Kitten Coloring Pages

Search for kitten coloring pages and the same drawing comes back over and over: a circle for a head, two triangles for ears, a smile and three whiskers a side. It is a perfectly good first kitten. It is not thirty-eight of them, and a child who has coloured it twice is done with it.

What makes a kitten worth drawing is what it is doing. Asleep it is a closed circle with the tail wrapped round and the tip tucked under its chin. Mid pounce it is a coiled spring, back end low, shoulders down, both front paws off the floor. Change the coat and it changes again: a tabby is a set of bold bands a child can fill one at a time, a Persian is a mass of long overlapping tufts around a flat face, and a Siamese is pale everywhere except the mask, the ears, the paws and the tail, which is four separate decisions before a single stripe is drawn. So these 38 drawings change the pose, the coat, the toy, the hiding place and the season, instead of changing the size of the same cat.

They fall into seven groups, and the groups exist because a three year old with a fat crayon and a nine year old with fineliners want opposite things from a kitten.

Six poses, from sitting still to mid pounce

The first sheet is the one children ask for by name: a kitten sitting upright, facing out, tail curled neatly round its front paws. After that it curls up asleep in a tight circle, rolls onto its back with all four paws in the air, pushes into a long stretch with its claws spread and its back arched, freezes mid pounce with its tail straight out behind for balance, and finally walks past in profile with its tail straight up and a little hook at the tip.

Six coats, and every coat colours differently

This is the axis that decides what comes out of the pencil case. The tabby has its stripes drawn as separate closed bands down the back, sides, legs and tail, with the M on its forehead. The Siamese has its mask, ears, paws and tail marked off as their own enclosed shapes. The Persian is long overlapping tufts around a flat round face with a huge plumed tail. The Maine Coon has tufted ear tips, a ruff and fur between its toes. The calico is big irregular patches, which is the one sheet in the set where a child gets to choose where each colour goes. And the Scottish Fold has both ears folded flat forward against a very round head.

Six toys, because a kitten alone is a kitten doing nothing

A ball of yarn held in both front paws with a loose thread unwinding twice across the floor. A feather on a stick, every barb its own shape, with the kitten up on its hind legs reaching. A toy mouse with a stitched seam and a string tail. A cardboard box with only a head and two paws showing over the rim. A jingle ball with a star cut into it, rolling fast with motion lines behind. And a paper bag with a kitten climbing out of one end of it.

Five places to curl up

A round wicker basket with the weave drawn as a proper over and under grid. A bigger oval basket with three kittens crowded into it. A teacup on a saucer with a tiny kitten looking over the rim. A terracotta flower pot with daisies growing out of it beside the kitten. And a quilted cushion bed with a ruffled edge and a food bowl on the floor.

A kitten for every season

Spring is a flower crown and a butterfly landing on the nose. Summer is a jump at a scatter of butterflies over sunflowers. Autumn is a deep pile of leaves with one balanced on the kitten's head. Winter is a knitted scarf wound twice round the neck, with the ribbing drawn in, and a small snowman. Christmas is a soft hat, a bauble to bat at and presents under the tree.

Nobody wants to be a kitten on their own

Four sheets with somebody else on them. A mother cat lying down washing her kitten with her tail curled round them both. Two kittens play wrestling, one on its back with its paws up. A kitten and a puppy sitting side by side over one shared bowl. And a girl kneeling with a kitten held carefully in both hands.

Thick lines and fine lines

The two ends of the collection. Two sheets are drawn for small hands: a kitten built from one big circle and one big oval with no narrow gaps anywhere, and an enormous kitten face that touches all four margins. At the other end sit a realistic kitten whose coat is hundreds of separate fur strokes, a mandala with a kitten head at the centre of rings of petals, paw prints and fish, and a zentangle panelled into stripes, dots, spirals, scales and cross hatching.

What age are these kitten coloring pages for?

Three to ten years old. The two beginner sheets use very thick outlines and wide open areas that a three year old can stay inside. The poses, the toys, the baskets and the seasons suit five to eight. The mandala, the zentangle and the realistic fur sheet are fine line work for older children.