About these axolotl coloring pages
Axolotl coloring pages have become a favorite with kids who love animals that look like they came out of a storybook. With its wide smile, tiny eyes and feathery gills that fan out like a crown, the axolotl is one of the cutest real animals there is, and it is a real salamander from Mexico. Our free axolotl pages go from a single round, smiling axolotl with thick lines for toddlers to axolotls among water plants, pebbles and bubbles, and detailed patterned pages for teens and adults.
Every page is a free printable for US Letter or A4, with no account and no watermark, and you can color any of them online with a tap-to-fill brush. Color yours in the classic pale pink, try the wild dark green-brown with speckles, or invent a rainbow axolotl. While you color, there is a lot to learn: how an axolotl breathes, where it lives and how it can regrow a lost leg.
Why kids love coloring axolotls
An axolotl is easy to draw and easy to color: a long soft body, four little legs, a flat tail and three frilly gills on each side of its head. The gills are the star of every page, and children love giving them a brighter color than the body, like dark pink on light pink or purple on blue.
Axolotls are also a great way to learn about amphibians. Most salamanders start life in water with gills and later move onto land. Axolotls keep their baby features as adults and stay in the water their whole life, which is why they look so young and friendly. That surprise makes a good science talk for school-age kids.
Axolotl pages are also a nice way to talk about protecting nature. In the wild they live only in a small area of canals near Mexico City, and people there work to keep the water clean for them. Coloring one can lead to a conversation about why some animals need our help.
Axolotl colors to copy
Wild axolotls are mostly dark, while axolotls kept as pets come in several colors. Here are the ones you will see most often.
Whatever the body color, the gills usually look a little brighter or pinker than the rest, because blood shows through the thin frills. That is a good detail to copy on any page.
- Wild type: dark olive-green or brown with darker speckles and gold flecks
- Leucistic: pale pink-white skin, dark eyes and bright pink or red gills
- Golden albino: pale yellow-gold skin and light eyes
- Melanoid: almost black all over, with no shiny flecks
- Copper: light brown with darker copper speckles
Axolotl facts to share while you color
- Axolotls are salamanders, a kind of amphibian, and they come from lakes and canals in and around Mexico City.
- Unlike most salamanders, axolotls keep their gills and stay in the water as adults.
- An axolotl has three pairs of feathery gills on the outside of its head, which it uses to breathe in water.
- Axolotls can regrow lost legs and tails, and even parts of their heart and spinal cord.
- Wild axolotls are critically endangered, but many more live in aquariums and science labs.
- The name axolotl comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and is often linked to their god Xolotl and the word for water.
- A grown axolotl is usually about 9 inches (23 cm) long.
- Axolotls have tiny teeth and catch food by quickly sucking it into their mouths, like a little vacuum.
Which axolotl page for which age
- Toddlers (2–3)
- Easy pages with one round, smiling axolotl and thick lines. Light pink for the body and a darker pink for the gills is all they need.
- Preschool (3–5)
- An axolotl with bubbles, a plant or a pebble. Count the gills on each side (three) and name the colors together.
- Kids (5–10)
- Axolotls in a pond or tank with plants and stones. Try copying a real color, like wild type or golden albino.
- Teens and adults
- Detailed axolotls with patterned skin, water plants and decorative borders, made for fine markers and gentle blending.
Coloring tips and color ideas
- Color the gills a stronger shade than the body: deep pink, red or purple frills make the page pop.
- Use a light base color on the body and add a slightly darker shade along the back and sides.
- For a wild axolotl, add small dark speckles over a green-brown base with the tip of a pencil.
- Leave a tiny white dot in each eye and a soft pink on the cheeks for an extra cute face.
- Color the water a pale blue or green and the plants a darker green so the axolotl stands out.
- Try a fantasy axolotl too: rainbow gills, a galaxy body or pastel stripes are all fair game.
Ideas for home, school and parties
- Science lesson: color an axolotl, then label its gills, legs and tail and write where it lives in the wild.
- Aquarium or pet shop visit: color a page beforehand and look for the same color of axolotl in the tanks.
- Pool or water party: set up a coloring table with axolotl and pond pages for a calm break.
- Make an amphibian book: color an axolotl, a frog and a newt and write one fact under each.
- Turn a photo of your own pet axolotl into a coloring page: upload it and Coloriki traces it in seconds, gills and all.
How to print axolotl coloring pages
- Open the page you like and press Print it. A PDF opens, sized for US Letter; the A4 PDF is next to it.
- In the print window choose "Fit to page" or 100% scale, and plain white paper. Thicker paper (100 to 120 gsm) is better for markers and paint.
- Print a few copies: kids like to try different colors on the same picture.
- Prefer screens? Press Color it online and color with a tap on a phone, tablet or computer.