Ankylosaurus Coloring Page

This ankylosaurus coloring page shows a wide, low dinosaur walking along a riverbank with its tail club held high. Three rows of rounded plates cover its back, a line of sharp spikes runs down its side, and a friendly smile sits on its flat head. Kids from about 5 to 11 will enjoy it.

The club is the star here. It sits at the end of a stiff tail, with knobs of bone that make it look a bit like a lumpy flower. Behind the dinosaur you get a far range of mountains, a tall monkey puzzle tree, a flying reptile and a pale river. A cycad and some ferns fill the ground in front.

How to color the armor

Each plate has a small diamond in the middle. That diamond is the raised ridge on the plate, so color it lighter than the rest and the armor will seem to pop off the page.

1. Pick two armor colors and swap them plate by plate, like a checkerboard.
2. Fill the little diamonds with your lightest yellow or cream.
3. Color the side spikes last. Pale gray or white makes them look like real bone.
4. Give the belly a soft tan, then shade the top of each belly stripe a little darker.

Markers look sharp on the plates, but they can bleed through thin paper. Slide a second sheet under the page before you start.

Ankylosaurus coloring page ideas

Here is the honest part. Scientists have fossils of bone and armor, but skin color did not last, so nobody can say what shade this animal was. That means no choice is wrong.

A desert look works well: sandy skin with rust plates and a brown club. For something bolder, try deep green skin with orange plates, which stands out nicely against a blue river. Younger kids often like one wild color for the club alone, and it makes a great focus for the whole picture.

Keep the mountains pale. A light purple pushes them far back, while the warm tan ground stays close. The tree can take two greens, one for each row of branches.

Tips for small hands

Start with the big shapes, such as the legs, the head and the sky. Then come back to the plates in short turns. Twenty minutes on the body and a break works better than trying to finish it all at once.

Plan on about half an hour in total. If a child gets tired, the plates can all be one color, and the page will still look finished.

Facts about this armored giant

Ankylosaurus lived in western North America at the very end of the Cretaceous period. It grew to roughly 20 to 26 feet long, which is longer than a big pickup truck. Bony plates covered its body, and half rings of bone wrapped around its neck. You can spot those two rings in the drawing, just behind the head.

The front of its mouth was covered by a beak, and it fed on plants with a broad, blunt snout. Here is a surprise for fans: no one has ever dug up a full skeleton. The Wikipedia article on Ankylosaurus has more.

Try this after coloring

Build a paper model of the tail. Crumple a sheet of paper into a ball, tape it to the end of a cardboard tube and let your child feel how the weight changes the swing. Then ask why a heavy end might help. It takes five minutes and gives them a real science idea to talk about.

In class, have students count the plates in each row and add them up. The first child with the right total gets to name the dinosaur.

Want more armor? The stegosaurus coloring page has back plates of a very different shape. Kids who like horns can move on to the triceratops coloring page.

Questions