A coloring page of a boy holding up a card beside a pot of cyclamen. This is a free printable for children: color the flowers and the boy, then write a message of your own in the blank space on the card and give it to someone. It works equally well as a group activity in a care home, as a classroom project, or at the kitchen table. Download the PDF and print it — no registration required.
🎨 Color sample — the card in this example reads “Thank you for everything!” in Japanese
🖊 Line art — the card is left blank for your own message
PDF (line art) and PNG (line art and color sample)
🗣 Conversation Starters — for care activities and family time
Have you ever looked after a flowering plant right through the winter?
Who would you like to give your finished card to?
Does a pot of flowers change how a room feels in winter?
What will you write inside the card — thank you, get well soon, or something of your own?
What is the flower on the card?
It is a cyclamen, a winter-flowering plant that grows from a tuber. It belongs to the primrose family and comes originally from the countries around the Mediterranean. The petals turn up and back, a little like a flock of small birds taking off, and the heart-shaped leaves often carry silver markings. From late autumn onwards potted cyclamen fill the flower shops in Japan, which makes it a natural choice for a winter thank-you card.
Why is cyclamen nicknamed sowbread?
Because the tuber is round like a small loaf, and pigs are said to root it up and eat it. The English name sowbread was translated straight into Japanese as buta no pan, “pig’s bread” — a nice piece of trivia to share while everyone is coloring.
How do you look after a real cyclamen?
Keep it somewhere cool and bright, around 15–20°C (59–68°F), because it does not enjoy heat or humid air. Water the soil at the base instead of pouring over the leaves, pick off faded flowers and yellow leaves, and give a liquid feed once or twice a week.
