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Best friends come in all shapes. This mermaid and octopus coloring page catches the moment a mermaid and a big purple octopus give each other a high five. Small lines burst out where her hand meets the tip of his arm. He smiles up at her with round, shiny eyes, and he has a pink shell in one arm and a smiling starfish in another.
Kids from about 4 to 9 can enjoy this one. The octopus head is a wide open space that little hands can fill fast, and the long arms give older kids something to work on. Expect 25 to 40 minutes.
Meet the two friends
The mermaid wears her hair in long box braids, and each braid is made of small closed sections with a bead at the end. She has a star on her top and a blue scaled tail that sweeps down the left side of the page. Her eyes are bright and her mouth is open wide, as if she is laughing.
The octopus takes up most of the right side. His head is dotted with round spots, and every arm carries a row of suckers. One arm curls around a rock behind him. The rest spread across the sand in big loops. Bubbles rise above the pair, and two fish swim by to watch.
Mermaid and octopus coloring page color ideas
An octopus does not have to be purple. Real ones can change color, so your child has every excuse to go wild here. Try orange with cream suckers, or deep red with pink suckers. A blue octopus next to a green tail looks great too.
- Color the spots on his head darker than the rest of him
- Give each of the mermaid's braids two browns, one light and one dark
- Make the beads a mix of gold and white
- Paint the rock with gray, then add a few dots of blue
Her tail will pop if it is a color the octopus is not. If he is purple, go with blue or teal for her. If he is orange, pick pink or lilac.
Tips for those long arms
Follow one arm at a time, from the head to the tip. It is easy to lose your place where the arms cross, so a light pencil dot on each finished arm helps.
The braids are tiny, so use colored pencils there. Do not feel you must fill every section. Coloring every other section gives a neat twist pattern, and it saves time.
Leave a small white patch on each eye. Those shine spots are already drawn for you, and they keep both faces looking happy.
Real octopus facts
The real animal is even stranger than our cartoon friend. According to PBS Nature, an octopus has three hearts. Two of them pump blood through the gills, and the third sends it around the body. Its blood is blue, thanks to copper in the part that carries oxygen. Many octopuses can change how they look in moments, and most can squirt dark ink to confuse a hungry fish while they get away.
Keep the fun going
Ask your child to count the arms, then the suckers on just one arm. Next, try to guess the total for all eight. Then check your guess by counting a second arm. It is a good first step into multiplying for kids in second or third grade.
You could also write a short comic. Fold a sheet into four boxes and draw what happened before the high five. Did she find his lost shell? Did he win a race? Let your child decide, and let the last box show the high five from this page.
More sea friends to color
The octopus coloring page puts this animal front and center. For another team of friends, print the mermaid with dolphin coloring page.
Questions
How many arms does the octopus have?
Eight, the same as a real octopus. They cross over each other near the bottom, so counting them is a nice little puzzle for young kids.
Do the suckers need to be colored one by one?
Not at all. Younger kids can leave them white and color only the arm around them. Older kids can pick a paler shade for each sucker.
Can I use this in my classroom?
Yes. Print as many copies as you need for school or home use. Please do not sell the page.
