A Pocket-Sized Kit for Everyday Waiting
Some of the longest minutes of parenthood happen at a restaurant table waiting for the food, in a doctor's office waiting for a name to be called, or in a car seat 40 minutes into a two-hour drive. A small kit with a few coloring pages and a handful of supplies can turn those minutes around. If you're planning a longer trip, our guide to coloring on vacation covers packing for flights and hotels. This one is about the everyday short waits, and how to build a kit you'll actually remember to carry.
The goal of a waiting kit
A good on-the-go kit does three things. It fits in a bag you already carry. It works without your help, so your hands stay free for ordering food or filling out forms. And it survives being dropped, sat on, and forgotten under a seat.
That rules out a lot of supplies. Skip anything with many small parts, anything that needs a flat table, and anything you'd be sad to lose.
What goes in the kit
Here's a basic setup that fits in a gallon zip bag or a small pencil pouch.
- 5 to 8 printed pages. Fold them in half or quarters to save space, or roll them into a tube. Fold lines don't hurt a coloring page.
- A hard surface. A thin clipboard, a hardcover book, or a piece of cardboard cut to page size. Restaurant tables are often sticky or wobbly, and a car lap is soft.
- Crayons or colored pencils. About 8 colors is plenty. Crayons are the safest choice for cars and restaurants. Pencils work for older kids, but bring a pencil sharpener, or pre-sharpen everything.
- A binder clip or rubber band. It holds pages to the board and keeps the whole kit together.
- A few wet wipes. Wipes handle table spills and sticky fingers.
- A zip bag for finished pages. Wet or crumpled pages shouldn't end up loose in your purse.
Optional extras: a small pack of stickers for rewarding patience, and a spare pencil in case one breaks.
Which supplies suit which spot
The right tool depends on where you're sitting.
Restaurants. Crayons are classic for a reason. They don't stain linens or the booth. Markers are a gamble because caps pop off and ink ends up on the table. Many restaurants hand out crayons with kids' menus, but those boxes are often short on colors and run out, so having your own stash helps.
Doctor and dentist waiting rooms. Quiet tools are best. Colored pencils make almost no noise. Crayons are fine. Skip anything that rattles. Keep a clipboard handy since waiting room chairs rarely come with a table.
Car rides. A clipboard on the lap is a must. Pencils are risky if the car turns sharply, and a pencil tip near a face isn't ideal. Crayons or chunky colored pencils are safer. Keep the kit in the back seat, not in the trunk. Some children get queasy coloring in a moving car, so stop if your child starts to feel unwell and look out the window instead.
Airports and train stations. Bring a few extra pages because delays happen. Fold finished ones into a back pocket of the seat in front, or into the zip bag.
Family events and church. Quiet crayons and a short stack of pages. Check the Bible coloring pages or nativity pages if you attend services where kids have to sit through a while.
Choosing pages that travel well
Not every page suits a tight spot. For short waits, look for pages that give a quick, satisfying result.
- Single subject, big shapes. A child can make real progress in 10 minutes. The simple coloring pages are designed around this.
- Familiar subjects. Animals and vehicles never fail. Try the animal pages and vehicle pages.
- Interactive pages. Letters and numbers from the alphabet hub and number hub give the child something to talk about, and you can play simple games like "find the letter B" while you wait.
- A mix for different moods. Pack some calm pages and some silly ones. A child who is wound up might prefer racing cars to a flower garden.
For long waits, add one or two detailed pages to stretch the time. A child who has finished three simple ones and still has 20 minutes to go will be glad for a bigger challenge.
Printing and prepping the kit
Prepping takes about 10 minutes at the printer. Grayscale and plain paper keep costs low. If your pages tend to cut off at the edges, check our printing guide before you run a batch.
A few prep ideas worth trying:
- Print on both sides of a sheet to double the count. Use two different pages so each side is fresh. Markers will bleed through, but crayons and pencils won't.
- Print two pages per sheet at half size for very short waits. Cut them apart. Small pages are great for restaurants where table space is tight.
- Write your child's name lightly on the back so pages don't get mixed up with a sibling's.
- Rotate the kit contents every couple of weeks. A familiar bag with new pages is a small surprise.
Keeping the kit stocked
The best kit is useless if it's empty. A few habits help.
Keep the kit in one spot, such as a hook by the door or a pocket in the diaper bag. After each outing, restock any used pages and toss broken crayons. Check supplies on the first of the month.
If you have more than one car or caregiver, make a second kit. Grandparents, babysitters, and anyone who drives the kids around will thank you.
A small zippered pouch for crayons, a clipboard, and a folder of pages in a tote bag is plenty. Resist the urge to build a huge kit. Heavy kits get left at home.
Making the wait go well
Even a good kit can flop if the timing is off. A few strategies:
- Bring it out early. Hand over the kit as soon as you sit down, before the child gets restless. It's easier to prevent boredom than to fix it.
- Save a "special" page. Keep one favorite in reserve for the moment patience is gone.
- Color together. Take a page yourself and color alongside. Children often settle when an adult joins in.
- Set a small goal. "Let's color the whole truck before the food comes." It gives the wait a shape.
- Keep expectations loose. A page gets abandoned halfway sometimes. That's fine.
When the wait is over, let your child keep the page, even if it's half done. Tuck it in the zip bag and finish it at home. Our guide on screen-free activities has more ideas for filling time without a device when coloring runs out.
A kit you can build tonight
Grab a pouch, six crayons, a clipboard, and print six pages from the categories your child likes best. That's the whole project. Put it in the bag you carry most often, and the next time a table is slow or a waiting room runs long, you'll be ready.