My youngest managed to dig my dusty old Super Nintendo out of the basement boxes last weekend. Now it is literally just monkey noises echoing through this house from early morning till late at night.
Honestly I completely forgot how endlessly frustrating those timed barrel levels were back in the day but my kids are completely obsessed with them now. Naturally I had the team whip up some brand new Donkey Kong coloring pages to help redirect some of that wild jungle energy.
Getting three energetic kids to actually sit still at the exact same time is basically a miracle these days. But if you plop a fresh stack of printables right on the messy kitchen table something resembling magic finally happens.
They get to quietly color their absolute favorite big tie-wearing ape while I actually manage to drink my morning coffee before it gets freezing cold. We have to take these rare little wins for mom whenever we can get them.
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Featured Donkey Kong Coloring Pages
Highlighted Donkey Kong Coloring Pages
Leaping Over Spikes
This one gives me anxiety just looking at it. It is DK jumping right over a giant pit of sharp spikes. My oldest always tries to draw little bananas floating in the air above him.
The spikes are fun to shade with different grays. It’s a great free Donkey Kong coloring pages option for practicing metallic textures. Just don’t let them color the spikes red because it looks way too messy.
Barrel Cannon Blast
Classic Donkey Kong right here. He is shooting out of a wooden barrel cannon high into the sky. You can almost hear that boom sound effect from the game.
Kids love filling in the wood grain on the barrel. I always suggest they make the clouds bright purple or something crazy. Why do clouds always have to be white or gray anyway.
Rickety Bridge Minecart
Okay those minecart levels used to make me throw my controller. Here he is rolling over a really sketchy wooden bridge in his little cart. My middle child loves coloring the wooden planks all different shades of brown.
The structural beams underneath are great for kids who like staying in the lines. This is a solid Donkey Kong coloring sheet for a quiet afternoon. Honestly the detailed line work is weirdly relaxing.
Underground Tunnel Run
Same cart but this time he is deep underground in a dark tunnel. It feels very echoey and cold. The rocks around the tunnel opening are huge and chunky.
You can really go heavy with the dark crayons here. It is perfect for those rainy days when everyone is stuck inside. Let them use blacks and dark purples for the cave shadows.
Jungle Waterfall
DK is looking pretty proud standing right in front of a massive waterfall. The water is crashing down and splashing everywhere around his feet. It reminds me of our disastrous camping trip last summer.
Coloring water is actually quite tricky for little ones. This is one of those Donkey Kong coloring pages for kids where they can just go wild with the blues and teals. A little green mixed in looks amazing.
Dense Jungle Vine Swing
Just a giant ape swinging on a tiny vine through the jungle. The leaves in the background are huge and overlapping. It feels very tropical and humid.
We use this one to talk about rainforests sometimes. Grab every green crayon in the box for this printable Donkey Kong coloring pages download. Layering different greens makes the jungle look super deep.
Rope Above the Lava River
This is the stress level I operate at daily. He is clinging to a rope while actual lava bubbles right underneath him. My son colors the lava so bright it almost hurts your eyes.
You absolutely need strong reds and oranges here. It is a fantastic Donkey Kong coloring sheet to teach them about warm colors. Sometimes we add a little yellow right in the center of the bubbles.
The Iconic Red Tie
Just DK striking a pose on a rocky cliff. He is wearing his signature necktie and looking very bossy. The clouds behind him are nice and fluffy.
That tie has to be bright red. It is the law. This is a perfect free Donkey Kong coloring pages choice for younger kids because the shapes are big and easy.
Tips for Coloring Donkey Kong
1. Brown Isn’t Just Brown
Donkey Kong is basically a mountain of brown fur. But if you just use one regular brown crayon the whole thing looks incredibly flat. I learned this the hard way watching my kids color.
You need variety. Mix a little black or dark umber into the shadow areas under his arms. Then use a lighter tan or even a touch of orange where the sun hits his shoulders. This makes him look huge and fuzzy.
2. The Red Tie Needs to Pop
That iconic necktie is his whole identity. It can’t just be a dull washed out red. When you are working on these Donkey Kong coloring pages for kids you really want that tie to jump off the page. It has to be loud.
We usually grab our brightest markers just for the tie while doing the rest in colored pencil. It creates this really cool mixed media effect. Plus it stops the red from bleeding into his chest fur. Markers are just bolder.
3. Don’t Ignore the Backgrounds
A lot of kids just color the character and leave the rest of the paper stark white. I get it. They are tired. But the jungles and caves are half the fun of these pictures.
Even a quick wash of light green or blue behind him makes a huge difference. You don’t have to color every single leaf perfectly. Just get some color back there to ground him so he isn’t floating in empty space. It frames the whole thing nicely.
4. Layering the Jungle Greens
The backgrounds in these pages are packed with vines and huge leaves. Using the same green marker for all of it is a rookie mistake. It turns into a giant green blob. You lose all the depth.
I always tell my students to pick three different greens before they start. A yellow-green for the sunny leaves and a dark forest green for the deep shadows. This trick saves so many pictures from looking muddy when they tackle a printable Donkey Kong coloring pages design. It makes the jungle pop.
5. Making the Lava Look Hot
Coloring lava is surprisingly hard if you don’t plan it out. My youngest used to just scrub a red crayon everywhere and call it a day. It looked more like a spilled jar of tomato sauce. Not exactly menacing.
Start with yellow in the very center of the bubbles or waves. Then blend orange around that and finally red on the outside edges. It literally makes the paper look like it is glowing hot. The contrast is what makes it work.
6. Texturing the Wood
Those barrels and minecarts have amazing wood grain details drawn into them. Don’t just color right over those lines with a thick dark marker. You will lose all the texture my team worked so hard to draw. The wood grain is the best part.
A sharp colored pencil is your best friend here. Lightly shade the whole barrel light brown first. Then take a darker brown and trace over the grain lines to make them stand out. It looks like real wood when you finish.
7.The Trick to Gray Rocks
Caves and cliffs can be pretty boring to color. Gray is just gray right. Well not really. There are cool grays and warm grays.
Try mixing a tiny bit of blue or purple into the gray shadows of the rocks. It completely changes the mood of the picture. Suddenly the cave feels cold and damp instead of just flat and boring. Little details like that matter.
8. Crayons vs Markers for the Fur
We have debated this in my house for weeks. Markers are great for bright solid colors but they are terrible for making fur look soft. They just leave harsh streaks everywhere. You end up with a very shiny monkey.
Crayons or colored pencils are vastly superior for DK himself. You can use little short strokes to actually draw the hair. It takes longer but the final result is so much better. The texture is just way more realistic.