Fall Owl Coloring Page

A pair of huge round eyes looks out from the middle of this fall owl coloring page. The owl sits snug inside a hollow in an old tree, wearing a striped knit scarf with a long tail. Colorful maple leaves cover the branches on both sides. At the bottom, two pumpkins and a tiny patch of mushrooms rest in the leaf litter, and a heart has been carved in the bark above the owl's head.

Most kids from 5 to 12 will do well with it. The trunk is wide and easy, while the feathers ask for steady hands. Plan on half an hour, or split it across two evenings.

Parts to notice before you begin

Start with the eyes, because everything else depends on them. Each one has rings around it, like a target, and a deep dark center with a bright spot. Those white spots make the owl feel alert, so keep them clean. The ear tufts on top are really just feathers, a neat thing to tell kids who think owls have pointy ears.

The chest is covered in rows of little scales. Below them, three toes on each foot grip the edge of the hollow. Tiny shelf mushrooms grow on the bark, and there is a knot in the wood near the top left. See if your child can spot them all.

Fall owl coloring page color ideas

Go natural with a warm brown body, a cream chest and golden eyes. A red scarf adds a nice bright note against all that brown. For the hollow, a very dark brown makes the owl seem to step forward out of the shadows.

You could also pick a theme and stick to it:

• Sunset owl: orange body, pink chest, purple scarf
• Snow owl: white body, pale blue chest, red scarf
• Night owl: dark blue body, yellow eyes, silver moon

The moon in the top corner can be cream or bright yellow. Its two small craters take a slightly darker shade.

Helpful tricks for feathers and bark

Color the chest feathers in a pattern, such as dark, light, dark. This turns a long job into a game, and the rows look great when they are done. If your child gets tired, one color for all the feathers will still look good.

For the bark, use a brown crayon on its side and then go over the short lines with a darker brown. The trunk gets texture with very little effort. Try not to press too hard on the first pass, because waxy crayon gets slippery and resists the second layer.

The scarf has stripes along its tail. Use two colors and take turns, working from the top down.

Real owl facts kids enjoy

Owls cannot roll their eyes around the way you can. Their eyes are fixed in place, so they turn their whole heads instead, by as much as 270 degrees. Have your child try to look behind them and see how far they get.

Owls also fly almost without a sound. Their wing feathers have comb like edges that soften the noise of each flap. A group of owls even has its own funny name: a parliament.

What to do next

Turn the page into a little story. Why did the owl pick this tree? Who knitted the scarf? Kids can write their answers on the back, then read them aloud at dinner.

For a craft, cut around the tree and tape the page to a paper towel tube. It stands up nicely on a desk. A class can line up several trees and make a small forest along the windowsill.

More owls and forest animals

For a simpler bird on a branch, print the owl coloring page. Another sly forest friend is waiting on the fox coloring page.

Questions