Coloring Pages: Fun Designs for Kids

The kid is bored, screens are off the table, and you need something printable in the next four minutes. Start with whatever they are obsessed with this week, since that is what decides whether a sheet gets finished or abandoned halfway: dinosaurs down to the Mosasaurus, kittens and puppies, monster trucks and Lamborghinis, Pusheen, donuts and ice cream trucks. Holidays are already drawn and waiting too, so Halloween pumpkins and haunted houses are one click away in October and gingerbread houses are ready in December.

The other half of the choice is difficulty, and it matters more than the theme. A two-year-old needs fat, forgiving outlines, which is how the toddler sheets are drawn; a second grader wants a scene with something happening in it, like a kelp forest or a fire truck rescue; and the mandalas and zentangle designs are for the grown-up who ends up coloring at the same table. Every page is free, printed in plain black outlines so it does not drain your ink, and each set holds a stack of sheets rather than one lonely page, which is the difference between ten quiet minutes and a whole afternoon.