Hiragana "He" Coloring Pages

"He" as in "Hebi" (Snake) for Hiragana "He"

This coloring page is for practicing the hiragana "He."
On the left, there is 1 smiling "snake."
It is wiggling its body and raising its head a little bit.
Its body has big diamond-shaped scale patterns drawn on it.
On the top right, there is a big outlined "He" and the word "snake," and on the bottom right, there are boxes for tracing practice.

2 Coloring pages

The 1st page is a new coloring page that has a picture on the left, a big "へ", and tracing practice all together.
The 2nd page is a coloring page with lots of pictures of words that start with "へ" all around the big "へ" in the middle.
You can see their names under the pictures, like helmet, room, sponge gourd, and pilgrim.
There is also a snake in the corner of the 2nd page, so try comparing it with the snake on the 1st page.

Hiragana "He" was born from "部"

Hiragana are letters that people long ago created by simplifying Kanji.
The original Kanji for Hiragana "He" is "部", which is read as "bu" or as the "he" in "heya" (room).
It is said that as people wrote "部" quickly and simply with a brush, it turned into a single mountain-like line, becoming the shape of Hiragana "He" today.
Actually, the Katakana "ヘ" was also born from the very same "部".
That is why Hiragana "He" and Katakana "ヘ" look so much alike!

Tips for writing Hiragana "He"

Hiragana "He" is a letter you write with 1 stroke.
Start writing from the bottom left, and climb up to the top of the mountain on the top right.
Change direction at the top, and go way down to the bottom right.
If you put the top of the mountain a little to the left of the middle, it will look super nice!
The trick is to make the line going up short, and the line going down long.

Words starting with Hiragana "He"

Words that start with "he" include heso (belly button), hei (fence), henshin (transform), and herikoputa- (helicopter).
When you use it like "koen he iku" (go to the park), you write "he" but read it as "e".
If you add two small dots (dakuten) to Hiragana "He", it becomes "be". If you add a small circle (handakuten), it becomes "pe".
That's the "be" in "bentou" (bento box) and the "pe" in "pengin" (penguin)!

The word "Hebi"

A "snake" is a creature with a long, thin body that has no hands or feet.
It wiggles its body to slide smoothly along the ground, up in trees, or through the water.
The snake in the picture on the left is smiling gently, so it looks like you could be good friends.
The shape of Hiragana "He" in "snake" looks a little bit like a snake lifting up its head, too.

For the big Hiragana "He", use the mountain shape

Color the big outlined Hiragana "He" with your favorite color.
If you change colors for the line going up and the line going down, you can easily see where it turns at the top.
Matching the snake with green or yellow-green is a great idea, too!

Have fun coloring the snake's scale pattern

Try coloring the snake's body with green or yellow-green.
For the diamond scale pattern, use a slightly different color like dark green or yellow to make the pattern pop out!
If you color its belly cream color, it will look like a real snake.
It is also fun to make a dream-like snake with colors like red or purple!

For the second page, remember the colors of real things

For the helmet, choose a color you want to wear, like white, red, or blue.
For the loofah, add dark green lines to the green fruit to make it look real.
For the pilgrim grandpa, white clothes and an ocher hat will make him look just right.

Tracing practice

In the box at the bottom right, there are 8 light gray Hiragana "He" lined up.
Hold your pencil correctly and trace slowly so you stay inside the gray lines.
The dotted vertical and horizontal lines in the box show the middle of the letter. Use the dotted lines as a guide to check where to start writing and where to stop.
After you write one, compare it with the big example letter.
It is okay if you do not write all 8 at once. Try writing carefully at your own pace, like 2 letters a day.

Snakes Have No Eyelids

Snakes do not have eyelids.
Their eyes are covered by clear scales, so their eyes are always open.
That is why they look like they are awake, even when they are sleeping!

Smelling with Their Tongue

Snakes flick their tongue in and out, and the tip is split into two.
They use their tongue to catch tiny bits of smell in the air.
Then, they pull their tongue back into their mouth to sense the smell.
A snake's tongue is an important tool for smelling!

Growing Bigger by Shedding Skin

As snakes grow, they shed all of their old skin in one go.
This is called molting, and the old skin left behind is called a shed skin.
People long ago said that if you put a white snake's shed skin in your wallet, you will save lots of money!

The Snake in the Zodiac

The 6th animal in the Chinese zodiac, "Mi," is the snake.
Snakes shed their skin many times and seem to be reborn, so people have long thought they bring good luck.
Ask someone in your family which zodiac animal belongs to the year you were born!