Two penguin drawings, one to a sheet. A standing penguin in a bobble hat and a ribbed scarf, with the wings, the webbed feet and the oval front panel all drawn as separate shapes, and a plainer penguin built from fewer pieces for a younger child.
Why a penguin is a good first colouring subject
A penguin is a drawing with its own colour plan built in. The front panel is a large pale shape, the back and the wings are a large dark one, and the feet and the beak are the two small bright bits. A child who cannot think what to do with a blank reindeer usually knows exactly what to do with a penguin.
The hat and the scarf are the only parts that are a free choice, which keeps the sheet quick. The hat has a brim band with three small triangles set into it and the scarf is ribbed, so both are already divided into sections rather than being single blocks to fill.
The two drawings
The dressed penguin has the bobble hat, a scarf round the neck with one end hanging down the front, two wings held against the body and two webbed feet on a ground line. It takes a child of six or seven a sensible twenty minutes.
The plainer penguin drops most of that and keeps a rounded body, the front panel, two wings, two feet and a face. It is the one for a nursery group, and the Chunky line weight widens the gaps between the panel and the body edge noticeably.
Using it as a cut-out
The plain penguin is one closed outline with nothing poking out of it, so printed on 160gsm card it cuts out in a single pass and stands up in a folded card base. A row of them along a windowsill is a quicker classroom display than anything that needs assembly.
Questions
- How many penguin colouring pages are there?
- Two drawings: a penguin in a bobble hat and scarf with the wings and feet picked out, and a plainer penguin built from larger shapes for younger children. Both print at three line weights.
- Which penguin sheet is best for a preschooler?
- The plainer one with the line weight set to Chunky. The body, the front panel and the wings are all large rounded shapes, and the thicker outline widens the gaps between them.
- Do I need colour ink to print these?
- No. Both sheets are line art, so print in black and white or greyscale. That is also much cheaper per sheet if you are running off a set for a whole class.
- Can the penguin be cut out?
- Yes. The plainer drawing is a single closed outline with nothing sticking out of it, so on 160gsm card it cuts out in one pass and will stand in a folded card base.