Last updated on August 16th, 2025 at 03:36 pm
Every December, I end up in the same spot – trying to figure out how to keep everyone happy and entertained without spending a fortune. My neighbor Susan was going on about adult coloring books last Christmas, and I’ll be honest, I thought it sounded pretty ridiculous. But then my 7-year-old found some Christmas coloring sheets I’d printed for her little brother, and we ended up spending the whole evening working on them together while my husband watched football.
That was it. I was hooked. Since then, I’ve been collecting Christmas coloring pages whenever I find good ones. These are the ones that have survived multiple December sessions in our house – tested by everyone from my 4-year-old nephew to my mother-in-law, who’s surprisingly competitive about staying inside the lines.
They all print on regular paper, nothing fancy required. And trust me, after dealing with three kids and various holiday meltdowns, simple is exactly what I need.
How to Download and Print Christmas Coloring Pages
This couldn’t be more straightforward – I made sure there’s no complicated nonsense involved:
- Look through the collection below and pick whichever ones appeal to you
- Click the “Image” or “Download” button under each page you want
- Save the PDF file somewhere you’ll actually remember (maybe make a folder called “Christmas Stuff”)
- Open it with whatever PDF viewer you have – doesn’t have to be anything fancy
- Print it out and you’re ready to go
A few printing tips I learned the hard way:
- If you’ve got decent paper, use it – the colors really do look better and won’t bleed through to mess up whatever’s on the back
- Switch your printer to “High Quality” if you want to catch all the small details (though honestly, regular quality works fine too)
- Make sure “Fit to Page” is selected or you might cut off part of the design
All these pages are set up for standard A4 paper, so you shouldn’t have any weird sizing issues when you print.
10+ Christmas Coloring Pages for All Ages
I picked these based on what actually gets used in my house. Some are simple enough for little kids who still struggle with fine motor skills, others have enough detail to keep adults occupied.
1. Santa Claus Holding a Gift Bag
Classic jolly Santa with his giant sack of presents and snowflakes everywhere. This one always reminds me of the Santa from my childhood – that impossibly cheerful guy who somehow makes you believe in magic even when you’re the one wrapping all the gifts at 11 PM on Christmas Eve.
2. Christmas Tree with Ornaments
Full-size Christmas tree with ornaments, lights, and a pile of presents underneath. My kids fight over this one because there are so many ornaments to color – each one can be completely different. Fair warning: this one takes a while to finish.
3. Reindeer with a Bell Collar
An adorable reindeer sporting one of those jingling bell collars, with snowflakes scattered around. This one always reminds me of Rudolph, even without the red nose – there’s something so friendly about the expression.
4. Christmas Stockings by the Fireplace
You remember this Classic Christmas scene right, stockings hanging by the fireplace with garland draped along the mantel. This brings back my memories of sneaking downstairs early on Christmas morning to see if Santa had filled them up
5. Snowman with a Top Hat and Scarf
I see this cheerful snowman all bundled up with his top hat and scarf, snowflakes swirling around him cute. My kids always insist on making the scarf striped when they color this one – apparently solid colors are boring.
6. Elf Wrapping Christmas Presents
One of Santa’s workshop elves surrounded by gifts, ribbons, and bows, looking completely focused on the job. This elf has the same expression I get when I’m trying to wrap oddly-shaped presents on Christmas Eve – determined but slightly panicked.
7. Santa’s Sleigh with Reindeer Flying
The money shot – Santa’s sleigh soaring through the night sky with his reindeer team pulling him along. This one has a lot going on, which is perfect if you want something that’ll keep you busy for more than twenty minutes.
8. Christmas Wreath with a Bow
Simple holiday wreath with a big bow. Nothing fancy, but sometimes these straightforward designs are the most satisfying to color. You can really focus on getting the shading right without getting distracted by a million little details.
9. Polar Bear Wearing a Santa Hat
Adorable polar bear wearing Santa’s hat, sitting in what looks like the Arctic. This one cracks me up every time – there’s something inherently funny about a polar bear trying to get into the Christmas spirit.
10. Children Building a Snowman
I love this page of Kids working together on their snowman, looking absolutely thrilled with their creation. This captures that perfect snow-day feeling when school gets cancelled and suddenly the whole world is your playground.
11. Christmas Bells with Holly Leaves
Traditional Christmas bells decorated with holly leaves and berries. The detail on the bells is really nice – you can have fun with metallic colors if you’ve got them, or just go with classic gold and silver.
12. Santa Claus Coming Down the Chimney
Santa squeezing himself down the chimney with his gift bag – the scene every kid pictures happening in their own house. Every time I see this, I think about how completely impractical chimney delivery would be in real life.
13. Holiday Candle with Holly and Ribbon
Peaceful candle surrounded by holly and tied with a festive ribbon. This is my go-to page when I want something relaxing to color while watching Hallmark Christmas movies. Don’t judge me.
How to Color Christmas Coloring Pages
Below is a short video on how to color the Christmas coloring sheets
6 Tips for Coloring
After a few years of this, here’s what actually works:
1. Use Whatever You Have
Seriously, don’t overthink this. Colored pencils are great for detail work on ornaments and stuff. Markers give you those bright, bold colors that look fantastic on big areas. Crayons work perfectly fine too, especially if you’ve got little kids joining in. Just make sure you have enough different colors to keep it interesting.
2. Start Light, Go Dark
I always start with lighter colors and work my way to darker ones, you should try it. I learned this the hard way after starting Santa’s suit with a deep red and then having nowhere to go for shadows. Now I start with pink and build up to red. Much better results.
3. Throw the Rules Out the Window
Red and green are traditional, sure, but who made that rule anyway? I’ve seen gorgeous Christmas trees in blue and silver, purple Santas that looked amazing, and rainbow reindeer that were way more interesting than brown ones. My son once made Rudolph’s nose green instead of red just to be different, and it was perfect.
4. Take Real Breaks
Coloring sucks you in. You think you’ll just finish Santa’s hat and suddenly it’s been two hours and your hand is cramping. Take actual breaks – get up, stretch, grab a snack, maybe switch to a different page. Your finished product will be better for it.
5. Try Some Shading
This is where it gets fun. Make one side of your Christmas tree darker to show shadows. Add highlights to ornaments to make them look shiny. Try gradual color changes instead of solid blocks. It takes practice, but even simple shading makes a huge difference.
6. Perfection is Overrated
I try to make my coloring perfect sometimes, but this is supposed to be relaxing, not stressful. Make your reindeer polka-dotted if you want. I’ve seen some of the most beautiful and creative coloring pages from people who just ignored the “rules” completely.
5 Creative Uses for Christmas Coloring Pages
Don’t just stick these in a drawer when you’re done. Here’s what we actually do with ours:
1. Homemade Christmas Cards
Cut out your favorite colored characters and glue them to folded cardstock. Takes about five minutes, costs practically nothing, and people actually save these kinds of cards instead of throwing them away. Way more meaningful than store-bought ones.
2. Gift Wrap for Small Things
Your finished coloring pages make excellent wrapping paper for small gifts, especially for kids. They get excited about the wrapping paper before they even know what’s inside. Cut out small shapes for gift tags too – way more personal than the generic ones from the store.
3. DIY Christmas Ornaments
Cut out snowflakes, candy canes, or other small designs from your colored pages. Laminate them if you can (or just use clear tape), punch a hole, add ribbon, and hang on the tree. My kids love hunting for their own creations among the regular ornaments.
4. Holiday Placemats That Actually Work
Large coloring pages make perfect placemats for Christmas dinner, especially with kids at the table. Laminate them or cover with clear contact paper and they’ll survive spills. You could even set out coloring supplies and let everyone decorate their own while waiting for the meal.
5. Cheap Classroom Decorations
Teachers, these are perfect for bulletin boards and classroom decorating. Get the kids to color them during indoor recess or free time, then display them for instant holiday cheer without spending your own money on decorations.
Conclusion
I’m not going to tell you that coloring Christmas pages will fix everything that’s stressful about the holidays. December is still going to be crazy, gifts still need to be bought, and someone’s still going to burn the cookies.
But I will say this – taking thirty minutes to sit down with some colored pencils while Christmas music plays has become one of the parts of the season I actually look forward to. No gift lists to stress about, no complicated recipes to follow, no pressure to make everything perfect.
Just you, some colors, and whatever creative choices feel right in the moment. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need when everything else feels overwhelming.
My colored Christmas pages from last year are still stuck to my refrigerator. They’re not museum-quality art, but they remind me of quiet evenings when the house smelled like pine trees and hot chocolate, and everyone was actually getting along for once.
That’s worth something, right?
So grab whatever coloring supplies you can find, print out a few pages, and see what happens. Worst case, you waste an hour. Best case, you find a new way to actually enjoy the holidays instead of just surviving them.
Merry Christmas, and may your pages turn out exactly as imperfect as they should be.
