Friendly Dragon Coloring Page

About this coloring page

A dragon sitting with small wings, a curled tail and a puff of flame. The wings are divided into a few long panels, which gives a child a run of narrow areas to work through after the large body is done, and that progression from big to small is how coloring stamina gets built. The flame is the one place a bright color has an obvious job, and doing it in three shades from yellow at the centre out to red at the edge is the single quickest way to make this page look accomplished. It takes no skill, only the idea. The belly plates are separated from the body so a two-tone dragon happens without careful edging. Dragons are invented, so no color is wrong, and children usually take longer choosing here than on any other page in this category. Printed at A4 the tail curls close to the bottom edge, so print with a margin if the picture is going to be trimmed or framed. Printed as a dragon coloring sheet on heavier paper, the flame can take a marker without the color spreading into the wing panels beside it.

Color suggestions

• Green body, cream belly plates
• Red and gold wings
• Flame yellow at the centre, red at the edge
• Purple, if asked

Did you know?

• Dragons appear independently in cultures that had no contact with one another, and one common explanation is that they combine the three predators that hunted early primates: big cats, snakes and birds of prey.
• Chinese dragons are almost the opposite of European ones. They are wingless, associated with water and rain rather than fire, and regarded as benevolent bringers of good fortune.