Pet Coloring Pages
Pet coloring pages feature the animals kids live with or wish for: dogs, puppies, cats, kittens, bunnies, hamsters, guinea pigs, goldfish and hedgehogs. Very simple pages suit toddlers, and detailed ones let older kids add fur and markings.
Pages to start with
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Puppy face
Very simple
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Dog in the backyard
Medium
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Sitting puppy
Very simple
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Puppy in a sunny meadow
Medium
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Cat and kitten in the garden
Easy
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Cat mandala
Detailed
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Kitten in a Santa hat
Easy
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Kitten mandala
Detailed
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Bunny under a rainbow
Easy
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Bunny mandala
Detailed
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Hamster under a rainbow
Easy
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Hamster mandala
Detailed
Children love coloring a page to look like their own pet, so ask about its markings first: a white patch, a striped tail or one floppy ear. It is also a gentle way to talk about pet care, such as fresh water, daily walks and leaving a sleeping animal alone. Many families color a pet page to welcome a new animal home.
For fur, show kids how to color in short strokes in the direction the hair grows. Lay down a light color first and a darker one on top for tabby stripes or spotted coats.
Fun facts to share while you color
- Cats spend a large part of every day sleeping.
- Dogs have a much stronger sense of smell than people do.
- Guinea pigs are not pigs at all. They are rodents that first came from South America.
- A rabbit's front teeth never stop growing, so rabbits chew hay and grass to wear them down.
- Hedgehogs roll into a spiky ball when they feel scared.
Ways to use these pet pages
- Have kids color a page to match their own pet, then write the pet's name and favorite food underneath.
- Set up a pretend pet shop where colored pages are the animals and kids pay with play coins.
- Make a class graph of pets: each child colors their pet or dream pet and adds it to the right column.
- Turn a finished page into a thank-you card for a pet sitter or the vet.
Questions parents and teachers ask
How can kids make a coloring page look like their own dog or cat?
Look at a photo of the pet together and pick out its main colors and markings. Color the base coat lightly first, then add spots, stripes or patches on top.
Which pets are easiest for small children to color?
Goldfish, bunnies and cats have simple outlines that work well on very simple pages. Hedgehog spikes and long-haired dogs suit kids around six and up.
What colors can a real rabbit be?
Pet rabbits come in white, black, gray, brown, tan and mixes with spots or patches. Wild cottontail rabbits are mostly gray-brown with a white tail.