Little
Ages 3–5
Very thick lines and a few big areas. Easy for small hands.
Banded Mongoose Coloring Pages
The banded mongoose is a small, quick African animal with a long body, short legs and dark stripes across its back. Here it trots along on all four paws with its bushy tail behind it. The little page for ages 3 to 5 has very thick lines and big shapes, the kids page for ages 6 to 8 adds grass and a sun, and the detailed page for ages 9 to 12 turns every stripe into its own area to color.
Choose a level and print
The same drawing in three levels. Print it from the page or download a PDF.
Kids
Ages 6–8
Thick lines and a simple background to color.
Detailed
Ages 9–12
Finer lines, more areas and patterns for older children.
Color online
Choose a color, then tap an area of the picture to fill it. When you are happy, save it as an image or print it.
Coloring online needs JavaScript. You can still print the pages above.
Real colors to try
These are the natural colors of this animal. Use them, or pick your own.
- grizzled grey-brown
- dark band brown
- light belly tan
- nose black
- dry grass gold
Banded Mongoose facts for kids
- Banded mongooses live in Africa, in grasslands and open woods.
- They live together in family groups and often look after each other's babies.
- A banded mongoose is small and quick, with a long body and short legs.
- Banded mongooses eat mostly insects, such as beetles, and other small creatures they find on the ground.
- A mongoose group often sleeps in an old burrow or a hole in a termite mound.
How to use this coloring page
- Little level: chunky crayons fit the big shapes. Color the body grey-brown, then make the nose and eye black.
- Kids level: a grey-brown body, darker stripes and a green grass line are enough to make the page look finished.
- Detailed level: color the bands with a dark brown pencil first, then fill the fur between them with a lighter grey-brown.
- In class, talk about animals that live in groups, then let each child draw a second mongoose to keep this one company.
- Print at 100% on plain paper in A4 or Letter. Thicker paper helps if you use markers.
Pip's idea
Turn the stripes into a rainbow: give each band on the back a different color and see how cheerful the mongoose looks.
Questions and answers
- Why is it called a banded mongoose?
- Because of the dark bands, or stripes, that run across its back. On the detailed page each band is a separate area, so you can color them darker than the rest of the fur.
- Is a mongoose the same as a meerkat?
- They are close cousins, but this page shows a banded mongoose. It runs low to the ground with a long, slim body and a bushy tail, while a meerkat is often shown standing up on its back legs.
- Which mongoose page is good for a preschooler?
- The little level, for ages 3 to 5. It has very thick outlines, a few big shapes and no background, so the long body and the tail are easy to fill in.
