Baba Yaga Coloring Pages
Baba Yaga is the most famous witch in Slavic folklore. She lives deep in the forest in a hut that stands on giant chicken legs. She doesn't ride a broom like other witches. She flies in a big wooden mortar (a bowl for grinding grain) and steers with the pestle. Then she sweeps away her tracks with a broom so nobody can follow. Is she scary? Sometimes! But she can also be fair, and clever heroes who mind their manners often leave with exactly the help they needed.
Jump to: Chicken-Leg Hut | Vasilisa's Story | Coloring Tips
The Hut on Chicken Legs
Baba Yaga's hut is one of the strangest houses in any story. It stands on two huge chicken legs and can turn around, stroll off or even dance. In many tales it sits with its back to the visitor and no door in sight. To get in you have to ask it nicely: “Little hut, little hut, turn your back to the forest and your front to me!” Then it creaks around on its scaly legs and the door appears.
Stories say a fence of bones circles the yard, with glowing skulls on the posts to light the way at night. You might want to leave that part out if you're coloring with little ones!
Vasilisa and Baba Yaga
Once there was a girl named Vasilisa whose mother died when she was small. Before she died, her mother gave her a tiny wooden doll. “Keep her with you,” she said, “and feed her when you need help.” Later Vasilisa's father married a woman with two daughters. The three of them were very unkind to her.
One autumn night the stepmother let the fire go out on purpose. “Go to Baba Yaga and bring back a light,” she told Vasilisa. Everyone knew that people who visited Baba Yaga didn't always come home.
Vasilisa walked into the dark forest with the doll in her pocket. A rider dressed in white galloped past and the sky grew pale. A rider in red went by and the sun came up. At sunset a rider in black passed and night fell. That's when Vasilisa saw the hut on chicken legs behind its fence of glowing skulls.
Baba Yaga flew home in her mortar. She agreed to give Vasilisa fire, but only if she worked for it. Vasilisa had to sweep the yard, wash the clothes, cook dinner and sort a whole bin of wheat to pick out every spoiled grain. Vasilisa shared her supper with the doll, and by morning every job was done. The next night it was poppy seeds mixed with dirt. Once again the doll helped.
Vasilisa asked about the three riders. “My bright day, my red sun and my dark night,” Baba Yaga answered. Vasilisa had more questions, but she was wise enough to keep them to herself. Then Baba Yaga asked how she had finished so much work. “My mother's blessing helps me,” said Vasilisa. Baba Yaga wanted no blessings in her house! She sent Vasilisa home with a skull on a stick. Its eyes glowed like hot coals.
Back home, the skull's burning eyes followed the stepmother and stepsisters wherever they went. They couldn't hide from it, and by morning they were gone for good. Vasilisa buried the skull in the garden. In time she married the tsar, and she kept her little doll with her always.
Coloring Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga is usually shown as a bony old woman with a long nose, wild grey hair and a patched headscarf. Earthy colors suit her best. Try mossy greens, browns and faded reds for her shawl and skirt. Her mortar is plain wood, so start with a light tan and add darker brown lines for the grain.
For the hut, give the legs a bumpy yellow-orange like a real chicken's feet, with darker scales and grey claws. The log walls and mossy roof look great in browns and greens. Put a dark forest behind it with a purple and blue night sky and a few glowing windows. Colored pencils work well here because you can build up the shadows slowly.
Witches from mythology European Folklore