There is a window between four and five in the afternoon when nothing is interesting enough. Snack has been eaten. Dinner is too far away. The kitchen is warm. An ice cream coloring page can hold this window. Not all afternoon. Just long enough.
The four families we keep coming back to
The catalog has more ice cream pages than any one kid will print in a summer. After a few weeks of color tests, four shapes earn the printer ink. Here they are, with the pages we recommend for each.
Classic cones
A cone is the easiest place to start. The outline is simple, the scoop is round, the texture inside the cone forgives wandering crayon strokes. Toddlers find a cone before they find a sundae. Older kids will still color a kawaii cone with the same care they give a sundae. Two scoops or one, the cone is the page that makes the printer feel earned.
Sundaes for the confident colorers
A sundae has more surface area, more toppings, more decisions. Cherry red on top. Whipped cream left as white space, or shaded soft pink. Hot fudge in chocolate brown that wants to be careful. The sundae rewards a kid who can sit for fifteen minutes and decide. We hand it to the second-grader, not the three-year-old.
Popsicles for the easy wins
Popsicles get printed the most. The shape is simple, the stick is straight, a single bold color across a smooth surface is the whole job. Five minutes start to finish. Six in a row before lunch. They are the pages we keep on top of the stack when we need a quick win, or when a smaller cousin shows up unannounced.
Ice cream trucks (the underrated favorite)
The truck page does what the others cannot. It is a small scene. A truck, a window, a kid at the counter, an awning above. Kids stop being colorers for a minute and start being kids who decide what flavor the cone in the window is. They name the truck. They write the price on the menu. The truck page is the one that ends up taped to the fridge.
Three small tricks that make printing worthwhile
- 1Print extras of the easy ones. Popsicles and single-scoop cones are the pages that get colored twice in a row. A second copy lives on the table, ready for the kid who wants to start over.
- 2Pair with a real cup of something cold. Lemonade, ice water with a lemon slice, a small bowl of berries. The pairing turns coloring into a small ritual instead of a screen replacement.
- 3Keep the markers thin. Crayons or thin markers, not the thick scented ones. Thin lines respect the small details, especially on the truck page where the awning and the menu board sit close together.
Coloring fun for kids — anywhere.
Free for iOS & Android. No ads, no sign-up, offline-ready.
Coloring fun for kids — anywhere.
Free coloring app for kids. iOS and Android, phones and tablets. No ads, no sign-up, even offline.
Side by side
If you have ten minutes, print one popsicle and one cone. Set out four crayons in summer colors. Pink, yellow, pale green, sky blue. Let the kid pick which page first. Ten minutes goes.
If you have an hour, print one from each family. Stack them in the order a kid would eat them. Popsicle, cone, sundae, truck. Color them in that order. Tape the truck page to the fridge when it is done.
Print, color, repeat
The full ice cream collection is below. Print a few, color what you want, and come back next week. Eight pages stretch further than they look when the afternoon is hot and the kitchen needs something to do.
A summer afternoon is shorter than you remember. Ice cream coloring pages are how we make it last another twenty minutes.
