Father's Day Coloring Pages

The best Father's Day present from a child is usually something they made, and a colored page is the easiest thing to make. These Father's Day coloring pages show what dads and kids do together, a few gift ideas to color and hand over, and animal fathers for children who would rather color a lion.

Many of the pages are time together. A dad carries his son on his shoulders through the woods, flies a kite on a hill, holds the bike steady for a first ride, helps with a skateboard, pushes a swing and ties his son's shoelaces on the porch. They plant a tree, build a birdhouse, wash an old car, fix a bike chain, bake bread, throw paper airplanes from the porch, dance in the kitchen and walk to a picnic through the flowers. In the evening there is a bedtime story, a campfire by the tent, a telescope pointed at the stars and a walk home at sunset with the baby. One dad has earned a nap in a hammock between palm trees, with a cat asleep on his chest.

The gift pages suit a card or a table setting: a breakfast tray with pancakes and a flower, a patterned tie over a chair with slippers underneath, an open toolbox, a barbecue grill, a bouquet of sunflowers, a big work boot beside small rain boots, a dad and son holding a big heart, a heart shaped laurel wreath, a mandala made of ties and a border of ties and bow ties ready for a message. The animal dads include a papa bear fishing with his cub, a lion with cubs climbing his mane, a giraffe, an elephant splashing with its calf, a wolf howling with his pup, an emperor penguin keeping an egg warm and a seahorse surrounded by babies.

When is Father's Day?

In the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, Father's Day is the third Sunday of June. The idea is often credited to Sonora Smart Dodd, who wanted to honor her father, a widower who raised six children, and the first celebration was held in Spokane, Washington, in 1910. It became an official national holiday in the United States in 1972. Many other countries celebrate on other dates, such as March 19 in Spain and Italy, Saint Joseph's Day.

The animal dads, and why they are here

A few of the animal pages are real record holders of fatherhood:

• Emperor penguin fathers keep the egg on their feet under a warm fold of skin for about two months, through the Antarctic winter, without eating.
• Seahorse fathers carry the eggs in a pouch and give birth to the babies, one of the only animals where the male does.
• Wolf fathers bring food back to the den and help raise and teach the pups.

They make a good starting point for a conversation about all the different ways fathers care for their young.

Colors for Dad

Ask what Dad's favorite color is and use it everywhere: the tie, the toolbox, the car, the kite. A few other ideas:

• Navy, forest green and brown for a classic look on the tie, boots and toolbox.
• Bright sunset oranges and pinks behind the evening walk and the campfire.
• Real animal colors for the animal dads: black and white with yellow for the penguin, gold for the lion, gray for the elephant and wolf.

For little hands and older kids

The simplest pages have one big shape and little around it, perfect for a toddler's first card. Quick to color, above the grid, begins with:

• Fishing bears
• Big heart
• Elephant splash

Older children can take on the busy scenes, full of tools, trees and kitchen details. Lots of detail begins with:

• Tie mandala
• Sunflowers
• Picnic walk

Making a Father's Day card

Print the page on thicker paper, color it, and fold it in half with the drawing on the front, leaving the inside for a message. The border of ties is made for this: write "Happy Father's Day" or a short poem in the middle and decorate the ties around it. For a bigger surprise, color several pages over the week before and staple them into a little book about the things you love doing together. Grandpas, uncles and stepdads love them just as much.

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 several pages at once. The Mother's Day coloring pages and the family coloring pages go well alongside, with more animal families in the animal coloring pages and more June fun in the summer coloring pages.