Mermaid Treasure Coloring Page

This mermaid treasure coloring page tells a little adventure story. A mermaid with a high pink ponytail holds up a long string of pearls, with her mouth open in surprise and stars in her eyes. Below her, an old wooden chest sits wide open on the sea floor, heaped with gold coins, gems, a star and a small crown. More coins lie on the sand. Gold bands wrap the chest, and a sunken ship with a torn sail rests behind it. An old anchor leans in the sand on the left.

Her tail curves down to the sand, as if she has just landed there. Kids can tell that she has found something amazing.

Color your mermaid treasure coloring page

Make the gold the brightest thing on the page. Yellow coins with a bit of orange along one side will seem to shine. Brown works well for the wood, and a darker brown lid adds depth. Keep the metal bands gold or dark gray.

Choose gem colors that stand out next to gold, such as pink, mint and sky blue. For the water, go a little deeper than usual. A strong blue makes the scene feel far down, and it lets the treasure glow. Her purple tail will look lovely against it.

• Draw a soft yellow glow around the open lid.
• Add a pirate's map rolled up beside the chest.
• Hide a tiny crab guarding the lock.

Real treasure under the sea

Treasure on the sea floor is more than a story. Ships carrying gold and silver sank in storms hundreds of years ago, and divers still find them today. In 1985, a team found the Spanish ship Atocha off the coast of Florida, along with a huge load of silver and gold. Scientists who study old wrecks are called marine archaeologists. Wikipedia has a page on shipwrecks.

Many old wrecks are now protected by law, as they are part of history. Kids can talk about what they would do if they found one. Keep it? Give it to a museum? It is a good question with no easy answer.

Make a treasure hunt

This page can start a real game at home. Cut the drawing into six pieces and hide them around the house. Write a small clue on the back of each piece that leads to the next one. Once your child finds all six, they can tape the picture back together. A small reward can wait at the final spot.

You can also make gold coins from foil and cardboard. Fill a small box to look like the chest, and use them in a counting game. How many coins does it take to buy a shell? Simple play money is a nice way to practice adding.

Vocabulary fun

Teachers can use the page to teach words such as chest, coin, lock, gem and treasure. Ask students to write a treasure list. What is in the chest, and how much of each thing? Then ask them to add up the total. A word list and a math problem all come from one drawing.

For writing, try this prompt: "The chest was not full of gold. It was full of." Children finish the sentence, then draw their idea on the back. The answers are usually much better than gold.

Who it suits

This is a good fit for ages four and up. The small coins and gems reward patient kids, and the big chest and water are easy for younger ones.

Ask your child who hid the chest and why. A story about that can fill a whole afternoon.

One more thing to try is a map. Ask your child to draw a treasure map on the back, with an X over the spot where the chest sits and a dotted path that the mermaid swam to reach it. Fish, kelp and the old anchor make good landmarks.

More sea adventures

After this mermaid treasure coloring page, try the mermaid castle page and the princess tiara page for more gems. Our ocean animal coloring pages are full of sea life. See the complete set on our mermaid coloring pages hub.

Questions