Spooky Dead Tree with a Face Coloring Page

A leafless tree with a small face smiling out of its trunk. The branches fan out into dozens of fine twigs that fill the top half of the page, and a thin crescent moon hangs in the upper right corner.

The face is deliberately understated. Two dark round eyes and one curved mouth, low on the trunk, about the size of a coin. Children spot it a few seconds after they start coloring, and that delay is most of the charm. Nothing about it is frightening, so this sheet works for the kids who want Halloween without the parts that keep them awake.

The branches are the real work here. They are thin and there are many of them, which makes this a better fit for pens and pencils than for thick crayons, and a better fit for a patient child than a hurried one. Older kids often color the twigs in bands of shifting color and the effect is genuinely striking.

The trunk is wide and open at the base. Leave it plain for bark, or fill it with knotholes, initials and climbing bugs. The empty white around the crown is room for bats, leaves or a second moon.