Donut Coloring Pages

A donut is one of the friendliest shapes a child can color: a big ring, a wavy line of frosting and as many sprinkles as they like. These donut coloring pages start with that single donut and go on to boxes, bakeries, cute characters and animals who love donuts as much as we do.

The simplest pages are single donuts drawn large: covered in sprinkles, dotted with stars, drizzled with chocolate, topped with a cherry, with a bite taken out, filled with jelly, glazed with a strawberry beside it or rolling down a hill. The cute donuts are for the youngest fans: a kawaii donut with a smile, a unicorn donut with a horn and mane, a bear face donut, two donut friends hugging, a cool donut in sunglasses on the beach and a donut resting on a cloud.

Then comes the bakery. Donuts are stacked on a plate, packed in an open box, poured into a paper bag, set under a glass dome and on a tall cake stand, and served next to a cup of coffee and an eclair. Behind the counter, the dough is rolled out and cut into rings, donuts fry in a pot, a young baker carries a tray of fresh ones, a donut is dunked in milk next to the cereal, and another is topped with gummy bears and candies. The animals get their share too: a kitten sleeps on a giant sprinkle donut, a bear cub takes a bite, a puppy sniffs one on the table, a bunny peeks through the hole and a frog floats on a donut in a lily pond. A donut pool float and a boy carrying a donut almost as big as himself round out the set.

A little donut history

Fried rings of sweet dough are found in many countries, but the donut as Americans know it took off in the 20th century, with donut shops, coffee and the ring shape that cooks evenly all the way through. The hole is the reason for that ring: without it, the middle of a thick fried cake stays doughy while the outside browns. National Donut Day in the United States falls on the first Friday of June.

A few donut facts children like:

• The small round pieces cut from the middle are called donut holes, and they are often fried and sold on their own.
• A jelly donut has no hole: it is filled with jam after frying.
• Sprinkles have many names around the world, including jimmies and hundreds and thousands.

Frosting colors

Donuts are one of the few things where any color is right:

• Pink strawberry frosting and brown chocolate frosting are the classics.
• White or pale yellow for vanilla glaze.
• Golden brown for the donut itself, a little darker at the edges.
• Rainbow sprinkles in every color, or just two colors for a neater look.

The kawaii and unicorn donuts are made for pastel pinks, purples and blues.

Toddler donuts and bakery scenes

The single donuts are perfect for toddlers, big round shapes with plenty of room. Quick to color, above the grid, begins with:

• Sprinkle donut
• Kawaii donut
• One bite

The bakery pages, with boxes, trays and counters, suit older children. Lots of detail begins with:

Donut activities

Donut pages are a hit at a donut themed birthday party, as place mats or a coloring station while the real donuts wait. Children can also design their own donut: color the plain donuts in any frosting, then add sprinkles with dots of marker or glue on real paper confetti. The bakery pages make a good start for a pretend bakery game or a simple lesson on circles and shapes.

Printing

Every page is a free A4 PDF drawn at 300 dpi. A4 prints at full size, and on US Letter "fit to page" shrinks the drawing by about six percent so nothing is cut off. The printing guide shows the setting. Add to pack prints a whole dozen at once. More treats are in the food coloring pages, the cupcake coloring pages, the candy coloring pages and the ice cream coloring pages.