October crept up on us again. My three kids are already demanding Halloween candy for breakfast, which is… well, you know how it goes.
We drew up these printable scarecrow coloring pages just to distract them from the hidden sugar stash. We made them slightly spooky but mostly just fun for everyone.
My youngest gets weirdly particular about how the straw looks on paper. Kids are funny like that.
You can just click any of the images below to grab the PDF. Print out a whole stack of these scarecrow coloring sheets and let them go wild with the orange and yellow crayons.
Featured Scarecrow Coloring Pages
I think this scarecrow has the right idea, leaning against a fence post while those thick autumn vines do all the climbing! I’d give him a cheerful patchwork shirt and let the kids turn the tangled leaves into a jumble of gold, orange, and rusty red.
I love how the big harvest moon makes this scarecrow look like he’s putting on a shadow-puppet show, with bats swooping in to join the fun. I’d try a buttery yellow moon and a deep purple sky, though a pink sky would be pretty delightful too!
I think the crow has found the best seat in the pumpkin patch, perched right on our scarecrow’s hat while autumn leaves swirl all around. I’d leave a few leaves yellow and turn the rest rusty orange and red for a lovely, blustery fall day.
I think this scarecrow looks like he’s waiting for the cornstalk shadows to stop wiggling so he can count them! I’d try soft gold for the dim harvest moon and swirly purples for the shadows, but a pink moon would be pretty lovely too.
I love that this cheeky crow has made a nest right in the scarecrow’s straw hair and is cawing away as if it owns the place. I’d leave some golden yellow for that wonderfully untidy hair, though a few rainbow strands could make this bird’s new home even cozier.
I think that loose button eye gives this straw fellow such a lovable, slightly lopsided look, like he got dressed in a hurry for harvest day. I’d go with golden browns for the dry corn and let the kids pick the wildest patchwork colors for his clothes.
Halloween Collections
Scarecrow Coloring Page Highlights
The Sleepy Fence Post
This printable scarecrow coloring page shows a guy slumped against a fence with cobwebs strung right between his arms. I think maybe he worked too hard keeping the birds away and just gave up.
My kids love adding tiny purple spiders to the webs. It gives you an excuse to use those weird colors sitting at the bottom of the crayon box.
Silo and Crows
Here you have a classic scene with crows circling a crumbling silo in the background. It looks like the birds are definitely winning this battle.
A coloring page of a scarecrow is usually pretty static. But the flying birds here give it this chaotic energy that older kids actually sit still for.
Pumpkin Patch Cat
I really like how this one turned out with the foggy pumpkin patch and the black cat weaving nearby. The clouds look heavy.
You can do a lot of shading on those pumpkins to make them look round and heavy. Finding free scarecrow coloring pages with this much background detail is a minor victory for a Tuesday afternoon.
Full Moon Cornfield
This is probably the spookiest one we made. He is surrounded by twisted cornstalks with a full moon glowing right behind him.
His face almost looks like a carved jack-o-lantern. It is the perfect printable scarecrow coloring page for when October is getting close and everyone is bouncing off the walls.
Tips for Coloring Scarecrows
1. Layering the Straw
Straw isn’t just yellow. If you only use a bright yellow crayon it ends up looking like spaghetti.
I always tell my students to start with a light brown or tan base. Then lightly flick the yellow over the top for texture on these printable scarecrow coloring pages.
2. Denim Disasters
Kids tend to just scrub a blue marker all over the overalls until the paper tears. We’ve all seen that soggy paper mess.
Suggest they use colored pencils for the clothing instead. A coloring page of a scarecrow looks way more realistic when you can see the white of the paper peeking through the blue like real worn denim.
3. Spooky Skies
The sky doesn’t always have to be blue, especially in autumn scenes. Try a dusty purple or an orange sunset.
It completely changes the mood of the picture. I handed out some scarecrow coloring sheets last week and one kid made the sky bright pink, which honestly looked incredible.
4. Patchwork Patterns
Scarecrows wear old, ruined clothes. This is a great excuse to mix clashing colors and weird patterns on their patches.
Don’t stress about making the outfit match. Plaid shirts with polka dot patches work perfectly here.
5. The Crow Colors
Crows are black, sure. But if you press too hard with a black crayon, it just becomes a dark void on the paper.
Try mixing dark blue or dark purple under the black to give the feathers some shine. It might cause some inconvenience if you only have an eight-pack of crayons, but it is worth digging for the big box.
6. Wood Textures
A lot of these posts and fences are made of old wood. Drawing little vertical lines with a dark brown pencil makes it look like bark.
Then you color over it lightly with a lighter brown or even gray. It is a simple trick. Or rather, a necessity if you don’t want a flat brown stump.
7. Pumpkin Shading
Pumpkins are practically mandatory in these pictures. To make them pop, use a dark orange around the edges and yellow in the middle.
This creates a curved, 3D effect that looks surprisingly professional for a kid’s coloring session. Honestly, even I find it satisfying to blend those two colors together.
8. Highlighting with White
A white crayon isn’t useless, contrary to popular belief. You can use it to blend other colors or add highlights to the moon.
If they color outside the lines a bit, the white crayon can sometimes soften the mistake. Will this work every time? No idea. But today it works.