4th of July Picnic Coloring Page

Here is a 4th of July picnic coloring page with a long table set out under a shady tree. The cloth is red and white checks, and on top sit watermelon slices, hot dogs, corn on the cob, a pitcher of lemonade and a plate of star cookies. Flags of bunting swing from the branches overhead.

Look down, because the best jokes are low on the page. A dog hides under the table with one eye on the hot dogs. Five ants walk in a line across the grass, carrying a single crumb.

Kids from 4 to 10 will enjoy it. Most finish in about half an hour, though the kids who add a pattern to every plate will take a good bit longer.

Find the ants on this 4th of July picnic coloring page

Give your child a small job before any color goes down. Ask them to find all five ants, the dog's nose and the one star cookie that has a bite out of it. It settles a busy kid and it gets them looking at the whole picture.

Then let them choose where to begin. The checked cloth is a good first step. Coloring every other square feels like a game, and small hands get the hang of staying inside the lines.

Coloring a table full of summer food

Food is the easy part, since everyone knows what it should look like. Watermelon is pink inside with a white band and a dark green rind. Draw in the seeds with the tip of a black crayon. Corn takes a soft yellow, and hot dogs want a rusty brown in a tan bun.

Lemonade is trickier. Keep it pale yellow and leave the ice cubes white. The cookies could be plain sugar cookie gold, or you can frost each star a different shade.

For the tree, mix two greens. Press hard on the bottom of each clump of leaves and go light at the top, and it will look round and full.

Three small tips for neat checks

• Color the red squares first and leave the white ones bare. You will save a lot of time.
• Turn the page as you work so your hand does not smudge the wet marker.
• Use a colored pencil for the seeds, stars and ants. A thick crayon will cover them up.

A juicy fact about watermelon

A slice of watermelon is mostly water. The fruit is about 91 percent water, which is a big part of why it tastes so good on a hot July day. You can read more in this watermelon article. Ask your child to guess how much of the slice is water before you tell them. Most kids say about half.

Plan your own backyard feast

This drawing makes a nice planning tool. Before the holiday, sit down with the page and write a real shopping list beside it. Your child can pick one thing from the table to help make. Star cookies are simple with a cutter, and corn is a great job for little kids because husking it is messy and loud.

You could also turn it into a counting sheet. How many watermelon slices are on the table? How many hot dogs? Write each number in the margin, then add them up.

Going to a real picnic? Bring a few copies and a box of crayons, since a coloring page keeps kids busy while the grill heats up. For something to match, try our watermelon page or the lemonade stand. You could also ask your child to name the dog and draw a second one. The whole set lives in our 4th of July collection.

Questions