Reusable Bag Coloring Page

Here is a reusable bag coloring page that makes a canvas tote the star of the show. The bag stands on a wooden table at a farmers market, packed with carrots, a head of lettuce, a long loaf of bread, apples, a bunch of beets and a jar of honey. A tree with a round top is printed on the front, along with the word REUSE.

Behind it, a striped market awning shades a row of crates. Each shape is large and simple. It is an easy page for ages 4 to 9, and most kids will finish in about 20 minutes.

Name each food as you go

This one is great for early readers and for kids learning English. Point to each item and name it together. Next, ask which foods grow under the ground and which grow above it. The carrots and the beets are a good surprise for a lot of four year olds, who may have only ever seen them in a store.

Then talk about the bag. Where does your family keep its shopping bags? How many do you have? Kids love to be in charge of remembering them on the way to the store.

Canvas cream and market greens

Canvas is a soft cream color, and that makes a lovely calm base. If you leave the bag white, the food will have the whole page to itself. To add a bit of color, use pale tan and keep it light.

Food can go bright. Orange carrots with feathery green tops, deep red beets, and two shades of green on the lettuce all look great. Color the honey jar in gold, and make the bread a toasty brown. For the awning, pick any two colors, and alternate them along the stripes.

Your child can also change the word on the bag. Some kids will want to add a big green heart around it.

Reusable bag coloring page tips

• Press lightly at the top of the carrots and harder at the bottom.
• Draw tiny lines on the lettuce with a darker green to show the veins.
• Leave a white spot on each apple so it looks shiny.
• Color the table last, in long strokes that follow the boards.

Why one bag can matter

Thin plastic bags often get used once, sometimes for less than an hour. After that they can blow into trees, drains and rivers. A cloth bag can be used hundreds of times, which is why many cities and stores now ask shoppers to bring their own. You can read about the different kinds in this article on reusable shopping bags. The EPA also has simple tips on cutting waste at home.

For a child, the idea is easy. Use it again. That is really all this page is saying.

Make a no sew T shirt tote

An old T shirt can become a bag in ten minutes. Cut off the sleeves, then cut a wider scoop at the neck. Turn it inside out, snip a fringe along the bottom hem and tie the strips together in pairs. Flip it back and it is ready for the market. Older kids can do all of this with kid scissors and a bit of help on the first cut.

Your finished reusable bag coloring page could go on the fridge as a reminder. Or slip it into your car's door pocket so the kids can remind you before you walk into the store. Let them keep count for a month: how many plastic bags did your family skip?

Play farmers market at home

Cut out the foods from a second copy, or draw some more on paper. Set up a pretend stand on the kitchen table and hand out play coins. One child can be the seller and one the shopper. Practice saying please and thank you, and make change for a dollar. It costs nothing and it keeps kids busy for a long time.

More pages about food and the Earth

Our compost bin page shows what happens to the peels from this food. For a page with more fresh produce, try the harvest basket. Find the rest in our Earth Day collection.

Questions