Every year I have this grand delusion that we are going to make gorgeous salt dough ornaments together as a family.
Reality hits when the flour is everywhere and the baby is crying, which is exactly why we created these Christmas ornaments coloring pages instead.
The kids love them because they can color outside the lines and make up their own crazy patterns. I love them because they are free and require no supervision.
Just download a coloring page of Christmas ornaments and let them use the glitter markers they usually aren’t allowed to touch. It feels festive enough to count as a real activity.
Featured Christmas Ornament Coloring Pages
Other Christmas Collections
Highlighted Christmas Ornaments Color Pages
The Classic Starry Bauble on a Hook
This first one features a large round ornament decorated with a band of five-point stars and wavy lines. It hangs from a dramatically curved metal hook at the top. I think my oldest colored this one entirely in metallic gel pens yesterday.
It has thick, bold lines that make it pretty forgiving for little hands still working on motor skills. A basic Christmas tree ornaments coloring page like this just works. Honestly sometimes simpler is better when they are tired.
Star Bauble with String Lights
Here we have a round star-patterned ornament dangling right below a draped string of classic Christmas bulbs. A neat little bow ties the ornament to the string. The extra background elements give older kids something more detailed to focus on.
They can color each little bulb on the string a different bright color to make it pop. Finding a good Christmas ornament coloring sheets option with extra lights is always a win in my book. We usually tape these to the fridge.
Bauble Tied with a Ribbon
This design shows a star-and-wave decorated bauble suspended from a thick ribbon loop tied in a prominent bow. It feels very traditional. . . almost like something from an old holiday card.
The ribbon loops leave plenty of room to practice shading and blending if your kids are into that. Using these free Christmas ornaments coloring pages really helps them practice staying inside those tricky curved lines. Plus the bow is just cute.
The Peppermint Swirl Lollipop
Shaped exactly like a classic candy-striped lollipop on a stick, this one has a big bow tied right under the candy part. It hangs from a tiny loop right at the top. It makes me crave actual peppermint bark every time I look at it.
Kids usually go straight for the red and white crayons here. But hey, a rainbow peppermint printable Christmas ornament coloring pages design works too. There are no rules in holiday coloring.
Little Gingerbread Man
This guy is a gingerbread man shaped ornament complete with a bow tie, three buttons, and wavy icing details on his arms and legs. He has a happy little face and hangs from a standard ornament cap. It is probably the most popular one in my house right now.
You can really get creative with the icing colors on this page. Just pulling out a coloring page of Christmas ornaments like this stops meltdowns instantly. Or at least it delays them for a while.
Winter Mitten with Fur Trim
We designed this one to look like a cozy winter mitten with a large snowflake stamped right in the middle. It features a fluffy-looking fur trim around the wrist area.
The textured look of the fur trim is fun to scribble in with a soft colored pencil. A Christmas tree ornaments coloring page shaped like winter gear just feels so cozy. Maybe we should actually go find our real mittens soon.
Glittery Pinecone
This ornament is shaped like a layered pinecone, and each individual scale has a tiny circle detail in it. Those little circles are meant to look like drops of glitter. It takes a bit more patience to finish this one.
Because of all those tiny overlapping scales, it is great for practicing fine motor control. Kids love Christmas ornament coloring sheets that let them use 50 different colors on one object. I don’t know why, they just do.
Plump Little Penguin
This one is an adorable, round penguin ornament with little flippers and a classic ornament hanger on its head. It has wide eyes and a very plump, circular belly. My youngest daughter absolutely refuses to color him anything but pink.
The large belly area leaves a ton of blank space for kids to draw their own patterns or ugly sweaters on him. It is a really fun, open-ended design. Will they draw a sweater? No idea. But today it is an option.
8 Tips for Coloring Christmas Ornaments
1. The Metallic Magic
Don’t underestimate the power of a cheap silver gel pen. When kids try to color metal ornament tops with a standard gray crayon, it usually just looks like muddy concrete. I tell my students to use a metallic pen for just the little hook at the top.
It adds a tiny pop of shine that makes the whole page look finished. Does it smear sometimes? Absolutely. But that shiny reward is worth the messy hands.
2. Shading the Spheres
Round baubles can look completely flat if you just scrub one color across the whole circle. It is a classic beginner mistake. I like to teach kids the crescent moon trick to fix this.
You just press really hard with a crayon on one edge of the ornament, and then barely press at all as you move toward the middle. It creates this faux 3D shadow effect. Around 85-90% of kids can pick this technique up in about five minutes.
3. Creating Faux Glitter
If you don’t want real glitter in your house, and let’s be honest who does, you can fake it with markers. Have them color the base of the ornament with a light colored pencil first.
Then, take a darker, fine-tipped marker and just tap a bunch of tiny dots over the pencil layer. It gives this textured, sparkly illusion without the horrific cleanup. It is a lifesaver for tired parents.
4. The White Space Rule
You really do not have to color every single square inch of the paper. Sometimes leaving a streak of pure white right in the middle of a colored bauble makes it look like light is reflecting off shiny glass.
It is counter-intuitive for kids who want to fill every gap. But once you show them how that white highlight makes the ornament look like a real glass globe, they love it. Let them draw their own conclusions about lighting.
5. Background Blending
Ornaments don’t just float in a white void in real life. They hang on dark green trees. Encourage your kids to lightly shade the background behind the ornament with a deep forest green.
This makes the bright colors of the ornament itself stand out so much more by contrast. Like in photography, a dark backdrop makes the subject pop. It might cause some inconvenience if they press too hard and break a crayon, but the result is cool.
6. Layering Waxy Crayons
If you want those really vibrant, saturated colors, you have to layer. Start with a light coat of a bright yellow, and then heavily color a red over top of it.
The wax mixes together on the paper and creates this incredibly rich, warm holiday red that you just can’t get from one crayon alone. I think it is the best way to get that classic vintage Christmas look. Give it a try.
7. Dealing with Intricate Details
For the pages with tiny stars and little squiggly lines, crayons are basically useless. They are just too blunt. Ditch them completely and pull out the fine-liner pens or freshly sharpened colored pencils.
Trying to cram a thick, dull crayon tip into a tiny star shape just leads to frustration and tears. Using the right tool for the job is half the battle. And what follows from this? A much more peaceful coloring session.
8. The Tape Border Trick
If your kids are making homemade Christmas cards out of these pages, try the tape trick. Put a border of painter’s tape around the very edge of the paper before they start coloring.
Once they finish scribbling all over everything, you carefully peel the tape away to reveal a crisp, clean white border. It instantly frames the messy artwork and makes it look super professional. Honestly, it elevates even the most chaotic toddler scribbles.