Moai (Easter Island) Coloring Pages

Stone Statues of Easter Island

Moai (Easter Island) are giant stone statues on Easter Island in the South Pacific Ocean.
Easter Island belongs to a country named Chile. The people on the island call it Rapa Nui.
People say there are about 900 Moai (Easter Island) on the island!
Their long noses, big eyebrows, and tightly closed lips are the special marks of their faces.

Why were the Moai (Easter Island) made?

People say the Moai (Easter Island) show the ancestors of the island people.
Most Moai (Easter Island) standing on stone platforms face the village, not the sea.
The people believed their ancestors were watching over the village.
The area became a World Heritage site in 1995 as "Rapa Nui National Park."

Rano Raraku, the Moai (Easter Island) Factory

The first coloring page shows Moai (Easter Island) lined up on the slope of a volcano named Rano Raraku.
Craftsmen carved almost all the Moai (Easter Island) out of rock from this mountain.
You can find many unfinished Moai (Easter Island) and statues waiting to be moved here.
Some look like only their heads stick out of the grass, but their bodies are actually buried under the ground!

Ahu Tongariki, Where 15 Statues Stand Side by Side

The second page is a place called Ahu Tongariki.
15 Moai (Easter Island) stand in a line with their backs to the sea.
The second Moai (Easter Island) from the right wears a red stone hat called a pukao on its head.
Try coloring them one by one from left to right as you count!
You will see that their sizes and faces are a little different.

One of the Most Remote Islands in the World

Easter Island sits in the ocean about 3,700 kilometers away from the coast of Chile in South America.
There are almost no other islands around it.
Long ago, people sailed to this far-away island by reading the stars and waves.
The name "Easter Island" came from European ships arriving on Easter, a Christian holiday.
The islanders love their island and language, calling both Rapa Nui.
Even today, the Moai (Easter Island) are precious statues that connect the islanders to their ancestors.
When you visit, the rules say you must not touch the Moai (Easter Island) or climb on the platforms.

The Stones of Moai (Easter Island) Are Gray and Brown

Moai (Easter Island) are made of stone formed from hardened volcanic ash.
After you color them gray, layer some dark brown and ochre here and there to make them look like old stone.
If you add dark shadows next to the nose, under the eyebrows, and under the chin, the face will really pop out!

Color the Pukao Red-Brown

The pukao on top of the head of Moai (Easter Island) on the second sheet is made of reddish stone.
If you color it with red-brown or brick red, it will stand out nicely against the gray Moai (Easter Island).
For the stone platform under Moai (Easter Island), color each stone using gray and dark blackish-brown to make it look like stacked rocks!

Green Grass and Blue Sky

Layer yellow-green and green for the grassy field. Make it dark in the front and light in the back.
Color the sky a bright light blue, and leave the fluffy clouds white.
If you add a little light gray just to the bottom of the clouds, they will look soft and full!

Moai (Easter Island) at Sunset Are Wonderful Too

Ahu Tongariki is also famous as a place to watch the sunrise.
If you make the sky orange and pink, and color Moai (Easter Island) dark brown, you get Moai (Easter Island) in the morning glow!
Try putting your picture next to the Great Pyramid and Sphinx of Giza coloring page to compare mysterious old stone statues!

Shadows Make the Face Look Great

The face of Moai (Easter Island) has deep hollows under the big eyebrows.
If you make it dark under the eyebrows and beside the cheeks, the eye area becomes shadowed and looks just like a real Moai (Easter Island) face!

How did they move such heavy Moai (Easter Island)?

Some Moai (Easter Island) weigh tens of tons!
For a long time, no one knew how people moved them without cars or machines.
One idea is that people used ropes to rock them and made them walk upright.
There is even an old story on the island that says, "The Moai (Easter Island) walked."

Japanese cranes helped put the Moai (Easter Island) back up

The Moai (Easter Island) at Ahu Tongariki were lying down for a very long time.
Then in 1960, a big tsunami from the Chile earthquake pushed them far inland.
Later, a Japanese crane company named Tadano sent cranes to the island to help stand them up again.
By 1995, all 15 Moai (Easter Island) were standing proudly on their base once more!

Their bodies are under the ground

The Moai (Easter Island) at Rano Raraku look like only their heads are poking out of the ground.
But when people dug up the dirt to check, they found bodies with chests and hands underneath!
Over many years, soil fell from the mountain and buried them.
They are much bigger than the parts you can see!

The red hats are stones from a different mountain

The Pukao on top of the head of a Moai (Easter Island) is made of reddish stone that is different from the body.
People dug up this stone at another volcano on the island and carried it over.
Only a few Moai (Easter Island) on the island wear a Pukao.