Free Christmas Worksheets to Color

What's in this set

These 20 Christmas worksheets to color mix two kinds of sheets. The 8 coloring pages are simply for fun: a decorated tree, a snowman fort, a gingerbread house, a little reindeer, stockings on a mantel, happy ornaments, Santa's sleigh and a mug of hot cocoa. The 12 color-by sheets hide a small lesson inside the coloring: children read a number, solve a sum, name a letter, read a sight word or match a shape to find out which color goes where.

Every color-by sheet is labeled with its level and skill, so you can pick the right one in seconds: Easy sheets (PreK, ages 3-5) use numbers 1 to 5, a few colors and big spaces; Medium sheets (Kindergarten) go up to 10; Hard sheets (Grades 1-2) use teen numbers and sums within 20, with more and smaller spaces.

Want color by number all year round? See our 24 free color by number printables: 8 pictures, each in Easy, Medium and Hard.

How to use a color by number sheet

Start by reading the color key at the bottom of the page together. Each circle shows a number (or a sum answer, letter, word or shape), the color it stands for, and the color's name. The name is printed under every swatch, so the key still works if you print in black and white.

Next, lay out only the crayons in the key. Young children find it much easier when there are no extra colors to choose from. Then work one color at a time: find every space marked 1 and color it, then every 2, and so on. Working by color, rather than jumping around the picture, means fewer missed spaces and less frustration.

Small parts with no mark (an eye, a ribbon, a tiny window) are free choice; the sheet says so at the top. When the picture is finished, check it against the answer key at the back of the PDF.

Making it easier or harder

To make a sheet easier, color one space of each color yourself as an example, or let your child use markers instead of crayons for faster coverage. For the addition sheets, give a number line or ten counters to count on with. For the letter sheet, start with just the uppercase letters.

To make it harder, ask your child to write the answer to every sum inside its space before coloring anything, or cover the color names in the key so they must read the swatch. A child who finds the Medium sheets easy can move on to the teen-number or within-20 sheets, which use the same idea with bigger numbers.

Printing tips (US Letter and A4)

Every sheet is drawn for US Letter (8.5 x 11 in) at 300 dpi, so lines stay sharp. Print at 100% or "Actual size". If you use A4 paper (UK, Europe, Singapore, India, Australia and most of the world), download the A4 PDF: the pages are already sized to fit A4 with a small margin, so nothing is cut off.

Black-and-white printing is fine for all sheets. If you print for a classroom, print the answer keys once in color for the teacher's desk and the sheets in black and white for the children.

A teaching tip for each skill

• Numbers 1-10: say the number out loud each time you find it; it builds quick number recognition.
• Teen numbers: read 14 as "ten and four" to show what the digits mean.
• Addition: encourage counting on from the bigger number (for 2+6, start at 6).
• Letters: match the big and small letter first, then say its sound.
• Sight words: read the key together, then let your child read each word alone before coloring.
• Shapes: trace the small shape with a finger and name it.

Questions