Elephant at the Waterhole Coloring Page

About this coloring page

An elephant stands beside a waterhole spraying water from its trunk, with palm trees behind and the water drawn as separate rippled bands. The elephant is the largest single shape we have put on a kids page, which makes it unusually satisfying to fill and a good choice for a child who tends to abandon drawings halfway. The water bands give somewhere to go next. Grey is the expected answer and worth resisting for a turn: elephant skin in real life picks up whatever color the dust around it is, so red, brown and even pinkish elephants are all things a child could reasonably be told about while they work. The ears and trunk are separated from the body, so a second shade can be added without any careful edging. Because the elephant covers so much of the page, print this elephant coloring sheet on slightly heavier paper if markers are involved: filling an area that large with a felt tip will buckle standard eighty gram copier paper noticeably.

Color suggestions

• Grey body, darker grey ears
• Blue water in bands, lightest at the top
• Green palm trees, sandy ground
• Dust-red elephant, which really happens

Did you know?

• An elephant's trunk contains around forty thousand muscles. A whole human body has roughly six hundred.
• Elephants are the only mammal that cannot jump. Even at a run they always keep at least one foot on the ground.