We are in the middle of a massive ocean phase… at our house right now. My youngest keeps asking me if dolphins sleep and honestly I have no idea. But I knew our team had to draw up a fresh batch of dolphin coloring pages to keep the peace.
Getting these right actually took a ridiculous amount of time. You want them to look cute but also somewhat real so the kids actually learn something.
I printed a stack of these for my third grader’s class last week. They survived the afternoon bus ride and that is saying a lot.
Just click on any of the pictures below to grab the PDF. Print as many as you need to get through the weekend.
Featured Dolphin Coloring Pages
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Dolphin Coloring Pages Highlights
Bottlenose Slapping Its Rostrum
Looking at the first design, I love the energy in this one with the water splashing everywhere. The dolphin is smacking its beak right on the surface. We always need more free dolphin coloring pages that show real behaviors.
My kids go crazy with the blue crayons here. The clouds in the background give you a nice break from just coloring water.
Strand Feeding on a Mud Bank
This is a really specific hunting trick that our illustrator nailed perfectly. The dolphin is actually sliding up onto the muddy shore to catch its dinner. It is a great chance to talk about animal survival while using these printable dolphin coloring pages.
You don’t see this a lot in standard coloring books. The mud bank is fun because they can break out the browns and tans.
Surfacing in a River Estuary
A lot of people forget that some dolphins hang out in rivers. This guy is popping up near a shoreline with some thick trees in the back. Finding accurate coloring pages for dolphins in different habitats was important to our team.
The water is calmer here. Kids can practice coloring the reflection of the trees if they are feeling brave.
Eyes Just Above Water
This one just makes me laugh every time I look at it. The dolphin is staring right at you with just the top half of its head showing. Kids love goofy dolphin coloring sheets like this.
It is super simple and clean. It is perfect for toddlers who get overwhelmed by too many tiny background details.
Tossing a Fish Before Catching It
My oldest son grabbed this sheet immediately. The dolphin is leaping straight up and flipping a little fish into the air. Good dolphin color pages should feel like a snapshot of action.
The splash at the bottom is pretty detailed. You can almost hear the water crashing.
Whistling at a Calf Nearby
Nothing beats a mama and her baby. This underwater scene shows the big adult whistling to the tiny calf. It is probably one of the most popular sheets we have ever made.
There are little sound waves drawn in. And the seaweed at the bottom gives the kids some green to mix in with all the ocean colors.
Leaping Ahead of a Bow Wave
This is a common dolphin jumping right out of the surf. The foam is flying everywhere and the dolphin looks so happy. Honestly these pages turn out beautiful when finished.
My daughter used a mix of purple and grey for the dolphin and it looked incredible. The wave takes up a good chunk of the page.
Leaping Just Ahead of Waves
Another great jumping scene but with a different style of rolling waves. The lines on the water are really smooth and wavy. I think finding good art means finding different styles.
It is very calming to color those long wave lines. Sometimes I sit and color this one myself while the kids are doing their homework.
Tips for Coloring Dolphin Coloring Pages
1. Layering Your Ocean Colors
Everyone just grabs the standard blue crayon and scribbles the water. That gets boring really fast. If you want your ocean to look alive, you need to mix it up.
Start with a light blue base and then press harder with a darker navy near the bottom. I always tell my kids to add a little streak of green. It makes the water look wild and deep.
2. Getting the Dolphin Skin Right
Dolphins are not just flat grey. They have shadows and shiny spots because they are wet. These sheets look amazing if you leave a little white space on the top of their backs.
That white spot acts like a highlight from the sun. You can also use a light purple or even pink on their bellies. It sounds weird but it looks surprisingly realistic.
3. Handling the Splashes
Water splashing is notoriously hard to color. Kids usually just color over the foam lines. For our free dolphin coloring pages, try outlining the splashes in a light blue and leaving the inside white.
This makes the foam pop out against the darker ocean background. My third grader figured this out and it completely changed how his pictures look. All this technique comes down to one thing: let the white space do the work.
4. Crayons versus Colored Pencils
I am normally a huge fan of crayons for toddlers. But for dolphins, colored pencils are honestly better. You need a sharp point to get around the eyes and those skinny little fins. Pencils also let you blend the greys and blues much smoother.
If you are printing these printable dolphin coloring pages on standard printer paper, pencils won’t bleed through either. I don’t know if this works for every brand of pencil. But today it works for us.
5. Coloring the Skies
Half of these pictures have huge open skies behind the dolphins. Do not leave them blank. A sunset sky looks absolutely stunning behind a grey animal. Try blending orange, pink, and yellow for a sunset vibe.
It warms up the whole picture and makes these coloring pages for dolphins feel like a tropical vacation. Maybe 75 or 76 percent of kids skip the sky completely.
6. Adding Your Own Sea Life
Some of our pages are pretty clean and simple by design. This is a perfect excuse to let your kids draw their own extras. Add some tiny fish or maybe a crab on the bottom. It turns a standard activity into a mini art project.
I usually hand them the dolphin coloring sheets and challenge them to add three new animals before they start coloring. Will they complain? Probably. But they do it anyway.
7. Using Markers without Ruining the Page
Kids love markers because they are bright and fast. The problem is they soak right through the paper. If they insist on using markers on these dolphin color pages, slide a piece of cardboard underneath.
It saves your kitchen table from permanent blue stains. Also, tell them to use light, quick strokes instead of holding the marker down in one spot. A heavy hand is basically a death sentence for standard printer paper.
8. Don’t Forget the Mud and Sand
For the strand feeding picture, the ground shouldn’t just be yellow. Mud banks are messy. Have your kids mix brown, black, and maybe a little green for the marshy bits. It is a great texture exercise.
Whenever we use sheets with different environments, I use it as a mini science lesson about where animals actually live. And what follows from this? They end up learning something without realizing it.