Taco Coloring Page

This taco coloring page stars a smiling golden shell stuffed with ruffled lettuce, round tomatoes and shreds of cheese. Little dots cover the crunchy shell, and rosy cheeks make it look friendly. It sits on a plate on a sunny patio table made of painted tiles, with a lime wedge and a bowl of salsa and chips nearby. Paper flags hang above, and two cacti stand in front of the mesas. It suits ages 3 to 9.

Big shapes mean quick wins. The bumpy lettuce edge and the tile pattern give older kids something to take care with. It takes about 25 minutes.

Who will have fun with it

Any child who loves taco night will smile at this page. Small kids can fill in the shell with one crayon, which feels great. Bigger kids may want to add their own toppings, such as cheese, beans or a spoon of salsa.

It also works well in class. A teacher can use it during a lesson on food from other countries, or to practice a few Spanish words. Try queso for cheese, tomate for tomato and lechuga for lettuce.

Taco coloring page color ideas

Use warm yellow or light orange for the shell, then darken the edges a bit so it looks toasted. The lettuce should be bright green. Give the tomato slices a strong red, and they will pop against it.

Color the lime wedge green with a pale center. The six paper flags can each have their own bright color, and the tiles look great in blue and yellow. A soft peach sky with orange mesas gives the whole page a warm, sunny feel.

Make it a dessert taco if you like. Pick a chocolate brown shell, pink ice cream lettuce and cherry red dots. Why not?

Tips for that crunchy look

• Color the shell in curved strokes that follow its shape.
• Add brown dots inside the small circles for a toasted look.
• Use two greens on the lettuce, with the darker one near the shell.
• Do the plate last, and press gently so it stays pale. Color each tile diamond before the white around it.

A short history of tacos

Tacos come from Mexico, where people have eaten corn tortillas for a very long time. Corn was grown there thousands of years ago. Soft tortillas are the traditional kind, and many families in Mexico still fold them around meat, beans or vegetables.

Crunchy shells became popular in the United States, and now you can find them at many restaurants. National Taco Day is held there on October 4. There are many regional styles across Mexico, and Wikipedia's taco page lists several of them.

Corn is a smart food to learn about. Each ear can hold hundreds of kernels, and each kernel is a seed. The flags on this page are a nod to papel picado, the cut paper banners used at Mexican celebrations.

Taco night activities

Turn the finished page into a menu for dinner. Your child can list the fillings, and everyone at the table orders from it. Picky eaters often try more when they had a hand in the plan.

Make a build a taco game. Cut toppings out of colored paper and let kids stack them inside a folded paper shell. Count how many toppings fit before it all falls out. It always falls out.

Talk about taste and texture. What is crunchy, what is soft and what is juicy? New words like those help young kids describe the world.

Older kids can write a short poem. Ask them to start each line with one letter of the word taco, going down the side of the page.

Try a taste test too. Set out a soft tortilla and a crunchy shell, and let each person vote with a sticker on the back of the sheet. Count the stickers at the end for a first chart.

More good eats

Grab another snack from our food coloring pages, such as the hamburger. Our strawberry page makes a sweet dessert.

Questions