Strawberry Shortcake Coloring Pages
By:
Jennifer Thoa – Content Editor & Designer
Updated:
Free Strawberry Shortcake Coloring Pages: 60 printable PDF designs featuring Strawberry Shortcake, her cat Custard, and friends from around Strawberryland. Each page can be downloaded as a PDF to print or colored online in the browser.
Strawberry Shortcake began as a greeting card illustration created by artist Barbi Sargent for American Greetings around 1972, originally shown holding a daisy on a Valentine’s card. In 1977, fellow American Greetings illustrator Muriel Fahrion redesigned the character and developed the wider cast of Strawberryland, eventually creating more than thirty companion characters. Kenner Products licensed the property and released the first Strawberry Shortcake doll in 1979, a rag doll with freckles, red yarn curls, and a strawberry-print bonnet, notable for being scented to match each character’s food theme. An animated television special, “The World of Strawberry Shortcake,” followed in 1980, with several more specials through the mid-1980s. The character has been redesigned multiple times since, including a 2003 relaunch and the 2009 animated series Berry Bitty Adventures, while keeping her core identity: red hair, a strawberry-topped hat, and a sweet-themed world.
The set spans 60 pages, ranging from solo Strawberry Shortcake portraits to group scenes with her Strawberryland friends and seasonal celebration designs.
What Is Inside This Collection
The 60 designs group into a few recurring types, from solo portraits to full friend-group scenes.
Strawberry Shortcake Portraits
A large group of pages shows Strawberry Shortcake on her own, in her classic outfit with the strawberry-decorated hat, across poses like dancing, riding a horse, and standing by her house.
Custard and Pupcake
Several pages feature Strawberry Shortcake’s pets, her orange tabby cat, Custard, and her dog, Pupcake, shown alone or interacting with Strawberry Shortcake and each other.
Strawberryland Friends
A large group of pages introduces the wider cast, including Blueberry Muffin, Lemon Meringue, Orange Blossom, Raspberry Torte, Plum Pudding, and Cherry Jam, each tied to its own food-based color scheme.
Seasonal and Celebration Scenes
A smaller group of pages ties Strawberry Shortcake to specific occasions, including Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and a birthday celebration.
What Strawberry Shortcake Coloring Pages Do
Fine motor development. The American Academy of Pediatrics identifies fine motor skill development as a core benefit of structured coloring for children ages 2 through 7. The strawberry-dot pattern on Strawberry Shortcake’s dress and Custard’s tabby stripes give colorers detailed, repetitive shapes to practice.
Color-name association. Because each Strawberryland character is tied to a specific food-based color, such as Blueberry Muffin’s blue-purple or Lemon Meringue’s yellow, this collection gives young colorers a built-in way to practice matching a name to a consistent color.
Anxiety reduction through focus. A 2005 study in the Art Therapy Journal documented measurable reductions in anxiety following structured coloring sessions. The soft, familiar character designs in this collection suit that same steady, focused rhythm.
A shared activity across generations. Because Strawberry Shortcake has been part of children’s media since the late 1970s, these pages can appeal to a parent’s own childhood memory of the character alongside a child’s current interest in the series.
How to Color Strawberry Shortcake Pages Well
- Strawberry Shortcake’s hair: Use a warm, vivid Crayola Red-Orange rather than a cool dark red, closer to the color of a ripe strawberry, applied at full saturation.
- Her hat and dress: Keep the hat and dress base White, then add the strawberry pattern and hat decorations in vivid Red with Green leaf accents.
- Her pinafore: A warm Pink apron layered over the white dress adds contrast without competing with the red hair and hat decorations.
- Custard the cat: Use a warm medium Orange base with darker Orange-Brown tabby stripes added as a second layer, and Green for the eyes.
- Friend group colors: Keep each character’s food-based color distinct: Blue-Violet for Blueberry Muffin, vivid Yellow for Lemon Meringue, and warm Orange for Orange Blossom, so a group scene reads clearly.
- Strawberryland backgrounds: Bright grass, green, and warm Sky Blue keep outdoor scenes feeling cheerful and consistent with the character’s sweet, pastoral world.
5 Creative Craft Ideas With Strawberry Shortcake Coloring Pages
1. Character Bookmark
Cut a finished Strawberry Shortcake portrait into a bookmark strip and cover it with clear tape for a durable, reusable bookmark.
2. Friend Group Poster
Color several Strawberryland friend pages in their distinct food-based colors and arrange them together on a poster board to build a character lineup.
3. Greeting Card
Fold cardstock in half, mount a small colored Strawberry Shortcake design on the front, and write a message inside, echoing the character’s greeting card origins.
4. Custard Standee
Color a full-body Custard page, glue it to cardboard, and cut around the outline to make a standing tabletop decoration.
5. Strawberryland Diorama
Color a Strawberry Shortcake page, a Custard page, and a Strawberryland background scene, then arrange them inside a shoebox to build a simple diorama.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Strawberry Shortcake coloring pages?
Strawberry Shortcake coloring pages are printable line-art designs featuring Strawberry Shortcake, her pets, and her Strawberryland friends. This collection includes 60 pages, ranging from solo portraits to group and seasonal scenes.
Who created Strawberry Shortcake?
Strawberry Shortcake began as a greeting card illustration by artist Barbi Sargent for American Greetings around 1972. In 1977, illustrator Muriel Fahrion redesigned the character and developed the wider Strawberryland cast, and Kenner Products released the first doll in 1979.
What made the original Strawberry Shortcake dolls unusual?
The original 1979 Kenner dolls were scented to match each character’s food theme, so Strawberry Shortcake smelled like strawberries and Blueberry Muffin smelled like blueberries, a sensory detail that made the toys especially memorable for the children who played with them.
Who are Strawberry Shortcake’s main friends?
The core Strawberryland friend group includes Blueberry Muffin, Lemon Meringue, Orange Blossom, Raspberry Torte, and later characters like Plum Pudding and Cherry Jam, each color-coded to match their food-themed name.
Who is Custard?
Custard is Strawberry Shortcake’s pet cat, an orange tabby also designed by Muriel Fahrion. Custard appears throughout the animated specials and later series as a character with her own personality rather than just a pet accessory.
Has Strawberry Shortcake been redesigned over the years?
Yes. Strawberry Shortcake’s look has changed several times since her 1979 debut, including a 2003 relaunch and the 2009 animated series Berry Bitty Adventures, with later series continuing to update her design while keeping her core identity of red hair and a strawberry-topped hat.
Are Strawberry Shortcake coloring pages suitable for young children?
Yes. The simple portrait pages in this collection work well for children ages 2 through 7, the age range the American Academy of Pediatrics associates with active fine motor skill development through coloring. The detailed friend-group and pattern-heavy pages suit older children and adult fans.
Can these pages be used for a classroom or family activity?
Yes. The friend-group pages work well for a color-matching activity tied to each character’s name, and the seasonal pages can pair with a classroom or family celebration for that holiday.
Start Coloring
Download any page by clicking the design. No account, email, or payment is required. Pages print directly from the browser at full resolution or open in the online coloring tool for screen use. Share finished pages on Facebook or Pinterest with the share buttons at the top of each design page.
