Bat Coloring Page

Bats get a bad name, and this page may help change that. Our bat coloring page shows one round, big-eyed bat with wide wings and two tiny fangs. It hangs in the air in front of a huge yellow moon. A little house with a lit window sits among the pine trees, two pumpkins grin on the hill below, and small stars dot the sky.

The wings are large, so it colors up quickly. Kids from 4 to 9 can finish it in about 20 minutes.

Simple shapes, big wings

Each wing is split by three thin bones into four sections. A young child can color it all one shade, and that looks fine. An older kid may want to color each section a little differently, which makes the wing look like real skin stretched over bones.

The head and belly are simple round forms. That makes this a good page for a child who is just learning to stay inside a line.

Picking colors for your bat

Dark purple or grey is a good choice for the body and wings. If you use pure black, the small lines may vanish, so stick to a softer shade. Give the belly a lighter tone and draw the fur marks with a darker pencil.

The moon is the star of the background. Use a pale yellow and it will look like it glows. Then choose a soft purple or blue for the sky around it, and your bat will stand out.

The inner ears can be pink, and the eyes should stay light with a dark center. Those two tiny fangs look best left white.

How to color this bat coloring page well

• Color the moon first, so dark crayon does not drag across the light yellow.
• Follow the curve of each wing with your strokes.
• Turn the page around as you work on the scalloped wing edges.
• Add a thin white gel pen line on the wing bones for extra shine.

Bat facts kids will love

Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly. Flying squirrels just glide from tree to tree. There are more than 1,400 kinds of bats, which makes them one of the largest groups of mammals in the world. Learn more from Britannica.

Look at your own hand. A bat wing has the same bones, with very long fingers and thin skin between them. Many bats also find food in the dark by making high sounds and listening for the echo. This is called echolocation, and it is a useful word for an older child.

People gain a lot from bats too. Many of them eat huge numbers of insects each night, and others help spread seeds and pollen for plants. So the next time you see a bat at dusk, you can say thank you.

Learning ideas after coloring

Play a game of echo. One child is the bat and closes their eyes. The others stand around the room and clap when the bat calls out. The bat points to where each sound came from. Kids love it, and it explains echolocation better than any book. Play it in a quiet room, and take turns so that everyone gets a chance to be the bat.

Try a hand print craft too. Trace both hands on dark paper with the fingers spread, cut them out and glue them to the sides of a small circle. You now have a bat with real finger bones, just like the ones on this bat coloring page.

For a writing prompt, ask what a bat might see when it flies over your town at night. Younger kids can draw the answer. Older ones might list the sounds it hears, like a dog barking, a car door or the wind in the trees.

Other night time pages

There is more to see in our Halloween coloring pages. Animal fans can jump to the animal coloring pages, and another night flyer waits on the owl coloring page.

Questions