the key.
- Color names. Reading or hearing "blue" and picking the blue crayon.
- Following a rule. Doing what the key says, not what you feel like.
- Hand control. Filling small areas, as with any coloring. NAEYC lists drawing or writing with crayons, pencils and markers among activities that build fine motor skills (NAEYC).
These skills appear in official milestone lists, which is useful for judging when a child is ready. It is not proof that color by number teaches them. A child can get the same practice from counting stairs, sorting socks by color or playing a board game.
What age is color by number right for?
For most children, somewhere between 4 and 6, starting with very simple keys. There is no official age for color by number. The CDC milestone lists show when the skills it depends on usually arrive.
| Age | What the CDC lists | What that means for a color by number page |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years | A tip to play counting games, noting that children this age are starting to learn about numbers | Too early for most to use a key alone. Try two colors with an adult reading the key aloud |
| 4 years | Names a few colors of items. Holds a crayon between fingers and thumb | Keys with two to four colors and big areas, with help finding the numerals |
| 5 years | Counts to 10. Names some numbers between 1 and 5 when you point to them. Follows rules when playing games. Pays attention for 5 to 10 minutes during activities | Keys using numbers 1 to 5 can be done more independently, on a page small enough to finish in one short sitting |
Sources: CDC, 3 years; CDC, 4 years; CDC, 5 years. The right-hand column is our reading of those milestones, not CDC advice.
Two things follow from the table. A page with numbers up to 10 or 12 assumes more than the 5-year list describes. And a child who cannot yet name colors or numerals will find the page frustrating, so wait or simplify.
Signs a page is too hard: your child asks "Is this right?" after every area, guesses colors, or wants to stop. Offer a plain coloring page and try again in a few months.
Is color by number or free coloring better?
They do different jobs. Free coloring and drawing are open-ended. Color by number is a puzzle with one answer.
NAEYC, the US early childhood association, describes two kinds of art experience (NAEYC):
| Process-focused art | Product-focused art |
|---|---|
| No step-by-step instructions | Children have instructions to follow |
| No sample to follow | There is a finished product in mind |
| No right or wrong way | There is a right and a wrong way to proceed |
| The art is unique and entirely the child's own | The finished art all looks the same |
Color by number sits clearly in the right-hand column. It has instructions, a set result and a right answer, and every correct page looks alike. NAEYC's article does not mention color by number itself. That placement is ours, based on its lists.
NAEYC notes that children doing product-focused art may say things like "Is this right?" or "I can't do it." Its open-ended list includes plain drawing with pencils, markers or crayons.
A fair way to use both:
- Treat color by number as a game, like a puzzle or a matching card game, not as art time.
- Keep blank paper and ordinary coloring pages as the main offer. On those, the child chooses.
- Let the code be broken. If your child decides the 3s should be pink, that is their picture.
For the broader question, see are coloring pages bad for kids and benefits of coloring for kids.
How do teachers use it for math and sight words?
By changing what goes in the code. The page stays the same and the key carries the lesson. These are common formats, described here without any claim about results.
- Numeral recognition. Areas marked 1 to 5, the key shows a color for each.
- Counting. The key shows dots, and the child counts them to find the number.
- Addition and subtraction. Each area holds a small sum for children who already add.
- Letters. Color every B brown and every G green.
- Sight words. Areas carry short words such as "the" or "and," each with its own color.
- Color words. The key is written in words only, with no color swatch, so the child reads "red."
If you use it in class, a few cautions follow from the sources above:
- Match the code to the group. The CDC lists naming some numbers from 1 to 5 at age 5, so preschool keys should stay small.
- Offer it as a choice. NAEYC lists the whole class doing one project at the same time as a trait of product-focused art.
- Keep an open-ended option nearby, such as blank paper at the same table.
- Check understanding another way too. A finished page shows a child followed the key. It does not show they can count.
Our guide to coloring activities for the preschool classroom has ways to bring counting into ordinary coloring pages, such as counting the items on a page before coloring them.
Does Gullu have color by number?
No. Gullu is not a color-by-number app. It is a free-coloring app: the child picks the page, the colors and the tools. There are no numbered areas and no key, in the app or in the printables on this site.
What Gullu does have for numbers is a Numbers land with 10 pages, one for each digit from 0 to 9. Each page is a large numeral to color, drawn with things to count. They are ordinary coloring pages. You can see them on the number coloring pages, where Number 0 is free to print. The app is designed for ages 3 to 7 and has more than 1,000 pages in 47 lands.
If you want color by number specifically, Gullu is not the right pick. You can make a simple one at home: draw a picture with five or six big areas, write a number in each, and draw a key with crayon dots.
To turn a plain number page into number practice without a code, count the objects on the page together, then ask your child to color "three of the balloons."
FAQ
What is the difference between color by number and paint by number?
Only the material. Both use a numbered picture and a key. Color by number uses crayons, pencils or markers, and paint by number uses paint.
Is color by number good for preschoolers?
It can be an enjoyable matching game for a child who already knows a few colors and numerals. We found no study that measures learning from it, and NAEYC's lists place this kind of activity on the product-focused side, so keep free drawing and coloring as the main activity.
Can a 3-year-old do color by number?
Usually only with an adult reading the key. The CDC describes 3-year-olds as starting to learn about numbers, and lists naming a few colors at 4.
Does color by number teach math?
It gives practice in recognizing numerals, and in sums if the code uses them. Whether that leads to better math has not been studied, as far as we could find.
Is Gullu a color-by-number app?
No. Gullu is a free-coloring app with a Numbers land of 10 pages for the digits 0 to 9. It has no color-by-number pages.
Sources
- NAEYC, Bongiorno, L. (2014), "How Process-Focused Art Experiences Support Preschoolers," Teaching Young Children 7(3): https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/feb2014/process-art-experiences
- NAEYC, "Help Your Child Build Fine Motor Skills": https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/help-your-child-build-fine-motor-skills
- CDC, "Milestones by 3 Years": https://www.cdc.gov/act-early/milestones/3-years.html
- CDC, "Milestones by 4 Years": https://www.cdc.gov/act-early/milestones/4-years.html
- CDC, "Milestones by 5 Years": https://www.cdc.gov/act-early/milestones/5-years.html
