1. Christmas tree with parcels
A five-tier tree, each tier with its own band of pattern, a star on top and three parcels at the foot. Start with the widest tier and work up.
Free printable · Color online
Christmas coloring pages for adults
Eight Christmas pages for grown-ups: a tree with parcels under it, three glass ornaments on a pine bough, a wreath round a candle, stockings on the mantel, a gingerbread house, poinsettias, a pair of bells and a stack of wrapped presents. Each is filled with knit-style bands and small repeating shapes, so there is plenty to color without anything too fiddly to finish.
Print one page or all eight on letter paper, or tap Color on screen to fill a page in your browser. They are free for personal use, for a classroom, a care home or a holiday table.
Each page prints on one sheet of US letter paper. Under every page are buttons to print just that one, to color it on screen, or to save it as a picture.
2. Three ornaments on a pine bough
Three glass ornaments hang at different lengths under a bough, each tied with a bow. The pine needles are slim, so a fine-tipped pencil helps there.
3. Wreath with a candle
A leafy wreath with berries and a wide bow, and a single candle with holly in the middle. Two greens, one for each ring of leaves, give it depth.
4. Stockings on the mantel
Three stockings hang from a mantel shelf under a garland. Their bands tilt slightly, like knitting on a real sock; heel and toe are separate patches.
5. Gingerbread house in the snow
A cottage with a shingled roof, iced windowsills, candy canes at the door and lollipop trees. The roof shingles are good practice for shading from dark to light.
6. Poinsettias
One large poinsettia and four smaller ones, with holly between. Big, open bracts: a good page for markers or for a first try.
7. Two bells with holly
A pair of bells tied with a bow and two sprigs of holly, each bell banded with hearts, stars and scallops.
8. A stack of presents
Five parcels, each in a different wrapping paper: stripes, diamonds, scales and stars. The ribbons cross every box, so pick the ribbon color first.
What is on the pages
Most of what we hang up in December has a story behind it. Stockings by the fireplace appear in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” where they are “hung by the chimney with care.” The poinsettia is native to Mexico and takes its English name from Joel Poinsett, the first United States minister to Mexico, who sent plants home in the 1820s. Its red “petals” are really leaves, called bracts; the true flowers are the small buds in the middle, which is how they are drawn here.
A wreath is a ring of evergreen, a shape with no beginning or end. The gingerbread house comes from German baking and grew popular after the Brothers Grimm published “Hansel and Gretel” in 1812. Each of these has a page of its own in this set, and several have a whole set to themselves, linked at the foot of the page.
Color ideas for these pages
A traditional scheme needs only four pencils: a deep green, a red, a gold or yellow ochre, and a brown for trunks and gingerbread. Leave the snow, the icing and the candle wax as bare paper. White space is a color too, and it keeps a busy page from feeling heavy.
For something calmer, try a Scandinavian look: red and white only, with the paper doing the white. The stockings and the bells suit it best, because their bands read like knitting. On the ornaments page, color each band in turn rather than each ornament, so the same three or four colors run across all three.
Which page to start with
This set has 8 pages: 1 bold and easy, 6 medium and 1 detailed. The quickest to finish is “Wreath with a candle,” with 124 areas to color, and the longest is “Stockings on the mantel,” with 704. Bold and easy pages have heavy lines and large shapes that suit markers and tired eyes; detailed pages have fine lines for sharp pencils or gel pens.
How printing, saving and coloring on screen work is explained on the coloring pages home. If you like filling shapes by number, Linseed Loft Color by Number is a free paint by number game with 74 pictures.