I never really understood why my kids love the bad guys so much. But yesterday my middle son demanded a whole stack of new prints right as I was trying to cook dinner. The timing was… let’s say less than ideal.
So I told the team to pause the princess stuff and draw these little turtle guys instead. They actually came up with some genuinely hilarious outfits this time around for our new Koopa Troopa coloring pages collection.
Usually the generic game art is just them walking back and forth staring blankly. We needed these printable Koopa Troopa coloring pages to have a bit more personality so the kids wouldn’t get bored after three minutes.
There are about 33 or 34 different designs down there in the grid. Just click the thumbnail and the PDF will pop up for you to print.
Your kids will also love: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Rosalina, Bowser, Princess Peach.
Highlighted Koopa Troopa Coloring Pages
The Brave Little Knight
He is wearing a full suit of armor with a tiny little sword. The shield even has a shell carved right into the front of it.
You can see the big castle walls stretching out behind him. It is a fantastic free Koopa Troopa coloring pages option for kids who love medieval stuff.
High Tech Robot Troopa
My team went totally overboard with the gears and antennas on this robot suit. He literally looks like a walking tin can.
The background has all these mechanical arms and tools hanging up. All this hardware comes down to one thing: you need a lot of grey crayons.
Superhero of the City
Standing tall with a lightning bolt on his chest and a cape blowing in the wind. The little bandana mask is just stupidly cute honestly.
The towering city skyscrapers behind him give a nice urban feel. Finding a Koopa Troopa coloring sheet with this much heroic energy is impossible anywhere else.
The Lost Tourist
Sometimes a turtle just needs a vacation from getting stomped on by plumbers. He has a floral shirt and a bucket hat while holding a giant map.
The pyramids and palm trees in the background are a really fun touch. My daughter colored the camera hot pink which honestly worked out perfectly.
Healthy Salad Lunch
I guess turtles eat leaves so a massive bowl of salad makes total sense. He is sitting on a checkered picnic blanket outside enjoying his meal.
Kids never want to eat their vegetables but they sure love coloring them. It makes this specific Koopa Troopa coloring pages for kids file weirdly educational.
Tripping and Falling
He is completely losing his balance and flailing backward through the air. You can see the bottom of his little padded boots sticking up.
It looks exactly like what happens when Mario finally catches up to him. We try to give our printable Koopa Troopa coloring pages a sense of real action.
Securing the Bag
He looks extremely proud just standing there holding a massive gold coin. Those classic rounded mushroom trees are poking up in the background too.
It is a very simple composition with thick bold lines. That is exactly what makes a great Koopa Troopa coloring sheet for toddlers.
Claiming the Territory
He is clutching a huge blank flag on a pole like he just conquered a mountain. The landscape behind him is pure classic Mario level design.
Kids can draw their own logo or write their name right on the flag. That little interactive bit makes it one of the best free Koopa Troopa coloring pages we have.
Tips for Coloring Koopa Troopa Coloring Sheets
1. Getting the Skin Tone Right
His skin is this very specific pale yellow color. If your kid uses a neon yellow highlighter it is going to burn your eyeballs. I usually push them toward a softer pastel yellow instead.
You can lightly shade the edges with a pale orange pencil to give him some weight. It stops him from looking like a flat pancake. This decision is… let’s say not the most obvious for a five year old. But it helps.
2. Layering the Shell Colors
The main part of his shell is usually a grassy green. But the rim around the edge is a creamy white or pale yellow. Kids almost always color the entire thing green in one frantic scribble.
Try having them trace the white rim with a beige pencil first. It creates a little fence so the green crayon doesn’t spill over. Providing Koopa Troopa coloring pages for kids is easy but teaching them patience is a nightmare.
3. Warm Tones for the Boots
His shoes and his padded belly are a sort of light tan color. A lot of kids just grab brown and it makes the whole drawing super dark. I swap their brown crayons for a golden yellow or peach.
It keeps the character looking bright and cheerful. If you use dark brown he just blends into the dirt background. Sometimes skipping explanations and just hiding the dark crayons saves everyone a headache.
4. Coloring the Robot Armor
The robot suit page has so many tiny little metal panels. Silver crayons are basically just sparkly grey mud. They ruin the paper and smear everywhere.
I strictly hand out grey colored pencils for those mechanical parts. They can press hard for dark shadows and press lightly for the shiny bits. It grounds the abstraction in the physical reality of actual metal.
5. Making the Character Pop
He is a very warm colored character with all that yellow and light green. If they color the background orange or red he will completely disappear. You want him to stand out.
Push them toward cool blues and purples for the sky and hills. The contrast makes his yellow skin look incredibly vibrant. All this color theory comes down to one thing: opposites look good together.
6. Filling the Voids
There is a lot of empty sky in some of these designs. Leaving it blank is fine but it feels a bit lazy. I tell my kids to just take a light blue crayon and turn it on its side.
Lightly rub the flat side over the empty sky paper. It fills the space in like 12 seconds without cramping their tiny hands. That might cause some inconvenience if the crayon wrapper is hard to peel but whatever.
7. Defining the Face
He has this big rounded beak instead of a normal mouth. It needs to stand out from the rest of his yellow face. I usually have them outline the beak with a slightly darker orange.
His eyes are massive ovals that take up half his head. Leaving a tiny speck of white paper uncolored in the black pupil gives him life. Will this work tomorrow? No idea. But today it works.
8. Embracing the Mess
At some point you just have to step back and let them color. If my daughter wants a purple turtle with polka dots I am not going to argue. I used to hover and micromanage their art projects constantly.
Now I just let them destroy the page with whatever colors they want. The weirdest color combinations usually end up looking the most interesting anyway. And what follows from this? The fact that I get fifteen minutes of absolute silence to drink my coffee.