41 Christmas Coloring Pages (Free Printable PDFs)

What you will find here

We sorted the pages into groups, so you do not have to scroll through everything. The cute group is the place to start for most families, with a tabby Christmas cat by a window, a puppy with a decorated doghouse and a very cheerful gingerbread man in the kitchen.

Santa and his crew have their own group. Santa stands at the North Pole sign with a sack of toys, the elf paints a rocking horse in the workshop, and Mrs. Claus carries a tray of cookies across a tiled kitchen. The nutcracker stands on a theater stage, with curtains to color.

After that come the decorations and the big scenes. The Christmas tree is built from dozens of separate branches, so it takes real time. The nativity shows a calm stable with a straw roof, an ox, a donkey and sheep. We also added a few printables, such as a word search and a dot to dot, for kids who want a change from coloring.

Cute Christmas coloring pages for little kids

Cute pages work best when the face is the main thing, and these all have big eyes and friendly smiles. The cute Christmas page has a smiling tree with a teddy, a gift and a mug around it. It is a good first page for a three year old, because the tree is large and each small friend sits apart from the rest.

Small kids also do well with one object on a sheet. Try the Santa hat, the stocking or the Christmas star. Every page has some background detail now, so tell your child it is fine to color only the big shape and leave the rest white.

Christmas coloring pages by age

Use the Easy, Medium and Detailed filter above the pictures if you are short on time. Here is a rough guide.

• Ages 3 to 4: Choose an easy page and a thick crayon. Most small children finish one big shape, then lose interest, and that is fine.
• Ages 5 to 7: The reindeer in a wreath and the Christmas train have many small parts to keep them busy.
• Ages 8 to 12: The Christmas tree, the wreath and the poinsettia ask for planning. Ask them to give each ornament its own color.
• Teens and adults: Sharp colored pencils suit the tree and the ornament close up. Our snowflake page is another calm choice.

How to print them

Press PDF on any card to get that one drawing. Press Download all at the top of this page to get every drawing in one file, with one drawing on each sheet. It is a big file, so use Wi-Fi if you can. The pages are sized for US Letter paper. If you use A4, choose Fit to page in your print settings. Plain printer paper is fine for crayons and colored pencils. Markers can bleed through, so put a spare sheet underneath.

If you have no printer nearby, press Color on any card. Your child can tap a color and tap a space to fill it, on a phone, a tablet or a computer. There is nothing to install and no sign up.

Colors that make a Christmas page look finished

Red and green are the obvious picks, but they can get heavy when a whole page uses only those two. Add a little gold on bells and stars, and leave some areas white to act as snow. A deep blue sky behind the village or the sleigh makes yellow windows and moonlight stand out.

For a tree, try three or four shades of green instead of one. Use the darkest near the trunk and the lightest at the branch tips. Kids can also use a white crayon to draw hidden snow on the branches before coloring over them.

Ideas for home and school

Coloring pages are handy during the busy weeks of December. Here are some ways families and teachers use them.

• Quiet time. Keep a small stack by the table for the hour before dinner, or for guests' kids at a holiday party.
• Homemade cards. Fold a colored page in half, write a short note inside, and mail it to a grandparent.
• Paper ornaments. Print at a smaller size, cut out the drawing, punch a hole and add a ribbon.
• Class displays. Hang a row of stockings with each student's name on the cuff.
• Travel. Pack a few pages and a small box of crayons for long drives to see family.

Teachers are welcome to print as many copies as they need for a class. Please see our free use license for the simple rules.

Fun facts about Christmas traditions

Many of the things in these drawings have long histories. Decorated indoor trees became popular in Germany and spread across Europe and North America. The tradition of hanging stockings is linked to old stories about Saint Nicholas. You can read more on Wikipedia.

Each coloring page also has its own short article with tips, color ideas, real facts and an activity to try afterward. Those articles are written for parents and teachers, so you can read a fact aloud while your child colors.

A simple December coloring plan

Christmas coloring pages also work well as a small family routine. Keep it simple. Try one new page each weekend in December, and tape the finished drawings along a wall or up the stairs. By Christmas Eve you will have a homemade gallery, and the kids will be proud of it.

Another idea is a countdown. Print a stack of pages and number them on the back. Each evening, your child picks the next one and colors for ten minutes before bed. Stockings, trees and reindeer all make good choices, and an easy page never feels like a chore.

For a holiday party, set out a basket of crayons and a pile of pages on a low table. Kids of all sizes will drift over and settle in, and the grown ups get time to talk. Ask each child to sign their picture, then send it home as a party favor.

For a gift to a teacher or a neighbor, a colored page in a cheap frame costs very little and means a lot. Have your child write the year on the back. You will be glad you kept one.

More holiday fun

Looking for something snowy that is not about Christmas? Visit our winter coloring pages for mittens, penguins and hot chocolate. Cat lovers will find more kittens in our cat coloring pages.

Questions