You might gasp when you find out that the Mario your child wants you to print for them to color refers to the same one you played in the early 1980s. When Donkey Kong debuted in 1981, its creators probably didn’t dream that in 2021 and beyond people would still play that game and many spinoffs. Kudos to Shigeru Miyamoto, the Nintendo game developer who created Donkey Kong and many of its spinoffs.
Welcome to our collection of free MARIO coloring pages.Click the Mario pictures or illustrations you like and you’ll be taken to the PDF download and/or print page. EveryMario coloring page is a printable PDF and/or can be downloaded.
Illustration of an angry Bowser Jr. and Goomba wearing a suit while Mario is running away.
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In case you never entered an arcade or played a Nintendo, The Super Mario Bros. refers to Mario and Luigi, two cartoon brothers who originally appeared in one of the first video and arcade games. Mario’s first appearance occurs in Donkey Kong as the hero who saves the “princess,” Pauline, from the giant gorilla Donkey Kong by exploring a construction site and its many dangers, plus thwarting and defeating thugs. In 1983, the cartoon Italian-American plumber Mario and his brother Luigi landed their own game, and the Mario Bros. franchise began. In their original game, the duo exterminates sewer critters by knocking them upside-down, then kicking them.
This makes it much easier to decide how to color these Mario coloring pages because you can simply reference the video game or the cartoons that followed it. Typically, the plumbers wear blue or red, sometimes both colors. They’re very colorful, so choose a vivid blue and a deep red. Both characters have black mustaches and hair. Although the cartoon characters have existed for at least 40 years, they don’t age, so always color their hair black.
Your child’s Mario coloring page might include Koopa Troopa, or just Koopa for short, the faithful giant turtle Mario sometimes rides. It probably came from the Galapagos Islands, the home of most giant turtles, so if you want to get creative with coloring Koopa, you can look at pictures of actual giant turtles.
Coloring characters from Super Mario stories can entertain kids almost as well as the game. For instance, Princess Peach Toadstool appears first in the 1985 game sequel. Her outfit usually consists of all peach, and she loves wearing dresses. Color her umbrella the same shade of peach because this fashion plate always matches. Luigi, the only Mario brother we know of also appears here.
You can also find a Mario Bros coloring page with a Donkey Kong picture. The gorilla’s fur typically grows a chocolatey brown, but darker than a Goomba’s skin. Those mushroom-like, armless creatures have white fangs like vampires. Color the bottom of their feet yellow or cream-colored, the only shades within the mushroom kingdom.
These Super Mario coloring pages feature characters from the Mario game series, the TV show, mini-games, and other franchise products. You can put these characters to good use before a child grows old enough to play video games. The simpler pictures help preschoolers learn color recognition and develop motor skills in a fun way.
You can also find coloring sheet pages featuring characters from Super Mario Galaxy, the racing game, and Super Mario Land. Besides the main character and his brother, you will find a multitude of characters due to the length of time the cartoon and games have existed. While Mario shares the protagonist role with Luigi, a ton of antagonists exist. The Goomba, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Count Bleck, Mario Doppelganger, Fawful, and many more provide enemy characters, so some of the coloring pages may depict a battle.
While you might know what a toad looks like or what a character dresses in when appearing in the game, you can use these coloring pages as a fun creativity exercise for younger children. You can use it as a segue into drawing, and it does provide a more fun way to learn than bringing out a math book during vacation. There’s even romance when Mario falls in love with his friend, Peachette, so older kids can enjoy these coloring topics, too.
Depending on whether you choose coloring sheets from the Super Mario series or the racing game Mario Kart, you could have a castle in the kingdom to color or racing cars. That provides something for every child.
