Carrot Coloring Pages

A handy veggie with bright color and sweet taste Carrot is a member of the parsley family. You mostly eat the root part that grows underground. It is full of a healthy thing called beta-carotene. Cook it with a little oil, and your body absorbs it much better! Most are orange, but you can find purple ones too. There are even red ones called "Kintoki Carrot" used for New Year's!

Where Its Name and English Word Come From

The history behind the name Carrot in Japan is a little surprising!

• English Name: Carrot

  • People say it comes from the ancient Greek word "keras," which means "horn." It got this name because its shape looks like an animal's horn!

• Name Origin in Japan:

  • Long ago, the word "Ninjin" was used for Asian ginseng, a famous herbal medicine. Its roots split and looked like a human shape, so people called it "man-root" (Ninjin).

  • In the Edo period, the Carrot we eat today came to Japan. Its roots looked like ginseng roots, so people started calling it by the same name!

Harvest Time and Growing Places

You can see Carrot in stores all year long. But it changes depending on when farmers pick it!

• Harvest Time: There are two big harvest times: spring to summer (April to July) and fall to winter (October to December).

  • Winter Carrot: It stores up sugar to stand the cold. That makes it super sweet and full of flavor!

• Growing Places: Hokkaido, Chiba, and Tokushima are famous places in Japan for growing it.

Here are some helpful tips to make your Carrot look fresh and yummy!

Bright Orange Shading

• Main Color: First, color the whole thing with a bright orange.

• Make It Pop: Lightly add a little red or brown along one edge. This makes it look nice and round!

• Lines on the Skin: Trace the lines going across with dark orange or brown. It will really look like a real Carrot!

Fluffy Green Leaves

• Carrot leaves have lots of tiny parts! First, color them with yellow-green. Then, draw thin lines over them with dark green to make them look soft and fluffy.

• If you color a Carrot still in the dirt, use strong brown for the soil and bright green for the leaves. This shows how strong and healthy it is growing!

Coloring the Inside

• If you are coloring a sliced Carrot, use dark orange on the outside edge. Make it light orange or yellow towards the center. There is a ring pattern in the middle, so color that carefully to make it look real!

The English word "Carrot" became the name of a nutrient

There is a lot of a nutrient called "carotene" in a Carrot. Actually, this name came from the English word for the vegetable, "Carrot"! Carotene turns into vitamins inside your body. It is an amazing nutrient that helps your eyes stay healthy and protects your body so you do not catch a cold.

Nutrients are packed near the skin

When cooking, people often peel the skin and throw it away. But actually, the most nutrients are gathered right under the skin! If you wash it clean, you can eat it with the skin on. Cooking it with the skin on is a great idea so you do not waste any nutrients.

Long ago, Carrots were purple!?

When you think of a Carrot now, it is orange. But long, long ago when people first started eating them, purple, white, and yellow were normal! Over a long time, people grew better kinds, and the bright, sweet, orange Carrot we have today was born.

How to pick a tasty Carrot

When you choose one at the supermarket, look at the "cut stem" at the top where the leaves used to be. It is said that the thinner this stem is, the softer the center is and the sweeter it tastes! On the other hand, if the stem is thick, the middle might be hard, so keep that in mind when you pick one.