Waterfall Coloring Page

Water takes center stage on this waterfall coloring page. A wide fall spills over the edge of a stone cliff and drops straight down the middle of the sheet in long wavy strips. At the bottom it hits a round pool and bursts into puffy clouds of foam. A deer has walked up on the right to drink, and a big fir tree stands guard on each side.

Look past the top of the falls and you will find a second scene. A thin stream winds back toward a line of small firs, and a snowy peak rises behind them. That far view gives the page real depth, so it feels like you are standing at the edge of the pool.

Who this page suits

This is a medium page. Kids of about 7 and up can handle it, and adults will enjoy it too. Most of the shapes are a good size, though the rock wall has many separate stones. Expect 45 minutes to an hour. Your kid can skip the small stones and fill the whole cliff with one gray if time runs short.

Waterfall coloring page color ideas

The nine strips of falling water are the fun part. Try three blues in a repeating order, then leave some strips white. Pale, medium, white, and start again. Your eye will read that pattern as moving water.

• Soft gray, tan and cream for the cliff stones, mixed so no two neighbors match
• Dark green for the firs, with a lighter green on the ferns
• Warm brown for the deer, with its back spots left pale
• Lavender for the far peak and white for the snow cap

Leave the foam white and shade only its lower edge with a little pale blue. For a late day mood, swap the blue sky for peach and pink.

Tips for water and rock

Follow the wave. Move your pencil down each strip in long strokes, the same way the water falls. Short scribbles will fight the shape.

Color the stones before you touch the water. Rock can take heavy pressure and dark edges, while water needs a light hand. If you do the rock last, your hand may smudge the pale blue.

Press lightly on the far peak and hard on the near firs. That single habit makes the back of the picture sink away. Markers bleed on thin paper, so slide a spare sheet under the page first.

Real falls to read about

California has a famous one. Yosemite Falls drops 2,425 feet in three parts: the upper fall at 1,430 feet, the middle cascades at 675 feet and the lower fall at 320 feet. Peak flow comes in May, when mountain snow melts. By August it can shrink to a trickle or stop. In winter, an ice cone builds at the base of the upper fall. You can see more on the National Park Service page about Yosemite waterfalls.

Something to do afterward

Ask your kid to write a short story from the deer's point of view. Where did it walk from this morning? What can it hear? In a classroom, use the finished sheets to talk about where river water goes after it leaves the pool. You could also tape the page in a window, since light through the paper makes the pale blues glow.

Short on crayons? This page works with just blue, green, brown and gray. Mix a light touch of blue over the gray stones near the falls, as if spray has wet them. The deer can take the brown, and the butterfly near the foam can stay plain white. Fewer colors often make a calmer picture, and a limited box is a good little puzzle for an older child.

More outdoor pages

Stay in the mountains with the mountain lake coloring page, or follow water to the farm fields on the river valley coloring page. If your child loved the deer, try the deer in winter forest coloring page.

Questions