Song “Dansons la capucine” · the coloring pages on this refrain
The round dance in the park
Three children, a lady in glasses and a little princess dance in a ring by the slide, and the unicorn joins in.
- Recommended age
- Ages 6 and up · an hour, often over two days
- Themes
- Storybook scenes, Unicorns, The park
A round dance in the park
Five people hold hands and go around on a circle drawn on the ground: a girl with pigtails tied with ribbons, a lady in glasses laughing with her eyes closed, a princess with a crown in a long gown, a boy in a beanie seen from behind, and a girl with a ponytail. A small unicorn stands at the edge of the circle, surrounded by sparkles. Behind them, two round trees, a small slide, a building with a flag on top and two clouds.
Dansons la capucine
The round dance is the game of “Dansons la capucine”, a French playground song: you go around singing, and on the last word, “you!”, everyone crouches down. Round dances have been played in schoolyards and parks forever, and anyone can join in: here, a princess dances between a lady and a little boy. At six, children know these round dances by heart and recognize the scene right away.
Hands that meet
The dancers are packed close together, and their arms meet in the middle of the circle: that is where the page gets demanding, with interlocking areas that need to be told apart before coloring. The clothes are detailed: the puffed sleeves and folds of the gown, the lady’s collar, the ribbed edge of the beanie. The setting, by contrast, is simple and open. It is a page for six-year-olds, one that asks you to look before you act.
One color per dancer
Give each dancer one main color, without repeating it on their neighbor: the circle becomes readable at a glance, and the arms sort themselves out. The princess’s gown can take two shades, and her crown some yellow. The circle on the ground is colored with a light line. The sky, very large at the top of the sheet, can stay white or take a light blue.
A word for the grown-up: before coloring, trace the arms of the circle with your finger to work out which hand holds which. It is a little puzzle that avoids coloring two arms the same color, and six-year-olds enjoy solving it.
Coloring pages that go with this one
More pages from the same theme, age or season — the ones you print right after.
