Welcome back to another exciting update for our Playful Prehistoric Pals Vol. 2 collection! This week, we are thrilled to share a fresh batch of coloring pages that take our adorable ancient friends out of the dense jungle and into vibrant prehistoric waters, skies, and scenic landscapes.
To help your little artists bring these new pages to life, we have put together some fun and easy shading tips focused entirely on coloring nature!
Water scenes are a fantastic way for children to practice using different shades of the same color. In our newest river scene, a friendly crested dinosaur is having a blast cooling off in the water.
Coloring Tip: To make the river bubbles look transparent and shiny, encourage kids to outline the bubbles in a dark blue or purple, leaving the center mostly uncolored. Adding a tiny curved line of light blue inside the bubble gives it a fun, 3D popping effect! For the river itself, sweeping horizontal strokes using a mix of light blue and teal will create the illusion of a gentle current.
Prehistoric skies weren't just blue—they were filled with incredible flying reptiles and colorful weather!
Coloring Tip: When tackling the rainbow behind our soaring Pteranodon, this is a great moment to teach children about color blending. If using colored pencils, have students lightly overlap the edges of their colors (like blending the red slightly into the orange, and the yellow into the green) to create a seamless gradient. For the clouds, a very light touch of gray or pale blue at the bottom edges makes them look fluffy and full of rain.
The ancient world was filled with giant ferns and fascinating plant life that provided endless snacks for our gentle giants.
Coloring Tip: Plants don't have to be just one flat shade of green! Challenge your young artists to use at least three different greens on the thick curly ferns. Starting with a bright yellow-green on the tips where the sun hits, and using a dark forest green near the bubbling mud pool, adds wonderful depth to the vegetation.
Our prehistoric pals love to explore, and sometimes they stumble upon sparkling treasures hidden in the rocks.
Coloring Tip: Crystals and geodes are incredibly fun to color. To give the crystals a "glowing" or shiny appearance, use high contrast. Color the outer rock shell a dull, dark gray or brown, but use bright neon colors—like magenta, electric blue, or bright purple—for the crystals inside. Leaving thin white streaks on the flat sides of the crystals will instantly make them look reflective and glass-like.
We hope these nature-focused shading tips inspire your children and students to try new techniques as they color their way through the ancient world. Grab your blue and green crayons, print out these new additions, and let the artistic adventure begin!
This article is part of Playful Prehistoric Pals Vol. 2 — browse all 20 coloring pages
