Dinosaur Playing Soccer Colouring Page

This dinosaur stands on one back leg, arms flung out to the sides, its other foot resting on top of a soccer ball. Its face takes up most of the head: two big round eyes, two nostrils, and a wide open mouth showing a curl of tongue. A row of small rounded spikes runs down the back of its head and neck, and a jagged ridge of bumps lines the top of its long curled tail. The belly is one large rounded patch crossed by six curved stripes. Each outstretched hand has three short claws, and the ball under its foot is covered in the familiar pentagon and hexagon pattern of a football.

The belly and body give a child plenty of room to colour without worrying about staying inside tight lines, which suits a hand that is still learning to stop at an edge. The striped belly asks for a bit more care, since each stripe is its own thin strip next to the last. The soccer ball panels are the fussiest part of the page, but true to how it was drawn, the patches are oversized rather than fiddly little pentagons, so a child can still colour them without a very steady hand. The spikes along the head and tail are small and repeat, which is a good place to practise using one colour over and over.

Next to other sheets in this category, this one sits in the middle. The big open spaces make it forgiving, but the stripes, ball panels and spikes add enough small detail that a three-year-old will likely need a hand from you here and there, while a four- or five-year-old can manage most of it alone. It works well as a first "sports" colouring page, since the ball gives a natural thing to talk about while the crayons are out.