What do you do with a house full of kids when it’s nine degrees out and the snow is the powdery kind that won’t pack? You stall. Then you hunt for anything that keeps small hands busy, doesn’t glow, and won’t end with somebody crying over a broken toy.
These winter coloring pages are what I hand out on days like that, cold scenes with a few warm surprises tucked in… a sleeping cat, a steaming mug, a fort made of blankets.
↓ Scroll to the free printable pagesEvery sheet below opens as a PDF, which makes these free winter coloring pages in the most literal sense. Need a winter coloring sheet in the five minutes between snow pants coming off and cocoa going on?
Start with the grid. Little ones usually point at the animals first, and the bigger kids drift toward the stone bridge, the train and anything with lots of tiny edges.
Featured Winter Coloring Pages
I love how this sure-footed goat makes scrambling up snowy cliffs look as easy as hopping over a puddle. I’d leave little patches of snow white and add soft blue shadows to give our fluffy climber a lovely frosty backdrop.
I think this snow-covered car is hoping nobody finds it until spring, but that shovel leaning against it might spoil the plan! I’d pick a bright red or yellow for the little bits of car peeking out, just to give this chilly driveway a cheerful splash of color.
This little seal looks so cozy on its icy perch, I’m convinced it’s sneaking in a nap before snack time. I’d leave its fluffy coat mostly white and let the kids go wild with blues and purples in the chilly water around it.
I’d give those lampposts a warm yellow glow and the girl’s coat a cheerful red to brighten up her snowy stroll with her dog. There’s something so sweet about a winter walk where the dog is probably more interested in sniffing every snowbank than getting home for hot chocolate!
I love how this little helper is busy clearing the driveway while the puppy seems determined to put the snow right back! I’d give those mittens a bright, cheerful color. Snowy chores deserve a splash of fun.
I think these two have the right idea. If you’re going to sit on a snowy hill, bring a friend and an extra-long scarf! I’d give their scarf bright rainbow stripes, because even a penguin and a polar bear deserve a splash of sunshine on a chilly day.
I think this snowman’s cheerful grin and twig arms make him look ready to welcome the whole neighborhood into his snowy yard. I’d give his scarf the brightest stripes in the crayon box, since winter could always use a little extra color!
I’d give this little steam engine a bright red coat to keep it looking cheerful as it chugs between those snowy peaks. Those big puffs of steam practically beg for a choo-choo sound effect, and I’m never one to resist!
That little squirrel perched on the woodpile looks quite convinced it owns the cabin, and I can’t help smiling at its cheeky lookout spot. I’d try a few different browns for the logs, then give our fluffy-tailed landlord a lovely rusty-red coat.
Those little noses squished against the glass capture that wonderful snow-day impatience. Somehow, finding mittens is never quite as exciting as watching the flakes fall! I’d leave the snow soft and white, then let the kids go wild with cozy pajama colors.
Did you love these Winter pages?
Highlighted Winter Coloring Pages
Penguin Family Sliding Down an Icy Slope
Three penguins whoosh down a snowy hill on their bellies, one big in front and two little ones grinning behind. Off in the distance sits a small iceberg, and a flat piece of ice floats near the bottom.
Huge open shapes make this a natural first pick for toddlers. Lily grabbed it, colored the big penguin’s belly purple with a marker and would not take questions.
Reading Nook by a Frosty Window
Curled on an armchair under a draped blanket, a cat sleeps hard. Next to it, a little round table holds a book and a mug still sending up steam, while the window behind shows a snowy tree and a sky dotted with flakes.
Calmest page in the bunch, by a mile. Kids who like small spaces get plenty of them in the window panes and blanket folds, and perhaps it’s the right pick after a morning of too much noise.
Sea Otter Floating Among Chunks of Ice
On its back in the water, a sea otter lies with its front paws tucked up near its face and its back feet poking out. Blocky chunks of ice bob all around it.
Is there a more relaxed animal anywhere? I doubt it. This is the cute winter coloring page I’d give a preschooler before any other, since the ice chunks are big simple slabs and the otter’s face is mostly a nose and a smile.
Snowy Mailbox with a Cardinal
Perched on a mailbox wearing a thick cap of snow, a cardinal holds its crest up and lets its tail hang off the back. The little flag is raised, and a pair of pines frames the post.
Flag up means outgoing mail, so something’s waiting inside… a letter to grandma, maybe, or a list headed north. Teachers can turn it into a writing prompt, color first, then write what’s in the box.
Steam Train Chugging Through a Mountain Pass
Smoke rolls out of a steam locomotive’s stack as it rounds a curve of track. Snowcapped peaks and pine trees crowd in on both sides of the line.
Wheels, rails, ties and smoke give older kids loads of edges to work around. I’ve never seen a train kid pass this one up, and it’s easily among the winter coloring in sheets I’d save for a quiet classroom morning.
Stone Bridge over a Frozen Creek
Patient kids, this one’s yours. An arched stone bridge crosses a creek that’s partly iced over, with a bare tree on one bank and snowy pines on the far side, and every single stone is drawn on its own.
Give each stone a slightly different gray, a few with a little tan or blue mixed in, and it starts to look like a real old park bridge. Not a five-minute job, though.
Snowball Fight Behind Two Snow Forts
Snow forts built like tiny castles, notched tops, arched doorways and all, hide two kids in knit hats. One holds up a snowball, ready to throw, and a neat pile of extras waits out front.
Siblings will argue over whose fort is whose, which fits the theme. Blocky castle shapes suit five- and six-year-olds who want something bigger than a toddler page but not fussy.
Kids in Pajamas Building a Blanket Fort
Two kids in pajamas are building a fort out of a big blanket, one clutching a pillow covered in stars, while snow falls past the window behind them. The blanket drapes over the furniture like a tent, about the way you’d string a tarp over a picnic table when rain rolls into the campground.
These are the coloring pages winter break was made for, honestly. Any stretch of pajama without a print is fair game for stripes, dots or tiny moons.
8 Tips for Coloring Winter
Decide If the Cardinal Is a He or a She
Only male northern cardinals come in that famous bright red, while females are a warm tan-brown with red tucked into the crest, wings and tail. Both carry the same orange-red cone of a beak, and the black mask around it is bolder on the male.
For a female, lay down light tan pencil everywhere first and press red into just the crest and wing edges. Cardinals don’t migrate, so they really are one of the few bright birds sitting on snowy mailboxes in January.
Turn the Little Sliders into Penguin Chicks
Adult penguins are countershaded, dark on the back to disappear into deep water seen from above and white in front to blend with the bright surface seen from below. Charcoal gray or very dark navy on the big penguin’s back looks richer than flat black crayon.
Up top, the two little ones can stay mini grown-ups or turn into emperor chicks. Emperor chicks wear silvery gray fluff with a white face and a black cap, so soft gray pencil at light pressure does most of the work.
Give the Sea Otter a Grizzled Head
Sea otter bodies are deep chocolate brown, but their heads often fade to cream or silver as they age. Dark brown pencil on the body and a pale beige on the face makes this otter look like an old regular of the bay.
Their fur is the densest of any animal, close to a million hairs per square inch, and air trapped in it helps keep them afloat. Leaving the chest and tummy a touch lighter, where they ride highest out of the water, sells the floating.
Paint the Locomotive Like a Real Workhorse
Plenty of real steam engines were painted black, since soot and coal dust vanish on black and show on everything else. Try black or bottle green for the boiler and cab, and save one bright red for the wheels and the slatted grill at the front.
That grill is officially called the pilot, though nearly everyone says cowcatcher. Most of the smoke cloud can stay white, because steam condenses fast in freezing air and winter exhaust billows huge and pale.
Put Blue Shadows Inside the Snow Forts
Snow in shadow isn’t gray, it picks up blue from the open sky overhead. Claude Monet painted exactly that in The Magpie, a snowy farm scene where every shadow is lavender or blue.
Pale blue or lilac pencil belongs inside each arched doorway and in the gaps between the notches, spots that never catch the light. Leave the fort fronts and the snowball pile bare white, and suddenly the forts look heavy enough to stop a snowball.
Count the Spirals on the Pinecone
Pinecone scales grow in two sets of spirals winding in opposite directions, and the counts usually land on Fibonacci numbers like 8 and 13. Older kids can pick one spiral row and color it a shade darker brown so the pattern jumps out.
The berry clusters beside it could easily be winterberry, a holly that drops its leaves in fall but keeps bright red fruit all winter. Cherry red marker on the berries keeps them from blending into the brown cone or the green needles.
Frost the Corners of the Reading Nook Window
Real window frost starts where the glass is coldest, along the frame and into the corners of each pane. Anyone who has scraped a car windshield at seven in the morning knows it grows in feathery ferns, not one flat sheet.
With a sharp light blue pencil, sketch a few branching fern strokes into those corners before touching anything else. Of all the printable coloring pages of winter here, this is the one where the glass tells you how cold it is while the cat stays toasty.
Puff Up the Chibi Snowsuits
Each snowsuit is drawn in stacked quilted rows, just like the chunky jackets kids wear to the bus stop. Fill each row in one pass, then darken a thin strip along every stitched seam so the puffs bulge outward.
The quilted down jacket goes back to Eddie Bauer, who nearly froze on a winter fishing trip in the 1930s and came home to design one. So go loud with these two, maybe tangerine and grape, because a puffer was never meant to be subtle.