Free Christmas coloring pages for preschool and kindergarten

How teachers and parents use them

December in a PreK or kindergarten room is loud. Teachers use Christmas coloring pages as morning work, a quiet center, an early-finisher folder, or the activity on the table during a class party while the cocoa gets poured. At home they fill the wait for cookies to bake, a long car ride, or the slow minutes before guests arrive.

Coloring also builds real fine-motor skill: gripping a crayon, staying near a line and filling a shape all prepare hands for writing. Talk while they color. Count the ornaments on the tree, name the colors, or ask what Santa might be carrying in his sack. A finished page makes a nice hand-made card for grandparents, too.

Age range

These pages are drawn for toddlers, preschool and kindergarten (about ages 2 to 6), with big shapes and thick outlines. For 1st and 2nd grade, the color by number, I Spy and Pip storybook packs below add counting, reading and a little more detail.

Print tips

A few things make the pages easier to use:

• Print portrait at 100% or 'fit to page' on US Letter. A4 printers work with 'fit to page'.
• Regular copy paper is fine for crayons; use cardstock for markers, glitter glue or paint.
• Black-and-white printing is all you need.
• Turning a page into a card? Print on cardstock and fold it in half before coloring.