Sunny Desert Turtle Walking Past Cactus
Coloring guide
With a big smile and round, sparkling eyes, this tortoise plods across a sandy desert. Large, easy plates make up its domed shell, and the scaly, honeycomb legs give kids some detail practice without getting fiddly. A tall saguaro cactus stands on the left, a smaller one rises on the right, and two mountain peaks sit in the distance beneath a bright sun with straight rays. Small rocks, spiky desert plants and a round barrel cactus with a little flower on top dot the ground. Soft greens and golden browns suit the shell, and pink or yellow would be a nice pop on the cactus flower. With both big and small shapes, it works for preschoolers and older kids, and you can print the PDF free for a quiet afternoon. Kids who like Turtle coloring pages usually enjoy Dolphin and Shark too.
A gentle color plan to get started — mix in your own anytime.
- chocolate brown
- light green
- grass green
- light gray
- tan
- pale yellow
- forest green
- olive green
- golden brown
A suggested order, zone by zone — skip around as you like.
- 1Fill the large shell plates and the shell edge in chocolate brown, leaving the thin pale lines between plates white.
- 2Color the turtle's head, neck and body in light green, then add grass green scales on the front and side legs.
- 3Paint the tall cactus, barrel cactus and their arms in grass green, keeping the thin pale stripes on the tall cactus white, and color the agave plants in forest green.
- 4Fill the lower shell edges and the belly with tan and pale yellow, and color the toes of the feet pale yellow.
- 5Color the rocks and small stones light gray, and add the olive green shoulder plate just behind the head.
- 6Optional: Add a little darker shading on the shell and legs with a second shade of the same color to make them look rounder.
More Turtle Coloring Pages
Sea Turtle Swimming with Three Striped Fish
Baby Turtle Snacking on a Giant Strawberry
Little Sea Turtle Gliding Past Seashells
Lily Pad Turtle with a Frog and Dragonfly
Slow and Steady Turtle Beats the Rabbit
Coral Reef Sea Turtle with Jellyfish and Stingrays
Three Turtles Stacked on a Floating Log
Explorer Turtle with Magnifying Glass and Safari Hat
