How to Draw a Happy Cartoon Apple: Free Step-by-Step Drawing Page for Kids
Draw this happy cartoon apple in 6 easy steps with a pencil and eraser. It takes about 15 minutes and works for ages 5 and up. Print the free step-by-step page below, or draw along with the video.
- Step-by-step drawing
- Ages 5+
- Grades K–2
- Easy
- About 15 min with the video
You’ll need
- Pencil and eraser
- Paper, or the printed page
- Crayons, markers or colored pencils
You’ll practice
- Breaking a drawing into simple shapes
- Following steps in order
- Adding your own details
How to Draw a Happy Cartoon Apple: A Free Drawing Page
An apple a day keeps the boring drawings away. I gave a shiny apple big googly eyes and a huge goofy grin, and turned it into a free step-by-step drawing page you can print at home or in the classroom. It’s a fun one for art class, back to school, a fall or harvest unit, or a lesson on healthy food.
Like every page in my books, the drawing is split into six easy steps. A light gray outline of the finished drawing appears on every step to help kids plan the size and spacing, and the black lines show what to draw, adding a little more each step. It’s a great fit for kids ages 5 and up, and it takes about 10 to 15 minutes.
Download the Free Happy Cartoon Apple Drawing Page (PDF)
Watch it being drawn
Watch the pencil draw it one step at a time, then grab a pencil and try it yourself.
How to Draw a Happy Cartoon Apple, Step by Step
Here’s what happens in each of the six steps. Draw lightly at first, and don’t worry about wobbly lines.
- Step 1: Start with the eyes: two big circles, each with a small dot inside.
- Step 2: Draw the big smiling mouth under the eyes, and a little curved cheek line beside it.
- Step 3: Add the eyebrows above the eyes and the two front teeth along the top of the mouth.
- Step 4: Draw the apple shape around the whole face, with a dip at the top and bottom, and the tongue inside the mouth.
- Step 5: Add the stem sticking up from the dip at the top.
- Step 6: Finish with the leaf and the line down its middle, then color the inside of the mouth black.
Then try it again without looking at the steps. Kids are always surprised by how much they remember the second time around.
Tips for Coloring Your Drawing
Once the drawing is done, it’s time for color. Here are a few easy ideas:
- Classic red apple: a bright red apple, a brown stem, a green leaf and a pink tongue, just like the one I colored. Leave a few white or light pink streaks on the side to make it shine.
- Try a new kind: make it a green apple, a yellow apple, or a red and yellow one.
- Give it a home: draw your apple in a basket, on a teacher’s desk or hanging from a tree.
Turn Your Drawing into Something New
Once kids can draw the apple, they can turn it into a whole fruit bowl of characters:
- Draw its friends: try a pear, an orange or a strawberry with faces of their own.
- Change the face: try a sleepy, surprised or grumpy apple by changing the eyes and mouth.
- Tell a story: draw your apple falling from the tree, then write about where it lands.
Using This Page in the Classroom
Teachers are welcome to print copies of this page for the whole class, for classroom or home use. It makes an easy art center, an indoor recess activity or an early-finisher page.
- Draw it, then write about it: my happy cartoon apple draw and write worksheets have writing pages for kindergarten, first grade and second to third grade.
- Healthy food and fall units: the apple pairs well with a lesson on fruits and healthy eating, an apple-picking or harvest unit, or Johnny Appleseed Day.
- More ready-made lessons: my free teacher resources include printable book pages, sub plans and art center cards.
Love Drawing Silly Food? Draw My Food Monsters
If your kids had fun drawing a happy apple, my book How to Draw: Food Monsters is packed with 50 silly food characters to draw, from bananas, pizza and hot dogs to cupcakes, pears and more apples, each one broken down into six simple steps. Like all of my books, every character in it was hand-drawn by me, Kevin Coulston. None of the art in my books is AI-generated or copied from anywhere else.
Check out How to Draw: Food Monsters
Free Happy Cartoon Apple Drawing Page (save and print)
Print it on US Letter paper (choose “Fit to page” if your printer needs a little room at the edges), grab a pencil and follow the six steps to learn how to draw a happy cartoon apple.
Download this free drawing worksheet to learn how to draw a happy cartoon apple
Download the Free Happy Cartoon Apple Drawing Page (PDF)
Happy Drawing!
Print the page, grab a pencil and draw along. When your apple is finished, color it in and show it off. Happy drawing!
Draw it 3 ways
Every FirstArtBooks theme comes in three formats. Trace it, draw it step by step, or copy it square by square: the more ways kids draw a character, the better they know it.
- How to Draw
Draw it step by stepYou’re on this pageSee all How to Draw books - Trace Then ColorTrace Then Color booksTrace it, then color itNo free page of this one yet. See the Trace Then Color books (ages 3+)
- Draw by GridDraw by Grid booksCopy it square by squareNo free page of this one yet. See the Draw by Grid books (ages 7+)
Finished? Draw the scene next
- Add a background: draw a shop window where it’s for sale.
- Write one line under your picture to finish this story:
A kid walked in and pointed at it…
That’s a picture book page. Draw two more and you have a whole story.
Draw it, then write about it
Give your happy cartoon apple a name and a job. What makes it happy, and what makes it grumpy? Write two or three sentences.
Directed drawing and writing worksheets for this lesson: Happy Cartoon Apple Directed Drawing and Writing Worksheet, with a kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd–3rd grade writing page.
Print a draw-and-write sheet: a box for the drawing and lines for the story. Primary lines (K–2) · Regular lines (grades 2–5)
Want to make it a whole story? Try the comic story starter or fold a mini-book in Story Studio.
Common mistakes and quick fixes
- The face is too small.
- Give the object a face that fills about half of the front. Big eyes and a big smile make it a character.
- The shape is lopsided.
- Draw a light line down the middle first and make both sides match.
- It floats in space.
- Draw a little shadow or a ground line under it so it sits on something.
- Pressing hard from the very first step.
- Use light, sketchy lines first. You can erase them easily and go over the lines you keep at the end.
More in 10 common drawing mistakes kids make.
Talk about it
For the grown-up: ask one or two of these while your child draws. There are no wrong answers.
- If this thing could talk, what would it complain about?
- Where would you put it in your house?
- What shapes can you find in your drawing?
- What would you change if you drew it again tomorrow?
More ideas in 25 questions to ask kids about their art.
Questions about this drawing lesson
What age is this happy cartoon apple drawing lesson for?
Ages 5 and up (about grades K to 2). Younger kids can follow along with a grown-up, one step at a time.
How long does it take?
About 15 minutes, including time to pause the video. Kids who add their own details or a background often keep going longer.
What supplies do you need?
Pencil and eraser; paper, or the printed page; crayons, markers or colored pencils.
What size does it print?
US Letter (8.5 by 11 inches). Use Print this page or Download PDF above. On A4 paper, choose “Fit to page” in the print settings.
Can kids draw the happy cartoon apple without printing the page?
Yes. Draw on any paper and copy one step at a time from the screen, or pause the video after each step. Classroom mode shows one step at a time, full screen.
For teachers: grade, timing and standards
Grades K–2, about 15 minutes. Step-by-step drawing, easy level. The video does the teaching: press play and let students draw along.
National Core Arts Standards (visual arts)
- VA:Cr2 Organize and develop artistic ideas and work: students build drawing skills by following a sequence of steps.
- VA:Cr3 Refine and complete artistic work: students add their own details, expressions and color to finish the character.
See every lesson by standard, plus the math in grid drawing, on the arts standards map.
Copies: print as many as your class needs. Use classroom mode above to show one step at a time on your board. More in the teacher resources and our no-prep sub plans.
Get the free Christmas Drawing Pack
10 printable Christmas pages to draw, trace, color and decorate, sent with your welcome email. After that, Kevin’s newsletter brings new free pages and book news.
Take the idea into a book
Want more characters to draw, trace or color? Explore these related books and see which approach fits your next creative session.
How to Draw: Food Monsters
By Kevin Coulston
Explore this book →
Trace Then Color: Cartoon Food Monsters
By Kevin Coulston
Explore this book →
Draw by Grid: Food Monsters
By Kevin Coulston
Explore this book →Another idea to try
Free activitiesHow to Draw a Basketball: Free Step-by-Step Drawing Page for Kids
Learn how to draw a smiling cartoon basketball in 6 easy steps with a free printable drawing page for kids by cartoonist Kevin Coulston. Great for art class, PE and game day.
Free activitiesHow to Draw a Glue Bottle: Free Step-by-Step Drawing Page for Kids
Learn how to draw a silly cartoon glue bottle in 6 easy steps with a free printable drawing page for kids by cartoonist Kevin Coulston. Great for art class and back to school.
Free activitiesHow to Draw Peppa Pig: Free Fan Art Drawing Page for Kids
Learn how to draw Peppa Pig in 6 easy steps with a free printable fan art drawing page and video for kids by cartoonist Kevin Coulston. Unofficial fan art, not affiliated with the show.