The unicorn windmill
The unicorn windmill: a free printable coloring page, from age 4. A mill crowned with a horn and two ears, four sails in a cross, a round window.
- Recommended age
- Ages 4 and up · 20 to 40 minutes
- Themes
- On a journey, Unicorns
- Season
- Summer vacation
A windmill with a head
The roof of the mill has become a unicorn’s head. A horn striped with four bands rises at the center, set on a small rounded base, and two pointed ears come out either side of the dome, each doubled with an inner outline. Below, four large straight sails cross in an X around a round hub, and each sail carries a long rib along its whole length. The body flares toward the bottom, pierced with a round four-paned window and an arched door with its handle. The whole thing rests on an oval mound.
The unicorn’s house
This is the big brother of the windmill sheet: the sails are straight instead of petal-shaped, the wall has a window, the door has a handle, and the building finally rests on something. The unicorn herself is not drawn: she is suggested by the roof, and that is all. Children love this kind of riddle — a house carrying the attributes of whoever lives there. Ask what is behind the door: the answer comes quickly, and it is rarely reasonable.
What changes at 4
The four sails are wide, but each is cut in two by a rib: so you have to decide whether to fill both halves the same, or not. The round window is divided into four panes a centimetre across. The door handle is a dot. The ears have an inside to treat separately. It is these small choices, more than the difficulty of the gesture, that set the age: at about 4, a child looks at the drawing before starting and can say where they will attack it.
An idea about texture
The X of the sails cuts the front into unequal quarters: a chance to try one color per quarter, from lightest at the top to darkest at the bottom, with a single pencil pressed more or less hard. The gradient comes more easily than you would think, and it gives the wall some volume. Save the pastel markers for the horn and the ears. Leave the mound at the bottom in a plain green: it acts as a base, and it stops the mill from floating in the middle of the page.
A word for the grown-up: have the four sails colored last, one by one, always turning the same way. The child then has a reason to come back over the drawing four times — and a session that would have lasted ten minutes lasts twenty-five.
Coloring pages that go with this one
More pages from the same theme, age or season — the ones you print right after.
