Easter Bonnet Coloring Page

This Easter bonnet coloring page is all about one fancy hat. A wide straw bonnet rests on a wooden stand with its brim tipped toward you. Nine flowers are piled around the crown, a long ribbon ties in a big bow, and a tiny bird has made itself at home among the blooms.

Next to the stand sits a round hat box with its lid off. Behind it all is a window with lace curtains and a spring view. This page suits ages 6 to 12, and the weave on the brim takes a little patience. Plan for 30 to 40 minutes.

Design your own Easter bonnet coloring page

Think of yourself as a hat maker. A real milliner chooses a color plan before starting work, so have your child do the same. Pick two main colors and one small surprise. Pink and purple with a bright yellow center would look great. So would blue and white with a touch of orange.

Stick to that plan for the flowers, then use the third color only here and there. Limiting the colors makes a busy hat feel elegant, and older kids will see the difference right away.

Straw, ribbon and petals

Straw looks best in pale gold or tan. Because of the weave lines, the brim can get messy with wide strokes. Follow the rings of the weave around the hat with a small crayon or colored pencil. Add a slightly darker tan under the flowers, as they would cast a soft shadow there.

• Ribbon: one strong color, a bit darker where the bow folds.
• Flowers: darker at the middle of each petal and lighter at the tip.
• Leaves: mix a yellow green with a blue green for a natural look.
• Bird: small and bright, like a blue finch or a yellow canary.

The window can be sky blue. Leave the curtains white, and color the hat box in soft stripes or dots so it doesn't fight with the bonnet.

A New York tradition

Easter hats have been a thing for a long time. In the 1870s, people in New York City began strolling down Fifth Avenue in their finest clothes after Easter services. The walk grew into a yearly event, with crowds coming to look at fancy hats. It still goes on, and these days the hats can be huge and silly, with whole gardens and toy animals on top. You can read about it in this history of the Easter parade.

Your kids may know the old song about an Easter bonnet. Many schools still hold bonnet parades in spring, where each child shows off a homemade hat.

Make a paper plate hat

Here is a simple way to do it. Take a paper plate as the brim and glue a paper bowl upside down in the middle. Punch a hole on each side and thread in a long ribbon to tie under the chin. Now for the fun part: use tissue paper flowers, cotton balls and feathers. Your finished Easter bonnet coloring page can guide the design, so kids choose their colors on paper first.

Paper flowers are easy too. Stack three squares of tissue paper, fold them back and forth like a fan, tie the middle with a twist tie, then fluff out the layers. Younger kids will need a hand with the tie, but they can do all the fluffing.

Host a hat parade at home

You don't need a big school event. Line up chairs in the living room, play some music and let each person walk the runway. Grandparents are great judges over a video call. Hand out silly prizes such as tallest hat, most flowers and best bird.

Teachers can turn the same idea into a writing task. Ask students to write a short ad for the hat in the drawing. What does it cost? Who should wear it? Where would it go?

More fancy spring pages

Add a matching Easter basket to go with your bonnet, or hide some eggs on the egg hunt page. Browse all our Easter coloring pages for the rest.

Questions