We’re all for giving kids fun and educational things to do, and what could be better than some real-life inspired ocean colouring pages? To download yours and get started on recreating some of Blue Planet Aquarium’s creatures with the help of some coloured pens and pencils, keep reading.
Printable animal colouring sheets for kids
Bring your underwater worlds to life with our free animal colouring sheets, available to download and print here.
Want to make sure you’re accurately capturing the exciting species featured? We’ve got you covered with all the real-life inspiration you need below.
Aquatheatre Show
Our Aquatheatre Show colouring sheet features a snapshot view of Blue Planet Aquarium’s Ocean Tunnel exhibit, which is home to a variety of marine creatures, including sharks, stingrays and other fish.
Within this sheet, we’ve included the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus), which has markings outlined on its body and grows up to 3.2m in length. When you’re colouring in this shark, the main thing to remember is that the sand tiger shark has a brownish-grey body with reddish-brown spots.
The other shark you’ll find on this colouring sheet is the blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus), which has a slightly different anatomy from the sand tiger shark. They have silvery grey bodies with a white underbelly, and don’t forget to add their signature black tips on each fin.
Next up is the southern stingray (Dasyatis americanus), and this species has a grey or muted olive green body with a white underbelly.
There are many smaller fish species in this exhibit, and you can choose any colours for the ones we’ve included on the sheet. But, if you’d like some steer, we’d recommend that for the two fish at the top of the sheet, you can colour these in to resemble the sergeant major (Abudefduf saxatilis). These damselfish have white bodies, black vertical stripes, and yellow at the top of their bodies between each stripe.
For the other smaller fish, you can take inspiration from the likes of the blue damsel (Chrysiptera cyanea), squirrelfish (Holocentridae), or porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus).
Finally, we’ve added a diver. While our Junior Shark Encounters take place in the Reef section of this tank away from this away, our Adult Shark Encounters are front and centre in the main tank! You can get creative with the colours here or go with the blue and black wetsuits we use for these experiences – it’s totally up to you!
Colourful Coral
Our Coral Cave exhibit has fish in all the colours of the rainbow swimming in its water, making it perfect for inspiring a Colourful Coral colouring sheet.
The large, curved tank here is home to the sergeant major, blue damsel, regal tang (Paracanthurus hepatus), white eyed moray eel (Gymnothorax thyrsoideus), and foxface rabbit fish (Siganus vulpinus).
Of course, coral is also a big part of this exhibit, with coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef being the habitat of these fish in the wild. Coral can come in all different colours, from pinks and reds to greens and blues, so be creative when you’re colouring these areas in. The bottom of the tank should also be yellow to cover the rocks and sand here.
Working from left to right, the three fish furthest left can be coloured in with the colours of the sergeant major, with their white bodies, black vertical stripes, and yellow at the top of their bodies between each stripe. Then, the creature lay down on the sand can be coloured in as a white eyed moray eel, using grey for the head and a white and yellow speckled pattern across the rest of the body. In the middle, we have two clownfish, which you can colour in with yellow and white vertical banding, being sure to add black lining between the edges of the banding.
To the right of the clownfish, towards the bottom of the tank, use a blueish-purple colour for the body, add black markings and yellow on the fins to resemble the regal tang. And finally, the fish furthest to the right of the colouring sheet can be coloured in as foxface rabbit fish, which have black and white banded facial markings and bright yellow bodies.
Tropical Rainforest
Our Frog Zone exhibit is the inspiration behind our Tropical Rainforest colouring sheet. With many of the species here living in rainforest environments around the world, this sheet shows off the incredible diversity of the frogs, chameleons, snakes and other creatures we’re lucky to have at Blue Planet Aquarium.
Starting with the habitat, the grass, leaves and trees here should be coloured in using different hues of green, as they would be in the wild.
Then, you can colour in the panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis), which is a super colourful species with the ability to change colour. That means you can choose what colours you’d prefer it to be – whether that’s blue, green, orange or a mixture!
Since we also have snakes in this exhibit, we’ve added one to the sheet for you to bring to life. The Madagascar tree boa (Sanzinia madagascariensis) is one we’d recommend replicating, with its red, brown and yellow pattern across its body and head.
In the middle of the sheet, standing on the ground, you’ll find the outline of a Madagascar giant day gecko (Phelsuma grandis). To replicate this large gecko species, use a bright green all over the body and add a few orange-brown spotted markings.
With so many frogs featured in this exhibit, you have plenty of choice for which ones you’d like to take inspiration from when it comes to colouring in the two frogs. Use a red-orange colour to resemble the false tomato frog (Dyscophus guineti), orange for the golden mantella frog (Mantella aurantiaca), or brown and white for the Rio Marañón poison frog (Excidobates mysteriosus).
Get up-close with animals at Blue Planet Aquarium
You’re probably well acquainted with the animals from around the world featured in the colouring sheets by now, but if you fancy getting even closer and seeing them in person, we recommend coming along to Blue Planet Aquarium. You can weave your way through our exhibits and plan your day around the events and talks hosted every day, all the while learning all there is to know about the various animals that call our aquarium home.
Book your tickets today and be sure to share photos of your colourful creations with us on social media!