Cheetah coloring pages

Step-by-step

How to color this cheetah

Five short steps that work for any age. Crayons, colored pencils and markers all work — pick whichever your child reaches for first.

1. 1

   Print the page

   Save the cheetah coloring page to your device, then print it on standard letter or A4 paper. Thicker paper (around 90 gsm or 60 lb) handles markers without bleed-through; regular printer paper is fine for crayons and colored pencils.

2. 2

   Lay down the savanna base

   Most safari animals share a warm sandy-gold base coat. Color the whole body with light yellow-tan, then go over it once more so the color is even. Save the chest, belly and inner ears for white or cream.

3. 3

   Plan the pattern

   Stripes for tigers and zebras, spots for cheetahs and giraffes, manes for lions — these patterns are what make safari pages exciting. Sketch the pattern in pencil first, then ink over it with a darker color.

4. 4

   Anchor the scene

   Add tall yellow-brown grass at the feet and one acacia tree in the background. A pale orange sunset behind the animal turns a flat coloring page into a small wildlife scene.

5. 5

   Finishing touches

   When the colors are where you want them, trace the main outlines with a thin black pen to make the cheetah pop off the page. Date the back, snap a photo for the family album, then stick the finished page on the fridge.

What you'll need

A quick supplies checklist

Don't have everything? A printer, a piece of paper and a single crayon is enough to get started. The rest is optional.

• 🖨️

  Printer

  Color or black-and-white both work. Set the print size to 'fit to page' and use letter or A4 paper.

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  Paper

  Standard 20 lb (75 gsm) printer paper for crayons; 60+ lb (90+ gsm) for markers so the ink doesn't bleed.

• 🖍️

  Crayons

  Best for ages 3-5 — forgiving on small hands, no smearing, and bright enough to feel finished in minutes.

• ✏️

  Colored pencils

  Best for ages 6+ and adults — perfect for shading, blending and the detailed pattern variants.

• 🖊️

  Markers

  Bold, fast results. Pair with heavier paper so the ink stays on the page and doesn't soak through.

You might also like

Kids who color cheetahs also like

• 🦁

  Lion coloring pages

  The lion is the safari page kids reach for first. Males come with a built-in challenge — the mane — that turns an otherwise plain head into a swirling halo of fur. Females are sleeker and a good option for younger children who'd rather color a simpler shape. Either way, the page reads as 'powerful' before a single crayon hits paper.

• 🐯

  Tiger coloring pages

  Tigers are the page where pattern matters more than color. The orange-and-black stripes are the whole point, and getting them right — irregular, vertical and never quite symmetric — is what separates a beginner's tiger from a confident one. It's one of the best pages to introduce the idea that coloring is also drawing.

• 🐱

  Cat coloring pages

  From sleepy tabbies curled in sunbeams to playful kittens batting at yarn, cats give children one of the most expressive shapes on the page. The mix of long flowing fur, big watchful eyes and distinctive markings makes a cat outline a perfect home for kids who are starting to experiment with stripes, patches and shading.

• 🦓

  Zebra coloring pages

  A zebra is a horse-shaped page with a pattern instead of a coat. That makes it surprisingly approachable: kids who already know how to color a horse only need to swap one solid color for a striped one, and the page transforms. It's also a good way to introduce that 'black-and-white' doesn't have to mean 'plain.'

• 🦒

  Giraffe coloring pages

  Giraffes are the page kids want when they're ready to take their time. The body is mostly neck and the neck is mostly pattern, which makes the giraffe the savanna's answer to a mandala. The trick is keeping the spots irregular enough to look natural — not a checkerboard, not perfectly round.

• 🐘

  Elephant coloring pages

  Elephants are gentle on paper. The body is one of the simplest big shapes in the catalog — a barrel with four columns — which means kids can spend most of their attention on the trunk, ears and tusks. Asian elephants have smaller ears and a more rounded forehead; African elephants have wide ears that look almost like the shape of the continent.

Are these cheetah coloring pages free to print?

Yes — every cheetah coloring page on this site is free to download, print and color for personal, classroom and library use. No watermark, no signup.

What age are cheetah coloring pages best for?

Ages 5+. Get those two right and the animal reads instantly as cheetah, not leopard.

What colors should I use for a cheetah?

Use a sandy tan for the body, then add small solid black dots (not rosettes — those are leopards). The face needs two dark vertical 'tear marks' running from the inner corner of each eye down to the mouth. The tail ends in alternating dark and pale bands. Keep the chest and belly white.

What do cheetahs eat and where do they live?

Carnivore — gazelles, impalas and other small antelope. Open grasslands and semi-deserts of Africa.

What other animals are similar to a cheetah?

Try our lion, tiger, cat coloring pages — kids who finish a cheetah page usually enjoy those next.