Hiragana "Kyo" Coloring Pages

"Kyo" as in "Kyoryu"

The letter on this coloring page is the Japanese letter Hiragana "Kyo".
The word is "Kyoryu", which means dinosaur! In the picture on the left, a dinosaur called Tyrannosaurus is standing sideways.
It stands tall on two big legs, and its front arms are super small.
It has a cute, big smile on its face!
The word "Kyoryu" actually has two combined sounds in it. Can you find them?

"Ki" and a small "Yo" make one sound

You write Hiragana "Kyo" by putting a small "Yo" after "Ki".
Even though there are two letters, you do not read them as "Ki" and "Yo". You read them together as one single sound: "Kyo"!
This kind of sound is called a combined sound.
If you write "Yo" too big, it becomes "Kiyou", which is a totally different word.
The letter "Ki" came from the kanji character 「幾」, and "Yo" came from the kanji character 「与」.
Combined sounds using small "Ya", "Yu", and "Yo" are grouped in threes on the hiragana chart, like "Kya", "Kyu", and "Kyo".
Try saying them out loud to a fun rhythm: "Kya, Kyu, Kyo!"

Tips to write it neatly

"Ki" has 4 strokes.
For the two sideways lines in strokes 1 and 2, tilt them up a little on the right side. Make sure to draw them in different lengths!
Stroke 3 goes right through the two sideways lines, sliding down at a slant.
For the curved part at the bottom in stroke 4, leave a small space after stroke 3. That is how it looks in your school textbooks!
The small "Yo" has 2 strokes. Write it small in the next box, tucked into the bottom left corner.
Aim to make it about half the size of "Ki".
To write "Yo", bring the straight line straight down, and make a cute little loop at the bottom.
When you finish, check the sizes of "Ki" and "Yo" to make sure you can clearly see the difference!

Let's find words with "Kyo"!

Words that start with "Kyo" include Kyo (today), Kyonen (last year), Kyodai (brothers and sisters), and Kyori (distance).
A very huge giant is called a Kyojin!
The "Kyo" in "Kyoryu" comes from a kanji character that means "scary".
Try saying "Kyo" and "Kiyou" out loud to hear the difference.
Take turns with someone in your family saying words that have Hiragana "Kyo" in them!

Color the Big "Kyo" with Your Favorite Colors

First, try coloring the big outlined "kyo" in the top right with your favorite colors.
You can match the dinosaur's body by making "ki" green and "yo" orange for a fun color combo.
To stay inside the lines, color slowly near the edges, and color freely in the middle.

Choose Any Colors You Like for the Dinosaur

No one really knows what color dinosaurs actually were.
So you can use any colors you like, such as green, brown, orange, or purple.
If you color its back dark and its tummy a light cream color, it will look nice and round.
Color the inside of its big mouth pink and leave the teeth white to make its happy smile pop.
Color the toenails gray or dark brown.
Adding stripes on its back would look super cool, too!

Tracing Practice: 2 Boxes Make 1 Pair

In the bottom right boxes, you will see 4 pairs of light gray "kyo" characters.
The left box has "ki" and the right box has a small "yo"—the 2 boxes make 1 pair.
Pencils with B or 2B lead are best because they are not too dark and not too light.
Use the up-and-down and side-to-side lines in the middle of each box to see where the letter starts before you write.
After you finish 1 pair, say "kyo" out loud!
When you carefully trace all 4 pairs, try writing it all by yourself in the white space outside the boxes!

Tyrannosaurus Means "Tyrant Lizard"

The name Tyrannosaurus means "tyrant lizard."
People think the biggest ones were about 12 meters long from their head to the tip of their tail!
They were dinosaurs that lived in North America until about 66 million years ago.

Two Fingers on Small Front Legs

A Tyrannosaurus had very small front legs compared to its big body.
It only had two fingers on each hand!
Instead, it had a huge head and mouth, and people think it had a super strong bite.

Birds Are Descendants of Dinosaurs

Almost all dinosaurs disappeared a long, long time ago.
But people think that the birds flying in the sky today came from a group of dinosaurs!
It feels a bit magical to think that sparrows and pigeons are related to dinosaurs, doesn't it?

What We Can Learn From Fossils

We learned about dinosaurs by studying fossils found in the dirt and rocks.
Fossils of bones, teeth, footprints, and even eggs have been found!
Many dinosaur fossils have been found in Japan, too.
It would be so cool to see real fossils at a museum!