Elephant Coloring Pages

Big body and a long trunk! Elephant!

The Elephant is the biggest land animal on Earth. It has big ears, a very long trunk, and thick, strong legs. It eats plants and uses its long trunk to eat food and drink water. It is a very smart and kind animal.

Where does it live?

The Elephant mainly lives in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. It lives with many friends in big herds on wide grasslands, savannas, and in forests. The herd leader is almost always the oldest and wisest grandma Elephant.

Secrets of the long trunk

The trunk of an Elephant is not just long. It is very handy and can do many different things.

• Breathing: Even when swimming under water, it can stick its trunk out above the water to breathe.
• Carrying food: It grabs grass on the ground with its trunk and puts it in its mouth. It can also stretch its trunk to eat leaves high up in trees.
• Drinking water: It sucks water into its trunk and puts it in its mouth. When it washes its body, it sprays water with its trunk just like a shower.
• Talking: It moves its trunk to say hello and touch its friends.

Types of Elephant and what they are like

There are 3 main types of Elephant.

• African Elephant
  • What it is like: This is the biggest Elephant on Earth. Its ears are very big and look like the shape of Africa. Both boys and girls have long, proud tusks. Its body is gray with many wrinkles. It lives in savannas and grasslands.
• Asian Elephant
  • What it is like: It is a little smaller than the African Elephant. Its ears are smaller and round. Usually, only the boys grow tusks, and girls rarely have them. It lives in forests in Asia, like India and Thailand. People say it is gentler than the African Elephant and gets used to people easily.
• African Forest Elephant
  • What it is like: It is a relative of the African Elephant, but it has small, round ears. Its body is small too, and it lives in forests. It is quiet and lives hidden deep in African jungles. Its tusks are thin and grow straight down.

Food and life

Because the Elephant eats plants, it eats a lot of grass, leaves, and tree bark. The amount of food it eats in one day is many times more than a human! Elephants live by helping each other. They have kind hearts, protecting babies together and helping older Elephants.

How to Choose Colors: Show the Texture of a Big Body!

When you color an Elephant, the trick is to show off its huge body, lots of wrinkles, and gentle look. Instead of just coloring it all gray, try adding light spots and shady spots. It will look much more real!

• Body Color:
  • Color the main part gray. Mixing in just a little bit of light blue or pale brown gives it a cool, deep look.
  • An Elephant's skin is rough and has lots of wrinkles. Color by drawing lots of short lines with the tip of your colored pencil, or change how hard you press to make the skin look real!
  • Leave a little bit of white or light gray on the back and the top of the head where the light hits.
  • Add extra dark gray or black under the tummy and inside the legs where it is shady. This makes the body look round and 3D!
• Tusk Color:
  • Color the tusks cream color or light yellow. You can add a white line where the light hits to make them look nice and smooth.
• Eye Color:
  • An Elephant has gentle, cute eyes. Color them black and make them a little big. Adding a tiny white dot for light will make them look full of life!
• Background Color:
  • Elephant lives in grasslands and forests in Africa and Asia. Mix colors like green, yellow, and brown to show Elephant out in nature!
  • It is also fun to draw a blue sky, white clouds, and trees.

How to Make it Look 3D: Use "Light and Dark" and "Shadows"!

An Elephant's body is big and round. If you use "light and dark colors" and "shadows" well, your coloring page will look super lively!

• Where to use light and dark colors:
  • Think about where the light hits the round parts of the body, and leave those spots a little lighter.
  • Draw lines in the deep parts of the wrinkles with a slightly darker gray to show off all those wrinkles.
• Where to put shadows:
  • The bent parts of the body, inside the legs, and behind the ears are in the shade.
  • Coloring these spots with dark colors or black makes the body look round and 3D.

Tips for Pencils, Crayons, and Paints!

• Colored Pencils:
  • Press hard for dark colors and softly for light colors. This makes it easy to show light and dark spots!
  • Layering other colors (like black or white) over gray gives you a nice, deep color.
• Crayons:
  • Crayons are great for making a rough texture. You can also rub the color with your finger to blur it!
• Paints:
  • Mix a little water into gray paint to make a light gray, and paint it where the light hits. After it dries, put a darker gray on top to make it look deep!

Use your imagination and fun ideas to finish your very own amazing Elephant coloring page!