Hawaii Coloring Pages

Hawaii is a whole world in a few islands: coral reefs and snow-capped volcanoes, rainforest waterfalls and black lava fields, surf beaches and quiet fishing villages. These Hawaii coloring pages travel across all of it, with a lei in hand.

The ocean pages are some of the liveliest. A green sea turtle swims over the reef among tropical fish, a baby turtle crawls across the sand toward the waves, a whale's tail rises beside a rowboat under the cliffs, dolphins leap next to an outrigger canoe, and a tide pool holds a starfish, a sea urchin and scallop shells. Two outrigger canoes race toward a buoy, a sailing canoe rests on the shore, and a paddleboard waits at the water's edge.

On land, a volcano smokes above a jungle valley, ferns push up through a crack in a hardened lava field, a waterfall pours into a rock pool crossed by stepping stones, and a plumeria tree leans over a lava rock wall. The island life pages fill in the rest: a hula dancer on a woven mat, a lei being threaded at a table, another strung among plumeria blossoms, a luau table with the roast pig in the middle, a shave ice cart, a poke bowl, a fruit stand heavy with pineapples and mangoes, a coconut drink, a ukulele shop, a tiki torch, a thatched beach hut, a hammock between two palms, a palm tree swing, a lifeguard tower, snorkel gear on a towel, a sandcastle, a gecko on a monstera leaf and a big hibiscus flower.

What a lei means

A lei is a garland of flowers, leaves, shells or seeds, worn around the neck or on the head. In Hawaii it is given to welcome someone, to say goodbye, to congratulate or to thank, and it is worn at graduations, birthdays and weddings. The polite way to receive one is to accept it with a smile and wear it, never to take it off in front of the person who gave it. May 1 is Lei Day in Hawaii, celebrated with lei-making contests and school pageants.

Plumeria is the flower most people picture in a lei: five thick petals, white or yellow or pink, with a sweet scent. The hibiscus on one of these pages is another island favorite, and the yellow hibiscus is the official state flower.

Colors of the islands

• The sea: turquoise near the shore, deep blue further out, with white foam on the waves.
• Sea turtles: an olive or brown shell with lighter edges on each plate, and a pale yellow belly.
• Lava: fresh flows glow orange and red; hardened lava is black or dark gray, with bright green ferns growing out of the cracks.
• Plumeria: white with a yellow center, or pink and coral.
• Shave ice: rainbow stripes of syrup, usually red, yellow and blue.

A lei page is a perfect place to try every color in the box, one flower at a time.

Easy beach pages and busy island scenes

Some pages keep one big object on an almost empty background, like the hibiscus and the surfboard on the sand, which suits young children. Quick to color, above the grid, begins with:

• Paddleboard
• Hibiscus flower
• Sailing canoe

Others are full of reef, ferns, fruit or lava rock, and take an afternoon. Lots of detail begins with:

• Stringing a lei
• Poke bowl
• Fruit stand

Aloha at the kitchen table

These pages make a good theme for a luau party, a summer camp afternoon or a classroom unit on the fifty states. Children can make their own paper lei: color the flower pages, cut out the blossoms and thread them onto a string with pieces of drinking straw between them. A few Hawaiian words go well with the pages: aloha for hello, goodbye and love, mahalo for thank you, honu for sea turtle and ohana for family. And one lesson worth passing on from the turtle pages: in Hawaii, people give sea turtles plenty of room on the beach and in the water, and never touch them.

Printing the islands

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 the whole scene stays on the paper. The printing guide shows the setting. Add to pack puts a whole island trip into one file. More sand and sea are in the beach coloring pages and the ocean coloring pages, more sunshine in the summer coloring pages, and more shells and flippers in the turtle coloring pages.