Easter egg coloring pages

The patterns on these Easter eggs come from Central European folk eggs, like Czech kraslice and Polish pisanki: one big egg with bands of tulips, scallops and a large flower, a basket full of decorated eggs, and eggs hanging on ribbons from blossoming branches above a jug of flowers.

Little ones can color an egg with a single big tulip, three eggs in the grass with zigzags, dots and a flower, or a chick hatching and lifting its wings. The basket and the egg tree have many more small sections for older children who enjoy detail.

Folk painters often worked with only a few strong colors, such as red, yellow, black and white, and that limit makes a pattern look striking. Give each band of the big egg one color and repeat it on the matching band, then leave a few shapes white.

These pages make a good warm-up before dyeing real eggs, since children can try out a design on paper first. Cut out a finished egg and hang it on a branch or in a window, or glue the egg with two birds onto the front of an Easter card.