Easy hot air balloon coloring page with three smiling kids in a basket and two big clouds

Three Kids in a Hot Air Balloon

A tall striped hot air balloon floats between two puffy clouds, with three smiling kids peeking from its woven basket.

Free to print for personal and classroom use. This coloring page is part of the Vacation collection, made for ages 5–7 and drawn in a Bold & Easy style.

🎨 How to color it

Color the balloon panels cherry red, sunny yellow, and sky blue, with a honey-brown basket and soft gray-blue clouds. The balloon has big curved sections, so use chunky crayons or broad marker strokes and fill one panel at a time. Add a tiny secret star or heart on the middle balloon panel for the riders to spot in the sky.

🔢 How this color by number works

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Find each number in the key and fill its zone: 49 zones and 6 colors, sized for kids. Tiny unnumbered slivers borrow the color of their neighbors, and the little model above shows the finished page whenever you want to check your work. More grids like this live in our color by number gallery.

Prefer classic line art? Open this drawing as a regular coloring page.

The story behind this coloring page

Pip’s Cloud-Pocket Promise — High above the fair tents, Pip tucked three paper notes into his pocket. He had challenged himself to leave one kind note in each passing cloud before the balloon bell went ding. Read the full story →

High above the fair tents, Pip tucked three paper notes into his pocket. He had challenged himself to leave one kind note in each passing cloud before the balloon bell went ding. The wicker basket creaked, the burner puffed warm air, and his cousins giggled beside him.

At the first cloud, Pip slid out a note. At the second, the wind snatched his blue ribbon too. “Oh no,” he whispered. Then a tiny paper square fluttered back: NEED A TAIL FOR MY SKY KITE. Pip tied his last ribbon to the note and let it go.

The balloon drifted home smelling of straw and sunshine. No one saw the gift, but far behind them a little cloud-kite wagged. Next time you see the three riders in their basket, can you find the secret spot where Pip’s pocket grew lighter?