Tiger Coloring Pages
Tigers are the biggest cats in the world, and every single one wears its own pattern of stripes. Here you'll find realistic tigers, cuddly cubs, silly cartoon tigers and a few sketchy ones too.
If you'd like to try drawing your own tiger, the video has a step-by-step how-to.
Jump to: Realistic | Cubs | Cartoon | Graffiti | Sabre-tooth | Myths
Realistic Tiger Coloring Pages
Snarling tigers, sleepy tigers and a couple of close-up faces. These have lots of stripes to fill in, so they're great for older kids and grown-ups.
Tiger Cub Coloring Pages
Tiger cubs are born with their stripes already in place. They stay with their mother for about two years while she teaches them how to hunt.
Cartoon Tiger Coloring Pages
Silly tigers for younger kids. One is giving the Earth a hug and another has snagged a ham.
Tigers in Myths and Legends
In the parts of the world where tigers really live, people have been telling stories about them for thousands of years. Here are five of my favourites.
The White Tiger of the West (China)
In old Chinese tradition, four great creatures guard the four directions of the sky. The Azure Dragon watches the east, the Vermilion Bird the south, the Black Tortoise the north, and the White Tiger guards the west. The White Tiger also stands for autumn, which makes it a fun one to color with crunchy orange and gold leaves around it.
The Tiger and the Magpie (Korea)
Korean folk paintings called jakhodo show a tiger sitting under a pine tree while a magpie chatters at it from a branch. The tiger is usually painted big and goofy rather than scary, with round eyes and a silly grin. People hung these paintings at New Year to chase away bad luck, and the magpie was said to bring good news. If Derpy the tiger from K-Pop Demon Hunters looks familiar, that's why: he's based on these old paintings.
K-Pop Demon Hunters coloring pages
Durga's Tiger (India)
The Hindu goddess Durga is often shown riding a tiger or a lion into battle against demons. Her big cat stands for strength and courage, and it's usually painted as calm and fearless right in the middle of the fight.
Bonbibi and the Tiger King (Bangladesh and India)
The Sundarbans is a huge mangrove forest where real tigers still roam. Local legend says a spirit named Dakshin Rai rules the forest in the shape of a tiger, and the kind forest goddess Bonbibi protects the honey collectors and woodcutters who go in. To this day, some people say a prayer to Bonbibi before heading into the trees.
The Year of the Tiger
The tiger is the third animal of the Chinese zodiac. People born in a Year of the Tiger are said to be brave, confident and a little bit daring. The last Year of the Tiger was 2022, and the next one comes around in 2034.
Rintoo from Ni Hao, Kai-Lan
Rintoo is Kai-Lan's bouncy, can't-sit-still tiger friend. The show sprinkles in Mandarin Chinese words for little ones to learn. "Ni hao" means hello, and the word for tiger is "lǎohǔ."
Ni Hao, Kai-Lan coloring pages
Tiger Graffiti Art and Sketches
A tiger in bold graffiti style with "Tiger" in big letters, plus three loose pencil-sketch tigers. One of them is very interested in a bug.
Sabre-toothed Cats
People often call them sabre-toothed tigers, but these Ice Age cats weren't tigers at all. They came from a completely different branch of the cat family tree.
People often call them sabre-toothed tigers, but they weren't tigers at all. Smilodon and its cousin Homotherium were Ice Age cats from a completely different branch of the cat family tree.
Smilodon
Smilodon lived in North and South America until about 10,000 years ago. Instead of chasing its dinner like a cheetah, it probably hid and pounced. More than 2,000 Smilodon have been dug out of the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles!
Homotherium
Homotherium roamed much farther than Smilodon, across North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Its teeth were shorter and had jagged edges like a steak knife, and scientists think it may have hunted in groups.
About Tigers
Tigers are the biggest cats on Earth. A big Siberian tiger can weigh as much as three or four grown-ups put together! Wild tigers live only in Asia, in places like India, Russia and Indonesia, and they make their homes in forests, swamps and snowy woods.
Unlike most cats, tigers love the water. They're strong swimmers and will happily cool off in a river on a hot day. And here's a neat one: if you shaved a tiger (please don't), you'd find the stripes are on its skin too.
Coloring a Tiger
Tigers are a bright orange, more like a pumpkin than a lemon, so skip the yellow. Leave the belly, chin, cheeks and the patches around the eyes white. Then add the stripes in black or very dark brown. They're thinner and closer together on the face and legs, and the tail ends in black rings with a black tip.
Look at the backs of a tiger's ears and you'll find a white spot on each one. Some scientists think the spots work like a pair of "eyes" in the back of its head. Tiger eyes are usually golden amber.
For the background, try jungle greens, tall golden grass or a river to swim in. White tigers are fun to color too: leave the fur white, use grey or brown for the stripes, and give them bright blue eyes. And on the cartoon pages, a purple tiger with green stripes sounds pretty great.
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