Dinosaur Volcano Coloring Page

This dinosaur volcano coloring page puts a huge erupting mountain right in the center of the sheet. Two rivers of lava run down the slopes, a giant ash cloud fills the sky and rocks fly out to both sides. In front, a friendly triceratops walks on past, with a smaller duck bill hurrying off to the right. Kids from about 5 to 11 will love the drama.

There is plenty for a child to explore. Find the lava pool on the ground, the cracks in the rock, a small monkey puzzle tree on the left and a tree fern on the right. The ash cloud has soft curls drawn into it, and they help it look like it is rolling upward.

How to make lava glow

Lava is the most fun thing on this page, so save your brightest colors for it. Each stream has an inner yellow strip inside an outer one. That setup does the hard work for you.

1. Color the thin inner strips bright yellow.
2. Fill the wider outer shapes with orange.
3. Run a red pencil along the outside edge.
4. Do the same with the pool at the foot of the volcano.

Keep the top of the crater bright too. Then add a brown or dark gray on the mountain. Dark next to bright makes lava seem to shine. Going darker on the volcano is the best single trick on this sheet.

Dinosaur volcano coloring page color ideas

For the ash cloud, use gray in light layers. A touch of purple or dark blue in the curls gives it depth. Leave the edges paler, where the sun would catch them.

The sky could be a pale blue for a daytime scene. For something wilder, try orange at the bottom and red up high, as if the air itself were lit by the fire. Use one color at a time, and rub it smooth with a tissue if you are working in crayon.

That triceratops can be any color at all. Nobody knows the true shades of dinosaur skin, so pick something that stands out from the lava. Green or blue works better than orange here. The frill has round spots that can take a second color, and the horns look best in a pale cream.

Work from back to front

Color the cloud and sky first, then the mountain, then the ground. Finish with the dinosaurs. If you do it in this order, you will not smudge the parts you like best. Plan on about thirty five minutes.

Younger kids can skip the small flying rocks and the far duck bill. The page still reads well with only the lava and the main dinosaur colored in.

Were there real volcanoes then?

Yes, and some were massive. Near the end of the age of dinosaurs, a part of what is now India was covered by a giant series of lava flows called the Deccan Traps. The eruptions went on for 600,000 to 800,000 years, about 66 million years ago. The lava may first have covered around 1.5 million square kilometers, and it is still one of the largest volcanic features on Earth.

For a long time, people wondered if this was what ended the dinosaurs. Most researchers now say the main trigger was the asteroid that struck Mexico, with the volcanoes playing a small part at most. The Wikipedia article on the Deccan Traps sets out the debate.

Make your own eruption

Place a small cup inside a mound of play dough. Add a spoonful of baking soda, then pour in some vinegar with a drop of red food coloring. Do it on a tray, as it will foam over. Afterward, have your child draw an arrow on the colored page to show which way the lava flows.

In class, ask students to explain why the dinosaurs in the picture are heading away from the mountain. Then have them write one sentence as a news report from the scene.

More horned friends wait on the triceratops coloring page. If the flying reptile caught your eye, try the pterodactyl coloring page too.

Questions