Adult coloring books are a stress-busting trend that is taking the world by storm, as I pointed out in my last post with some of my favorite coloring books for adults. More recently, coloring clubs are rising to prominence as a social activity meant to relieve stress with some fellow colorists.
These coloring clubs are getting more common but that doesn’t mean there is one nearby. If you’re looking for a club nearby, don’t forget to check out our list of coloring clubs in the United States! If there isn’t, it’s not that hard to start one! (Then, don’t forget to submit it to our list!)
Organizing Your First Event
First, you’ll want to gauge the interest in your community. Do you already have a few friends who would join you no matter what? Great! If not, you can ask on Facebook or Craigslist and see what kind of response you get. Decide whether you want to specify that your event is an adults-only event (think coloring books and a few bottles of wine!) or an all-ages event.
Assuming you get some interest, you’ll want to set a date and create a way to keep in touch with members. You could start a Facebook page, which is free, or start a group on Meetup, which is $10/month with under 50 members and $15 a month after that. These dues can be collected from your members. If you can afford it, I really recommend Meetup because of its community of people looking for stuff to do, and for the great organization tools it offers.
Choosing a good location is also important. Make sure you pick somewhere with large, flat tables and room to spread out. Contact a few coffee shops or restaurants in your area to see if they’d have the room to accommodate a meetup; you’ll probably appeal to them if you can bring a guaranteed crowd to their establishment during evening hours of a less popular weekday and can provide a rough estimate of attendees. Alternatively, public libraries often have free meeting spaces on a first come, first served basis.
What to Bring to Your First Event
For your first coloring club event, try to get everyone to bring a friend as well as their own books and supplies.
You’ll want to bring some extra coloring books – I recommend taking a few Creative Haven coloring books
It’s also not a bad idea to take some extra coloring supplies – stick to the big packs of inexpensive but decent quality supplies. For colored pencils, check Amazon’s deals on this Sargent 50 pack and this Prismacolor Scholar 60 pack. You’ll need at least one and maybe several sharpeners and erasers (here’s a 3 pack).
There are not many options for cheap but high quality fine tipped markers for adult coloring books. 
However, sets like this 50 count fine-tipped marker pack by Sargent or this 100 count fine-tipped marker pack by Pro Art are decent quality and certainly good enough for a casual coloring event.
You should encourage your attendees to bring supplies, because the more the merrier! However, bringing extra coloring books (especially the Creative Haven ones with the rip-out individual pages) and coloring supplies gives everyone a chance to participate if they forget or are just getting into the hobby.
Keeping the Coloring Club Going
Pass out informational fliers about your Meetup group or Facebook page at the event, and ask everyone to join the group in order to get updates about your next meeting. You could also pass around a sheet to get everyone’s email address to add them to a club newsletter. Schedule the next event early so that you can tell people when to expect the next meeting. Monthly or biweekly is a great interval for meeting up as a coloring club.
Have a particularly artistic or creative group? Offer up workshops or short lessons in different coloring techniques or to try related crafts like Zentangle.
No matter how you do it, a coloring club is going to be an amazing addition to your community and a fun way to relax and meet new people in your neighborhood. So grab an adult coloring book today and get organizing!
CC photos by Jessica Weiss & Irene Cortez
Need need one here!
Start one!! :) Or check out your local libraries to see if they’ve got one in the works — seems like a lot of them have been jumping on the bandwagon.
I put together a list of all the active US coloring clubs I could find, so check this out to see if I found one in your area: http://cleverpedia.com/coloring-meetups/
Good luck! -Adrienne
I am in SW Idaho and tried to start a County-based coloring group. I had a decent interest to begin with but the local meet ups were basically just my closest friends. My group is on Facebook and stands at 47 members. There are only 3 of us that actually meet up each week. My one friend and I are both disabled and suffer with chronic pain and since we aren’t generating any interest from any of the other members, I changed the focus of the group to Chronic Pain Therapy. I’ve just made this change and I’m really not sure how to promote it now. I’ve not lost any of the original members since changing the focus or the name, yet I’m not getting any new interest either. I could really use some advice!
Hi Karma, so sorry I am just seeing this now! I’m sorry you’ve had difficulty growing your group! If you haven’t yet, I would definitely start a meetup.com group and/or Facebook group for your Chronic Pain Therapy group. Through these sites, you can communicate with interested members, agree on times to meet, and give people a place to find you. I would also suggest working with your local library — many are happy to give groups a place to meet and some will even help you advertise! Hope some of this helps!!
I would love to start a club in Cincinnati. I would love to use this activity to meet new people. You gave some really good tips. I would meet once a month and have a small gift for the person that brings the most people. I would also put all cell phones in a basket until we are done coloring so we can really get to know each other.
Love that idea, Elaine!! That would really drive home the idea of unplugging and giving yourself time to relax. If you do start a club, be sure to submit it to our list! :)