Hippo
Toddler · 2–3A big smiling hippopotamus with a huge rounded snout, tiny ears, and short stumpy legs. It is one of the simplest animal pages here — the body is mostly one enormous shape — which makes it a great choice for a two- or three-year-old who wants to finish something quickly and feel proud of it. Coloring a hippo is a natural way to talk about animals that live in rivers, about how a hippo can hold its breath underwater, and about how such a heavy animal moves. Grey is the obvious choice, but a purple hippo is just as welcome. Print it, or color it online with the paint bucket.
One of the easiest traced pages
A hippo is a few enormous rounded shapes — a barrel body, a huge head, short legs — with almost no fine detail anywhere. That makes it the gentlest of the traced line-art animals and the right one to hand a three-year-old who wants what the older children are colouring.
The ears and eyes sit high on the head, which is accurate and worth pointing out.
Why the eyes are on top
For the same reason as the frog's: a hippo spends the day almost entirely submerged, with eyes, ears and nostrils in a line along the top of the head so all three stay above water. Once a child has seen it on the frog page, they often spot it here unprompted.
Frequently asked questions
- What age is this page for?
- Three to six. Large simple shapes and no fine detail — the easiest of the traced animal pages.
- Why are a hippo's eyes and ears on top of its head?
- So it can stay almost completely underwater and still see, hear and breathe. Eyes, ears and nostrils all sit in a line along the top.
