The present
The present: a free printable coloring page, from age 2. A big round box, a bow that takes up the whole width, a horn set on the lid.
- Recommended age
- Ages 2 and up · 10 to 15 minutes
- Theme
- Party time
- Season
- Birthdays
A round box, an enormous bow
The box is round, seen from slightly above: the lid forms a large oval, then a band runs around it, then the body comes back down to a rounded base. At the front, the bow takes up almost the whole width — two big loops, a circle in the middle, and two tails falling to the bottom, cut to a point. A vertical ribbon runs from the bow to the lower edge. On the lid, planted upright, a unicorn horn cut into four segments by three slanted stripes. No setting, no background: the box fills the sheet.
The present before it is opened
This is the picture of the parcel at the second when it is still closed. Two-year-olds know that moment better than anyone: the box on the table, the ribbon being pulled, the lid lifted. Here nothing is open, and nothing says what is inside. The horn on the lid is the only clue, and it says little: it tells who the parcel is for, or who it is from. Many children answer before they have even chosen their first color.
Why from age 2
The outline is very thick and there are only about fifteen areas: the top of the lid, the band to the left and right of the bow, the two halves of the box, the two loops, the central circle, the two tails, the vertical ribbon, and the four segments of the horn. All of them are wide; the smallest, the circle of the bow, is still three fingers across on an A4 sheet. A very young child crosses it in one gesture, without aiming, with a fat marker or a wax crayon. Going over the line does not show: the black outline catches it.
Two colors are enough
One simple rule holds the whole drawing: the ribbon in one color, the box in another. The bow, its central circle, the two tails and the band running round all take the same shade, and the sheet holds together even colored fast. For a birthday, print six copies and lay them round the table with two pots of markers: everyone has their own, nobody waits their turn, and the six boxes end up in a row on the wall. The horn is kept for last — it is the reward.
A word for the grown-up: before the markers come out, ask what is inside the box. Your child invents an answer, and very often draws it afterwards on the back of the sheet. Two activities for one print.
Coloring pages that go with this one
More pages from the same theme, age or season — the ones you print right after.
