Wombat Day Activities for Kids: Colouring, Facts and Books

Wombat Day is on 22 October, and the simplest way to mark it with little ones is a short wombat read-aloud, a big simple wombat to colour, and one true fact to talk about while the crayons are out. Below you'll find an easy draw-and-colour wombat you can sketch in two minutes, true facts on all three wombat species, three Aussie picture books, and gentle activities for home or the classroom.

The day itself began in 2005 and is held every year on 22 October, according to Days of the Year. In 2026 that's a Thursday, which suits a calm after-school or end-of-week classroom session.

A quick plan for Wombat Day

If you only have half an hour, this order works well for children aged about 2 to 6:

Read one wombat picture book together (ideas below).
Colour a big, simple wombat while you chat.
Share one fact and let your child pick a favourite.
Play one short activity, like building a burrow or stacking "wombat cubes".

Keep it short and let your child lead. If they only want to colour the nose, that's a lovely Wombat Day too.

Draw a simple wombat to colour

Wombat colouring pages online are often busy, fine-lined designs made for older children. For toddlers and preschoolers, a big shape with thick lines is easier to enjoy. You can draw one yourself in a few steps with a thick black marker:

Body: draw a large rounded loaf shape, flat along the bottom, filling most of the page.
Head: add a smaller round shape at one end, overlapping the body a little.
Nose: draw a wide, soft oval on the front of the head. Wombats have a big, broad nose.
Ears: two small rounded triangles on top of the head.
Eyes: two small dots, set fairly close to the nose.
Legs: four short, stumpy rectangles under the body, with little curved claws.
Ground: a wavy line for grass, and a dark arch behind for the burrow entrance.

Thick outlines and one big picture per page make colouring easier for small hands. That's how we draw our own pages, and our My First Australian Animals colouring book includes a wombat among its 30 big, simple Australian animals for ages 2 to 6.

Printing tip: if you're using a printable instead, print on A4 at 100% (actual size) rather than "fit to page" so the outlines stay bold.

True wombat facts to share while you colour

One fact per session is plenty for little ones. Pick the one that will make your child giggle or wonder.

The three wombat species

Australia has three kinds of wombat, as CSIRO explains: the bare-nosed wombat, the southern hairy-nosed wombat and the northern hairy-nosed wombat.

Wombat	Where it lives	One fact to share
Bare-nosed (common) wombat	Forests of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania	It spends about two-thirds of its life in its burrow (Australian Museum)
Southern hairy-nosed wombat	South Australia and south-east Western Australia	It's South Australia's state animal emblem (SA Department for Environment and Water)
Northern hairy-nosed wombat	Central and southern Queensland	Only about 400 are left, so it's critically endangered (Queensland Government)

Wombat poo is shaped like cubes

This is the fact most children remember. Wombats make cube-shaped poo, "but without the sharp corners", and pile it on logs and rocks near their burrows to mark their patch, says CSIRO. A wombat can drop about 100 of these cubes a day, according to South Australia's environment department.

For a long time nobody knew how the cubes formed. In 2021, University of Tasmania scientists found the shape is made inside the wombat's intestine, where stiffer and stretchier sections squeeze the poo as it dries, as reported by Australian Geographic.

The pouch faces backwards

Wombats are marsupials, and a mother's pouch opens towards her back legs. That keeps dirt out of the pouch while she digs, explains the SA Department for Environment and Water. A newborn joey weighs about 2 grams and stays in the pouch for around 8 to 9 months.

Wombats are diggers and sleepers

A bare-nosed wombat is about a metre long and weighs around 26 kilograms. It grazes on native grasses, sedges and rushes, and in summer it mostly comes out at night, according to the Australian Museum. That makes wombats a gentle bedtime conversation: while your child is getting sleepy, a wombat is just waking up.

Wombats are surprisingly fast

They look slow, but wombats can run at up to 40 km/h, says the SA Department for Environment and Water. The same page notes a group can be called a "wisdom of wombats", and that the word wombat comes from the Darug language.

A wombat comeback story

When the northern hairy-nosed wombat was surveyed in 1982, only 35 were left, all in one place. A 2022 census estimated about 400, and in 2024 fifteen wombats were moved to a new home in Powrunna State Forest to start a third population, according to the Queensland Government. It's a hopeful story for older preschoolers about people helping animals.

Wombat picture books to read on the day

A short, cosy read sets the mood before colouring. These Australian favourites are easy to find at libraries and bookshops.

Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley. Mothball the wombat eats, sleeps and "trains" her human neighbours. It won the 2003 CBCA Picture Book of the Year, notes Better Reading. Funny for adults too, which helps on the tenth reading.
Wombat Stew by Marcia K. Vaughan and Pamela Lofts. A dingo plans a wombat stew, and the bush animals trick him by adding mud, feathers, flies, bugs and gumnuts, as Better Beginnings describes it. The repeated chant is great for joining in.
10 Wombling Wombats by Bronwyn Hales and Paul Lennon. A lift-the-flap countdown book that a CBCA Reading Time reviewer called perfect in tone for toddlers.

For more Aussie animal stories, see our list of picture books about Australian animals.

Gentle Wombat Day activities for home or class

None of these need special supplies.

Stack the wombat cubes

Hand over a few building blocks and talk about how wombats stack their cubes on logs and rocks. Count them together as you build a little tower. It's silly, it's true, and it's a natural counting game.

Build a blanket burrow

Drape a blanket over two chairs to make a burrow. Wombats spend so much of their lives underground, so a quiet book or a cuddly toy inside the burrow makes a calm wind-down.

The backwards pouch

Tie a small bag or apron so the opening faces down and back, pop a soft toy "joey" inside, and pretend to dig. Children can see for themselves why a backwards pouch stays clean.

Make a Wombat Stew pot

After reading Wombat Stew, draw or cut out paper mud, feathers and gumnuts and "add" them to a bowl, chanting along with the book. It works well with a group of children taking turns.

A fact card for the fridge

Once the wombat is coloured, write one fact underneath in your child's words, like "Wombat poo is square!" Pop it on the fridge and ask about it at dinner.

More Australian animals to colour

If Wombat Day sparks a run on Australian animals, our Australian animals colouring pages guide has nine more native animals, each with a true fact to share, plus extra activity ideas.

Get free Australian animal colouring pages

Our free sampler includes a big, simple koala and sea turtle to colour, two more Australian animals to keep the Wombat Day fun going. Get the free colouring pages here and print them for home or the classroom.

Questions and answers

When is Wombat Day?

Wombat Day is held every year on 22 October. In 2026 it falls on a Thursday. It is also called World Wombat Day or International Wombat Day.

What is a baby wombat called?

A baby wombat is called a joey, like other baby marsupials. It weighs about 2 grams at birth and stays in its mother's pouch for around 8 to 9 months.

Why is wombat poo cube-shaped?

Scientists at the University of Tasmania found the cubes form inside the wombat's intestine, where stiffer and more flexible sections, plus drying, shape the poo into blocks with soft corners.

How many kinds of wombat are there?

There are three species: the bare-nosed (common) wombat, the southern hairy-nosed wombat and the northern hairy-nosed wombat.

Are wombats endangered?

The northern hairy-nosed wombat is critically endangered. A 2022 census estimated about 400, up from just 35 in 1982.

Sources

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