The hen
The hen: a free printable coloring page, from age 2. An all-round body, a diamond-shaped beak, two oval wings and a spiral horn in the comb.
- Recommended age
- Ages 2 and up · 10 to 15 minutes
- Season
- Spring
Almost a circle, with wings
This hen is made of circles. A big circle for the body, a smaller one set on top for the head, two ovals on either side for the wings: that is the whole construction of the drawing. The beak is a diamond, and beneath it hangs a heart-shaped wattle. The eyes are two fat black ovals with a white highlight. On the skull, a spiral horn stands in the middle of a small two-lobed comb. At the bottom, two short legs each end in three splayed toes. No setting around it.
The first bird a child sees up close
The hen is often the first bird a child sees up close, at a farm or in a neighbor’s garden. They know it lays eggs, that it scratches the ground with its foot to find food, and that it runs in a very funny way when followed. They know the noise it makes, too. What is explained less: a hen barely flies, it sleeps perched up high, and it spends a good part of the day digging holes in the earth to take a dust bath.
The simplest sheet in the theme
Eight areas in all, one of which — the body — takes up half the sheet. This is the sheet to give first to a child who has never colored: they cannot pick the wrong area, because there is barely one to pick. The outline is very thick and every shape is closed, with no sharp corner where the marker stalls. The legs and the wattle are the only small pieces, and they fill in three strokes. A two-year-old finishes the page in ten minutes, and genuinely finishes it.
Three colors are enough
Red for the comb and the wattle, yellow or orange for the beak and legs, one single color for the body: the hen is done and it looks like a hen. That three-color constraint is perfect for a first coloring, because it gives a crisp result without demanding a complicated choice. If your child absolutely wants a purple hen, let them: just keep the red on the comb, which is what makes the animal recognisable. An ordinary sheet is enough here, the drawing does not load the paper with ink.
A word for the grown-up: print two copies. The first is the trial, the one where the lines get crossed everywhere; the second is done more slowly, and the child sees the difference between the two for themselves.
Coloring pages that go with this one
More pages from the same theme, age or season — the ones you print right after.
