No two zebras share a stripe pattern, so no two colored sheets match.
Zebra coloring pages are one of the easiest wins in a kid’s art pile, because the animal arrives already black and white and the whole background is left up to them. There are 25 free printable sheets below.
Chunky cartoon sheets sit at one end for preschoolers, ordinary savanna scenes fill the middle, and two fine-line portraits will keep an older child busy for a whole afternoon.
Grab the black crayon first, then everything else. The sky, the grass and the sunset are where the color actually goes.
Zebra at the Waterhole
A zebra lowers its head to drink, water dripping from its muzzle into the ripples below. The stripes here are long and flowing, so this sheet suits a child who can already stay inside a narrow line. Soft blues and grays in the water and a warm tan on the dry bank finish it well. Print it on cardstock if your child wants to work over the water with a wet brush.
This young zebra faces straight out with its ears up and a bristly mane standing along the neck. Clumps of tall grass fill the bottom of the sheet and give little hands an easy place to start. Greens at the base and a plain wash of sky behind the body keep the whole thing simple. Good for early elementary colorers who want one big shape and a few details.
Head down in a field of thin grass blades, this zebra is busy eating and pays you no attention at all. The body fills most of the page in profile, so the stripes across the back and flank are wide and easy to work through. The grass is drawn in fine strokes, which makes it a good spot to practice light green over a darker green. Older kids can shade under the belly to make the body look round.
Straight horizontal lines streak across the page behind this galloping zebra to show speed. The legs are stretched front and back and the mane and tail are swept out flat. Leave the speed lines white, or trace them in a pale yellow so the animal still reads first. It is a strong sheet for a child who is ready to color something moving rather than something standing still.
A broad flat-topped tree spreads right across the top of this page and the zebra stands quietly beneath the branches. The canopy is drawn as clusters of small leaves, so it takes a while to fill and rewards patience. Layer two or three greens through the leaves and a rusty brown on the trunk. This is one of the busier sheets in the set, so give an older child plenty of time with it, and try our tree coloring pages if the branches turn out to be the best part.
A cartoon foal kicks up a back leg with its tail flicked high and its nose drawn as one solid black shape. The eye is large and round, the outline is thick, and there is almost no detail inside the body. Fat crayons work fine here, which makes it one of the best pages in the set for a preschooler. A splash of yellow behind the body reads as afternoon sun.
A tall layered rock face rises along the left side while the zebra stands out on open ground beside it. The rock is drawn as long curved bands, which is an easy place to blend two shades of gray. Small stones and grass tufts break up the ground line at the bottom. Older colorers can push the rock darker so the striped body jumps forward.
This one is a head and neck study, drawn in profile with the muzzle blocked in solid black. Look for the tiny dots stippled along the lower neck, a texture you can leave white or fill with the lightest gray you own. The mane runs up over the crest as a row of short spikes. With no background at all, it suits a child who wants to focus on one thing and actually finish it.
Two zebras stand shoulder to shoulder facing you, their necks crossing in a neat X. The stripes are bold and wide, and the hooves and muzzles are already filled in solid black. Give each animal a slightly different color behind it so the crossed necks stay easy to read. It is a friendly page for two children to share, one zebra each.
One zebra walks toward you at the front of the page while the rest of the herd fills the space behind it. The animals overlap, so the trick is to finish the front one first and keep the ones behind it lighter. Grass is scratched in right across the lower half. There is a lot to cover here, so treat it as a quiet afternoon project rather than a five minute one.
A young zebra looks straight at you with long lashes over each eye and fine whiskers around the muzzle. Only the head, neck and front legs are drawn, and the rest of the page is blank. That empty space is an invitation, so let your child fill it with a savanna, a barn or a birthday hat. Soft gray in the muzzle and a warm brown in the eyes finishes it off.
A leafy branch hangs into the top corner and this zebra has already pulled a few leaves into its mouth. The mane sits along the crest of the neck as a thick brush. Using two greens, one for the branch and one for the leaves being eaten, makes the little story easy to follow. The face is turned toward the viewer, so it is a useful sheet for practicing eyes and nostrils.
Two tree trunks frame this sheet and the zebra stands in the open ground between them. Round bushes sit low on both sides and a soft ground line runs across the bottom. Plenty of white space is left in the middle, which is a relief after the busier scenes. Try a sunset wash of orange and pink in that gap behind the animal.
This zebra has folded its legs and settled into the grass with its eyes shut. Long blades run right around the body, so the animal looks tucked into the field rather than sitting on top of it. Keep the grass in light greens and the black and white body stays the center of attention. A calm page for the end of a long day.
A small bird has landed on this zebra’s back and neither of them looks bothered about it. The outlines are thick and the leg stripes are drawn as simple rings, so a younger child can manage the whole sheet. The bird is the one place to break out of black and white, so let your child choose any color for it. More feathered friends are waiting in our bird coloring pages.
All four hooves are off the ground as this young zebra gallops across the sheet. The mane stands up in a stiff brush and the tail streams out behind. A patch of grass in the bottom corner is the only background, which leaves room to add your own dust or sky. Save it for a child who likes drawing extra motion into a picture.
The head fills nearly the whole sheet, drawn in fine thin lines rather than bold outlines. The mane flows back in soft strands instead of the stiff brush on the other pages. Colored pencils suit this one far better than markers, which will flood the narrow gaps between stripes. Hand it to an older child, or keep it for yourself when you want something slow.
Raindrops fall across the whole background while the zebra faces you, water beading along its back and shoulders. Puddles and grass are drawn in around the hooves. Leave the drops white against a gray or blue sky and the weather reads instantly. It is a good page to color while you talk about wet and dry seasons on the savanna.
A butterfly drifts near the top corner while a cartoon zebra stands in the grass below, looking the other way entirely. The butterfly is the one part of this sheet that can take absolutely any color. Thick lines and a simple body shape make the rest easy for small hands. If the wings turn out to be the favorite bit, there are plenty more in our butterfly pages.
Two zebras lean their heads together in a close crop that runs both bodies off the edge of the page. The manes stand up as tall spiky brushes along both necks. Because the heads overlap, one flat background color behind them helps the two animals separate. A sweet sheet to turn into a card front for a grandparent.
A foal stands in a patch of grass with its ears up and a short mane sticking straight along its neck. The proportions are young: big head, short body, long legs. Stripes on the legs are simple bands, so this is a manageable page for a first grader. There is empty space beside it if your child wants to draw the mother in.
Wind pulls this zebra’s mane out into long streaming strands and scatters leaves across the sky behind it. The grass at the bottom is drawn in wavy lines that run the same direction as the mane. Warm oranges and browns in the flying leaves make the movement obvious. There is a lot of fine line work in that mane, so it suits an older child with time to spare.
The body faces away and the head turns back over the shoulder to look straight at you. Small dots are stippled through parts of the coat to suggest shading, and you can leave them white or dust them with gray. No background is drawn, so the pose is the whole story. Good for a child who has started noticing how animals actually stand.
Ears pricked forward, this zebra has stopped mid step and turned its head. Tufts of grass sit around the hooves and the rest of the page is left open. Simple leg bands and a clear body outline keep it easy to color. Ask your child what the zebra just heard, then let them draw it into the empty space.
This cartoon zebra grins with its mouth wide open and its teeth showing. The lines are thick and the shapes are big, which makes it forgiving for a preschooler holding a fat crayon. A bright color behind the head sells the joke. It is the silliest sheet in the set and usually the first one kids grab.
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What Age Is Each Zebra Coloring Page Best For?
Thick-outlined cartoon sheets suit ages three to six, ordinary outlines suit about six to ten, and the two fine-line portraits suit older kids and adults. The cartoon sheets in this set, meaning the playful foal, the zebra and butterfly and the laughing zebra, have thick outlines, big open shapes and almost nothing drawn inside the body, which is what a three to six year old needs to feel successful with a crayon.
The ordinary outlines sit in the middle. The grazing zebra, the herd on the move and the rainy day sheet have more stripes to work through and a background to decide about, which suits roughly six to ten.
Two pages are drawn in the finest lines. The profile portrait and the close-up are drawn in fine narrow lines that only colored pencils will do justice, so save those for older kids and for adults who want something slow.
A quick test before you print. Hold the page at arm’s length, and if you can still see white gaps between the stripes, a younger child can color it.
What Can Kids Learn While They Color These Zebras?
Kids can learn that a zebra’s skin is black under the white stripes, that no two zebras share the same stripe pattern, and that the stripes help keep horse flies from landing. Start with the skin. A zebra’s skin is dark brown or black underneath, and the white bands are simply hair without pigment, so the animal is dark with white markings rather than the other way round. A Grevy’s zebra carries about 80 stripes in all (1).
No two zebras share a stripe pattern either, which is why biologists compare zebra coats to human fingerprints. Point that out before your child starts the herd sheet and it turns into a spotting game.
The stripes also do a job. Researchers who filmed horse flies around zebras and around plain-coated horses found the flies stayed on a zebra for about 1.20 seconds against about 10.06 seconds on a horse, and that far fewer of them managed to land at all (2). “Horse flies just seem to fly over zebra stripes or bump into them, but this didn’t happen with horses,” said Professor Tim Caro of the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences (3).
Grevy’s zebra is the one to mention if your child asks whether zebras need help. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo puts the remaining wild population at fewer than an estimated 2,500, and reports that a Grevy’s mother carries her foal for 390 days, the longest pregnancy of any horse relative.
Activities to Do With Zebra Coloring Pages
A finished coloring page does not have to go straight onto the fridge. These sheets cut, fold and glue well, and the ideas below turn a colored zebra into something your child can play with or keep.
Create a Savanna Diorama
Turn a shoebox into a stretch of African grassland. Color a zebra, cut it out, and glue it to a strip of cardstock so it will stand up on its own. Paint the inside of the box with a low horizon and a big sky, then glue dried grass or thin twigs along the bottom. Stand the zebra in the middle and tape the acacia tree sheet to the back wall for depth.
Zebra Pattern Art
Skip the black crayon and build the stripes out of something your child can feel. Black yarn, torn strips of black paper and black tissue all work, and gluing them down one stripe at a time is real practice for small fingers. The Laughing Zebra and Two Zebras Crossing Necks sheets have the boldest, widest stripes, so start there. Let the page dry flat before you hang it, or the yarn pulls the paper out of shape.
Make a Zebra Mask
The face-first sheets in this set turn into a wearable mask in about ten minutes. Color one, glue it to a paper plate or thin cardboard, then cut around the outside of the head. Cut eye holes where the drawn eyes sit, punch a hole on each side and thread elastic through. A hole reinforcer sticker at each side stops the elastic tearing out on the second wear.
Pop-Up Greeting Cards
These sheets make good birthday cards once you shrink them. Print at 25 or 50 percent so you get several zebras per page, then color one and cut it out. Fold construction paper in half for the card and glue a small folded paper tab to the back of the cutout. Attach the free end of that tab inside the card so the zebra springs forward when it opens.
Educational Fact File
Pair the art with a bit of science by writing on the back of each finished page. One fact per sheet is plenty, whether that is the dark skin, the fingerprint-unique stripes, or the 390 day Grevy’s pregnancy. Staple the pages along one edge once the pile is deep enough and your child has a homemade zebra guide. Older kids can add a contents page and number the sheets.
FAQs
Are Zebras Black With White Stripes or White With Black Stripes?
Black with white stripes. The skin under a zebra’s coat is dark brown or black, and the pale bands are hair that never received pigment, so zoologists treat the dark coat as the base and the white as the marking. It settles a playground argument that has run for decades. Tell your child before they start and watch them decide which color to lay down first.
What Is the Best Paper for These Coloring Pages?
Plain printer paper is fine for crayons and colored pencils. Switch to cardstock for markers, watercolor or anything wet, because thin paper buckles and lets the ink bleed through onto the sheet underneath. Cardstock also holds up if you plan to cut a zebra out for a mask or a diorama. Print at full scale rather than fit-to-page so the outlines stay crisp.
Can I Use These Pages for a Classroom Lesson?
Yes, these zebra coloring pages are free for personal and classroom use. Teachers pair them with units on African grasslands, animal camouflage, or pattern and symmetry in art. The two fine-line portraits also work as a quiet activity for older students who finish early. Print one per child and keep a few spares, because the busier savanna scenes take more than one sitting.
Why Do Zebras Have Stripes?
Fly control is the explanation with the most direct evidence behind it. Filmed trials found horse flies landed on zebras for far less time than on plain-coated horses, and far fewer of them landed at all. Researchers think the stripes disrupt the fly’s visual system as it comes in to land. Camouflage in tall grass, confusing predators at a distance and cooling the body have all been proposed as well, and none of those has been measured as clearly. It is a nice question to leave open with an older child.
How Do I Print These Coloring Sheets?
Click the image you want, then print the full-size version that opens from your browser. Choosing portrait orientation and full scale keeps the whole zebra on the page. If you want a set, open each sheet first and save it, then send them to the printer together. A draft or economy setting saves ink and still gives clean outlines to color inside.
What Colors Should I Use Besides Black and White?
Put the color in the background and leave the animal alone. Greens and yellows suit the grass, blues work for the water and the rain, and warm oranges and reds turn any of these scenes into a sunset. Kids who want a colored zebra can try one shade per stripe instead of black, which looks striking on the bold cartoon sheets. Gray in the muzzle and hooves adds depth without touching the pattern.
