Printable sheet
Penguin sitting in snow beside a tall pine, wearing a knit hat and scarf as flakes drift down. Print the free PDF and color a calm winter scene.
Printable sheet
Free for personal and educational use
Download PDFPrintA penguin wearing a pom-pom hat and scarf sitting on a snow mound, with a big pine tree, hills, small trees and snowflakes.
Use two shades of green on the pine and leave the snow white for contrast.
Count the snowflakes in the sky, then draw a new one with six points.
Emperor penguin chicks spend their first weeks balanced on a parent's feet, tucked under a warm fold of skin.
A penguin sitting in snow looks like it needs that hat, yet its body is already built for the cold. Some species handle temperatures far below freezing and icy winds for weeks on end.
Feathers are the first line of defense. They are short, stiff and packed tightly like shingles on a roof, with a layer of fluffy down underneath that traps warm air. Penguins also spread oil from a gland near the tail over their feathers, which makes them waterproof.
Under the skin sits a thick layer of fat that works like an inner coat and an energy reserve. Their legs have a clever network of blood vessels that warms the cold blood returning from the feet, so less heat escapes through their toes.
Then comes teamwork. Emperor penguins crowd together in huge huddles and slowly rotate, so birds on the windy edge take turns moving into the toasty middle. Sharing warmth this way, the whole group makes it through the long Antarctic winter. Thanks to all these adaptations, a penguin can spend an entire winter outdoors without ever needing a knit hat. The one in this picture is just dressing up for fun.
