A good beginning coloring game is to have preschoolers see how well they can stay inside the lines of a black and white drawing. Coloring books with fun, recognizable themes, such as those with pictures of popular cartoon characters, can inspire the preschooler to focus and try harder. Give each preschooler the same picture to color in and hold a contest to see who can color best inside the lines. This will motivate preschoolers to hold the crayon steady and attempt to move it in a controlled fashion, improving their fine motor skills and concentration.
To help preschoolers understand that different areas of a picture should have color contrast, you can lead a color-by-numbers game. This can be done in a coloring book, on a single picture or on the board at the front of the classroom. Draw a picture that requires the use of different colors for accurate representation, such as a person wearing clothes. Number each piece of the picture differently, corresponding to a color that it might be in real life, such as the number six equals blue, and the jeans on the person are labeled number six. This also will help preschoolers learn numbers.
Sit preschoolers in a circle and give each preschooler a blank piece of paper and a few crayons. Have preschoolers start drawing a picture, giving them complete freedom to draw whatever comes to mind. After one or two minutes, blow a whistle or just say "swap!" At that time, preschoolers pass the picture to the person on their right, then continue adding to the picture given to them by their classmate. The activity is over when the children gets their original pictures returned to them.
With the show-and-tell coloring activity, you can give students a prompt or have them draw whatever comes to mind. An example of prompt might be "Draw your favorite memory with your mom or dad." After students draw for 15 or 20 minutes, have each student come up to the front of the classroom and share his artwork and his memory. Give positive feedback to each person and require five classmates to say one positive thing about the picture.