One of the joys of summer is staying up late and gazing up at the night sky. Have you done that yet with your kids? How about celebrating the twinkly stars with a night sky coloring page? Your little celestial cherubs can even turn Melanie Hope Greenberg's monthly coloring page into a frame or a secret doorway to another world. A little color, a lovely photo, or hand drawn picture and voilá, you have instant art to send to grandma.
The little cat staring up at the starry sky is getting a beginning astronomy lesson as he gazes through a telescope. Cute, right?
Download and print: (By clicking on link you agree to our terms of service, *see below): Starry night and cat coloring page
Of course you can use this coloring page as a simple boredom buster, but I always like to offer a few extension ideas.
Turn the night sky coloring page into a frame:
- Print out on card stock or other heavy paper for best results.
- Cut out the inner rectangle as shown in photo below on the right.
- Place photo or picture behind empty space and secure in place with glue or tape.
- Alternatively, instead of cutting out the frame, simply secure a photo on top of the coloring page.
Create a doorway to your dreams:
- Print out on card stock or other heavy paper for best results.
- Cut along three sides of the inner rectangle. See photo above, on the left. Whichever side you choose to leave intact is up to you.
- Secure a blank piece of paper to the back of the coloring page that is at least as large as the doorway.
- Draw a surprise picture, or write a letter to someone on the blank space behind the door!
Design your imaginary night sky:
Using the night sky coloring page as inspiration, draw your own night sky and name your constellations.
Tips for encouraging creativity with coloring pages:
- Never insist your child "stay within the lines"
- Allow your child to choose any color he or she likes? Blue monkeys? Green stars? No problem.
- Sit down with your child and use the coloring page as a storytelling prompt. For example, "What is the cat thinking when he looks through the telescope?" or, "How did the cat find the telescope?"
- Always provide plenty of blank paper so kids can drawn their own designs.
More coloring pages you will enjoy:
- Space alien coloring page
- Frames to color for mom and dad
- Campfire coloring page
- Heart air balloon coloring page
Meet the illustrator:
Melanie Hope Greenberg is an award winning author and illustrator of more than 15 children’s books. Her cheerful, vibrant illustrations can be found in books such as Good Morning, Digger, Down in the Subway and A City Is. Her very popular Mermaids on Parade was selected as a Bank Street Best Book, and for the Texas Reading Club and PBS Kids Summer Reading Lists.
Melanie conducts sought after author-illustrator visits and workshops in schools or via Skype. You can learn more on her website, and read about her love of connecting with children at Huffington Post.
*Terms of Service: this coloring page is used with permission from Melanie Hope Greenberg and is for non-commercial use ONLY. You many print out as many copies as you like for personal, library or classroom use. If you would like to share this coloring page, you MUST link to this blog page. It is expressly forbidden to link directly to the coloring page pdf file.
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