Fig Tree Summer Colouring

The common fig, Ficus carica, is native to western Asia and the Mediterranean region and has been cultivated since very ancient times. It grows as a small tree or large shrub, often about 3 to 10 metres tall, with smooth pale bark and twisting branches. Its large hand-shaped leaves usually have three to five deep lobes. What looks like a fig fruit is actually a hollow flower structure containing many tiny flowers inside. Depending on the variety, figs may ripen once or twice from summer into early autumn. Some trees live for many decades, and old specimens can survive beyond a century when protected from severe cold and disease. Certain figs have a remarkable partnership with tiny fig wasps that enter the enclosed flower structure and move pollen. Many cultivated common figs can form fruit without that particular pollination, but the relationship remains an extraordinary example of coevolution in the wider fig family. Starlings and other birds eat soft ripe figs and spread seeds. The page includes one enlarged, easy-to-see wasp near an open fig and a friendly starling in the branches. Milky fig sap can irritate skin, unripe fruit may upset the stomach, and branches can snap, so children should harvest only with an adult, wash fruit and avoid climbing. Colour the broad lobed leaves with olive, fresh green and blue-green. Late-summer edges can have touches of yellow. Figs may be green, golden, bronze, purple or nearly black; choose two ripening stages and leave a pale shine. Inside the cut fig, use coral, pink, ruby or amber around the many tiny seed-like flowers. Make the smooth trunk pale grey, cream or tan with darker curves. A starling can be brown, glossy black or deep blue-purple with tiny light speckles. Keep the fig wasp simple in amber and brown so it remains friendly rather than frightening. Colour the terrace stones warm beige, distant hills lavender-grey and the sky light blue. Follow the leaf lobes with broad outward strokes and use small dots inside the open fig. Your finished page should celebrate a late-summer tree, its sweet crop and one of nature's smallest pollinating partners.

◫ A4 size✎ Bold outlines♡ Ages 3–8

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Grown-up note: Please supervise printing and choose age-appropriate art materials.