Kawaii Coloring for Kids: 8 Easy Tips to Make Cute Characters Pop
“Kawaii” is the Japanese word for cute, and it describes a whole style: round shapes, big shiny eyes, rosy cheeks and happy faces. Cupcakes with smiles, kittens in pajamas, strawberries with tiny feet. Kids adore it. Here are eight easy tips to make kawaii coloring pages look extra cute.
1. Start with soft pastels
Kawaii art loves light, gentle colors: baby pink, mint green, lemon yellow, sky blue and lavender. Pastel colored pencils or light markers are perfect.
2. Add rosy cheeks
The quickest way to make any character look kawaii: color the little oval cheeks pink. If your pages don’t have cheek shapes, kids can add a small pink circle under each eye.
3. Leave the eye shine white
Most kawaii eyes have a small white dot. Leaving it white makes the eyes look shiny and alive, so try not to color over it.
4. Pick one main color per character
Give each character its own main color and keep it the same on every page. In a story book, that’s how kids recognize their favorites: the pink-frosted cupcake, the golden cookie, the red strawberry.
5. Use real food colors, then have fun
Food characters look great in their real colors: a brown cookie, a red strawberry, a pink donut. Then add a fun twist, like rainbow sprinkles or a blue cupcake wrapper.
6. Color patterns in two colors
Kawaii pages often have patterns: stars, hearts, polka dots. Coloring them in two alternating colors makes the page sparkle without much effort.
7. Make the background lighter
Keep the background soft and light so the characters stand out. A pale yellow or blue background makes a kawaii character pop.
8. There’s no wrong color
The most important tip: it’s their page. A purple strawberry or a green cookie is perfectly kawaii if your child loves it.
Where to find kawaii coloring pages
Our story coloring books are full of kawaii characters with blush cheeks and shiny eyes. Bakery at Night has five cute food friends, and Blanket Fort has three kittens in star and heart pajamas. You can also color a page online or download free printable pages.