Animal color by number printables
19 animal pictures grouped by subject rather than mixed through the general collection. Region count and key size still set the real difficulty.
19 printable sheets ·
Checked and published by 
Nora Quill
Cats
Maine Coon cat, fluffy Persian cat, cat and kitten, kitten with a toy mouse, and kitten with hearts. The first two are the shortest sheets on the page at 11 regions, with brown and orange doing most of the work. Cat and kitten has 15, the toy mouse 18 on a 5-color key, and the kitten with hearts jumps to 33 regions and 7 colors.
Capybaras
Three capybaras: one balancing oranges, one in a swim ring and one with a butterfly. The oranges sheet is short, 13 regions and only 3 colors, with orange in 9 of them. The swim ring doubles that to 26 regions with red as the main color, and the butterfly sheet is the largest on the page at 40 regions and 7 colors.
Butterflies
A butterfly with curly antennae, a smiling butterfly, a butterfly under the moon and one with heart-shaped wings. Regions run from 21 to 34, so this is a middle-to-long group. Yellow leads on three of the four; the heart-wing butterfly uses pink in 11 of its 34 regions. The moon sheet is the only one here with a 6-color key.
Dinosaurs
A stomping T. rex, a smiling stegosaurus, a long-necked dinosaur and a spotted dinosaur. The first three are close together at 22 to 25 regions on 5-color keys, with cream as the busiest color each time. The spotted dinosaur is a clear step up: 37 regions and 7 colors, orange filling 11 of them.
Unicorns and a dragon
A baby dragon, a little unicorn and a unicorn in a cape. The baby dragon has 26 regions on a 6-color key, mostly green. The little unicorn has 29 regions and 7 colors, with purple used most, and the caped unicorn is the longest of the three at 35 regions, yellow claiming 9. All three ask for keys of 6 or 7 colors.
Grouped by animal, sorted by region
The 19 sheets here are sorted by subject first: cats, capybaras, butterflies, dinosaurs, and a small set of unicorns with a baby dragon. Inside each group the pictures climb from fewer regions to more, so the animal is the choice and the card numbers tell you how long the work will take. Region counts run from 11 to 40 and keys from 3 to 7 colors. Even on the busiest butterfly wings, each region has a numeral sized to its space. We left out any drawing with a region too small for a readable number.
Which animal color by number is the easiest?
The two cats with 11 regions: the Maine Coon on a 4-color key and the fluffy Persian on a 3-color key. The capybara balancing oranges is close behind with 13 regions and 3 colors. At the other end, the capybara with a butterfly asks for 40 regions and 7 colors, followed by the spotted dinosaur with 37.
For children with a favorite animal
This page suits a child who will only color cats, or only dinosaurs, and a teacher who wants one theme for a week. Because most groups mix shorter and longer sheets, siblings of different ages can color the same animal at different lengths. The cats show that spread best, from 11 regions on the Persian to 33 on the kitten with hearts.
How it differs from the easy and adult pages
The easy color by number page caps every key at four colors and never passes 16 regions, so it is the better start for a first-time colorer. This page goes further, with keys up to 7 colors and up to 40 regions. The adult color by number patterns are something else: geometric mandalas and lattices with 60 regions or more, and no animals. Pair a cat sheet with the animal mazes for a themed set.
Printing the animal sheets
Each card downloads one A4 PDF: the numbered drawing with its key along the bottom, then the fully colored animal on the last page. Print at 100 percent or actual size; the 15 mm margin keeps it intact on US Letter. A black and white print works because the key names every color in words beside its swatch. Colored pencils help on the sheets above 30 regions, where some spaces are small. The puzzle number at the end of each description identifies the exact sheet if you want to print it again.
How to use these sheets
- Pick a sheet and press Print. The file is a PDF sized for A4 and Letter paper.
- Print it in black and white at normal quality. None of these sheets need colour ink except the colour by number pages.
- Keep the answer page for yourself, or print it too if you want to check the work later.