It is exactly that time of year when the kids are desperately finding any excuse they can to tape their artwork to my freshly painted walls. We needed some new bat coloring pages to add to this beautiful mess we call home.
I realized finding decent, high-quality designs that weren’t totally terrifying for toddlers was actually pretty hard. So our team drew up these printable Halloween bats to fix that problem once and for all.
My youngest is currently taping these finished sheets directly to the ceiling fans. I genuinely do not recommend doing that.
But I do highly recommend letting your kids grab their darkest crayons and just go wild on the paper. These bat coloring sheets are absolutely perfect for keeping little hands busy during the chaotic witching hour before dinner.
Featured Bat Coloring Pages
I love how these bats tumble off the rooftop like autumn leaves, while the zombie below looks as though someone just shouted, Surprise! I’d give him a lime-green face and let the kids dream up a different color for every fluttery little bat.
I can’t decide what makes me giggle more here—the pumpkin’s enormous grin or the little bats fluttering out as if they’ve been hiding a surprise. I’d go for a bright orange pumpkin and let the kids give each bat its own silly color.
I had to smile at these little bats hanging out like laundry between the haunted house windows—apparently, even Halloween has a washday! I’d give each one a different purple or blue, just to see which looks coziest on the line.
I think these upside-down bats look like they’re having a sleepy little meeting, with their glowing eyes keeping track of every drip from the stalactites. I’d sneak some purple into the cave walls and give each bat a different shade of brown so the children can pick their favorites.
These little bats perched along the wire look like they’re waiting for the moon to tell them a bedtime story, and I find that rather sweet. I’d try soft purples and misty blues for the foggy street, with a buttery yellow moon to keep the whole scene cozy.
I think these fluttery bats look as though they’re having a little dance around the candles, with the dusty crypt as their ballroom. I’d give the candlelight a warm golden glow and sneak a few purple wings into the party!
I couldn’t help smiling at these little bats, with their tiny ghost balloon bobbing along on strings tied to their wings. I’d give the bats plum-purple wings and leave their floaty friend white, though a pink ghost would be rather sweet too.
Halloween Collections
Bat Coloring Pages Highlights
Bats Hiding in the Crypt Wall
These three little guys are peeking out from the cracks in a stone wall. The crumbling bricks and the coffin in the corner give it a perfectly spooky vibe. My oldest loves adding heavy shading to the deep cracks in the stone.
It makes the coloring pages bats look like they are hiding in a real dark cave. The tiny lit candle on the floor is a fun detail to color bright yellow. You can really make the gray stones pop against that warm light.
Bat on a Hanging Lantern
Here we have a friendly bat resting on top of an old metal lantern. There is also a tiny ghost standing right beside it holding a piece of wrapped candy. This one is surprisingly sweet for a spooky theme.
My middle child always colors the candy a bright neon pink. We love these bats coloring sheets because they mix the creepy with the cute. The lantern glass looks amazing if you leave some white space for a glare effect.
The Cracked Bell Tower
This tower has a huge bell swinging right in the middle of the room. Several bats are just roosting upside down on the old wooden beams. The cracked stone walls make it feel ancient and abandoned.
Getting the metal texture of that giant bell right is a fun challenge for older kids. I usually tell my kids to use silver and dark blue to make it look heavy. Finding coloring pages of Halloween bats with this much background detail is always a win.
Bats on the Power Line
Five little bats are lined up perfectly on a wire strung across a neighborhood street. You can see the houses and streetlamps glowing under a big full moon. It looks just like our street during late October.
The foggy clouds in the sky give you an excuse to use light gray and purple crayons. We try to collect free bats coloring pages that show different nighttime scenes. This specific one is great for practicing night skies.
Sleepy Attic Bats
Three plump bats are sleeping peacefully upside down from the wooden ceiling beams. The whole attic is covered in thick cobwebs and looks wonderfully dusty. You can even see an arched window in the back letting in some light.
The cobwebs are a bit tricky to color around but totally worth the effort. Printable bat coloring pages like this one help kids practice their fine motor skills. Plus they get to use a lot of earthy brown tones on all that wood.
The Giant Skull Cave
A massive swarm of bats is flying right out of a cave that looks like a giant skull. There is swirling mist curling all around the entrance and down the rocks. It is definitely the most dramatic picture in this collection.
Coloring the smoke and mist swirling around the bone structure is super satisfying. Halloween bat coloring pages should have a little bit of edge to them. My son colored the skull neon green and it looked surprisingly awesome.
Ghostly Chimney Smoke
Bats are fluttering right out of the top of a brick chimney on a slanted roof. The best part is the smoke curling upward forming the shapes of little ghosts. The night sky around them is full of twinkling stars.
My daughter spent an hour just coloring those tiny roof shingles red and brown. We look for coloring pages bats that have these funny hidden elements. It makes the final picture something they actually want to hang on the fridge.
The Dusty Crypt Candelabra
A fancy lit candelabra sits right in the middle of a stone floor. Bats are flying all around the glowing candles under heavy arched doorways. It feels very gothic and quiet.
The melting wax on the candles is a really fun detail to fill in. Finding good bats coloring sheets with this kind of spooky elegance is tough. This one practically begs for deep purples and dramatic shadows.
Tips for Coloring Bats Color Pages
1. Night Skies Need Layers
Most kids just grab a black crayon and press as hard as they can for the sky. That ends up looking flat and usually ruins the crayon in five minutes. I try to get them to layer colors instead.
Start with a dark blue or purple base. Then lightly color black over the top to make it look like a real night sky. It changes how these Halloween bat coloring pages turn out completely.
2. Make the Moon Glow
A bright moon is the center point of any good spooky scene. If you leave it pure white it sometimes gets lost against the paper. A tiny bit of light yellow around the edges goes a long way.
I also tell my kids to smudge a little yellow chalk around the outside of the moon. It creates this glowing halo effect that looks super cool against a dark sky. Coloring pages of Halloween bats really pop when the moon looks like it is actually shining.
3. Brown Bats Exist Too
It is so easy to fall into the trap of making every single bat dark gray or black. But in real life bats come in all sorts of brown and reddish tones. Mixing up the fur colors makes a big flock look much more interesting.
Try using a warm burnt sienna or even a dusty orange for the smaller bats. My youngest decided to make one pink yesterday and honestly it kind of worked. Letting them choose weird colors keeps the activity fun anyway.
4. Shading the Wings
Bat wings have this leathery texture that is fun to play with. You can make them look three-dimensional just by pressing harder on the edges. Leave the middle sections a little lighter.
This is a great chance to talk about shadows if your kids are old enough to care. Mine usually ignore me and just color them solid anyway. But the technique is there if they want to try something new.
5. Mixing Markers and Crayons
Using only markers can sometimes make the paper warp if there are large dark areas. Using only crayons can make kids’ hands tired pretty quickly. I suggest mixing the two materials on the same page.
Use crayons for the big stretches of sky and stone walls. Then use fine-tip markers for the tiny details like the bat eyes and the cobwebs. It saves time and honestly looks much better.
6. Don’t Ignore the Stone
A lot of these scenes take place in crypts or caves with tons of rocks. Coloring every single brick the same shade of gray is boring. Mix some blues and greens into the stone to make it look old and mossy.
Stones in nature are never just one flat color. Adding a few dots of dark green at the bottom of the walls makes a huge difference. It grounds the picture and makes the whole environment feel damp and realistic.
7. Highlighting the Cobwebs
Cobwebs are tricky because they are drawn with black lines but they are supposed to be white. You obviously can’t color them white on white paper. The trick is to color the space behind them really dark.
Once the background is dark the white space of the web stands out sharply. You can even trace the black lines with a silver gel pen if you have one lying around. The kids love seeing the silver catch the light when they move the paper.
8. Lighting the Candles
Several of these pictures have lit candles or lanterns casting light on the bats. Getting the glow effect right takes a little patience. You want the area right around the flame to be bright yellow.
Then slowly fade that yellow into orange as you move further away from the candle. Don’t color the dark background colors too close to the flame. It really makes the fire look hot and bright.