Santa Coloring Pages

Santa Claus is rarely sitting still in December, and on these free Santa coloring pages he is always busy: climbing down a chimney, checking his list, feeding the reindeer, driving the sleigh over a snowy village. In each printable PDF the beard and fur trim are drawn as separate shapes, so one red crayon is enough to make him recognizable.

Where Santa turns up in the collection:

• Santa on Christmas Eve: down the chimney with a sack of toys, placing a gift on a chimney, delivering presents under the tree, eating cookies and milk.
• Santa and his reindeer: feeding them carrots, dancing with them in the snow, standing with four of them, waving from the sleigh.
• The workshop: Santa and an elf decorating a teddy bear, a toy soldier among the blocks, the naughty or nice list between two elves.
• Santa at home with Mrs. Claus in the armchair, baking a gingerbread man, reading a long wish list by the fire.
• Santa with children and animals: handing out candy canes, decorating the tree together, holding a kitten in a stocking or a gift box with a puppy.
• Santa on holiday: skiing, looking through a telescope, driving a vintage car, and building a sandcastle on a beach.

Who is Santa Claus? A short history

The Santa on these pages is built from several older figures, and each piece arrived at a known date.

Saint Nicholas was a fourth-century bishop of Myra, in what is now Turkey, remembered for giving gifts in secret. His feast day is December 6, still the day children in parts of Europe find small gifts in their shoes. The name Santa Claus comes from Sinterklaas, the Dutch form of his name.

The sleigh, the reindeer and the chimney come from the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas ("'Twas the night before Christmas"), published in 1823. It named eight reindeer. In the 1860s the cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa for Harper's Weekly and gave him a home at the North Pole.

The red suit appeared in illustrations long before the famous soft drink advertisements of the 1930s, which made it familiar everywhere rather than inventing it. Older pictures show him in green, brown or blue, so a child who wants a green Santa has history on their side.

Santa and reindeer coloring pages

The reindeer appear in several scenes: Santa feeding them carrots by a fireplace, Santa dancing with them in the snow while holding a candy cane, and Santa standing beside his four reindeer among snowflakes and holly.

Reindeer are real animals of the far north, and one fact always surprises children: both males and females grow antlers, unlike other kinds of deer. For more of them, the deer coloring pages include reindeer grazing on lichen by a frozen lake and one pulling a sledge of firewood.

Making Rudolph

Rudolph joined the team in 1939, in a booklet written by Robert L. May for the Montgomery Ward stores. To add him to any reindeer page:

1. Pick the reindeer at the front.
2. Color his nose bright red, pressing hard, and leave a small white dot for the glow.
3. Draw a few short lines around the nose so it shines.

Santa sleigh coloring pages

The sleigh comes in two scenes. In one, Santa waves from his sleigh with the reindeer among snowy trees and falling snow. In the other, he rides through a snowy village. Both pair well with a reading of "'Twas the night before Christmas" on December 24.

The village and the snowy trees leave a lot of white paper. Color the sky navy or deep blue around them and leave the snow bare, and the sleigh stands out at once. More snowy villages and frozen lakes wait in the winter coloring pages, and the snowman coloring pages bring friends for the yard.

Santa and his elves, Mrs. Claus and the workshop

The elves help with the paperwork: two of them stand on either side of Santa while he checks the naughty or nice list, and two more flank him with a second list among stars and holly. In the workshop, an elf helps Santa decorate a teddy bear, and Santa holds up a toy soldier among blocks and gifts.

Mrs. Claus shares one armchair with Santa as they read the wish list together, with a mug of cocoa and ornaments hanging above. Color her dress red or green with white trim, and her hair with a few soft lines of pale gray.

Kids who love the elves should also see the Elf on the Shelf coloring pages, where the little scout elf hides in the cookie jar and tangles himself in the tree lights.

How to color Santa's suit, beard and hat

• Suit and Santa hat: two reds, a bright one on the front and a deeper one in the folds.
• Fur trim, pompom and beard: untouched white paper, with a few soft gray strokes in the beard to suggest waves.
• Belt and boots: shiny black, the buckle picked out in yellow.
• Cheeks and nose: a soft pink, pressed gently.
• The sack: brown or deep green, so it does not disappear into the red suit.

Many children also look for a Santa hat on its own. Any sheet works: trace the hat onto a separate paper, color it red with a white band, cut it out and stick it on a drawing of the family dog or cat.

A simple Santa Claus for a preschool table

The quick pages keep Santa large with little behind him: eating cookies and milk at the table, holding a kitten in a stocking, skiing down a mountain, climbing a chimney. These one-figure Santas jump to the front of the grid once Quick to color is pressed:

• Santa Claus with a kitten in a stocking
• Santa Claus climbing out of a chimney
• Santa Claus eating cookies and milk

A preschooler can do the suit in one red, the boots in black and leave the rest white, and the page already reads as Santa. The kitten page goes well with the kitten coloring pages, and the puppy in the gift box with the dog coloring pages.

Busy workshop and village scenes for older kids and adults

Many sheets fill every corner with garlands, presents and snowflakes, and Lots of detail sorts those crowded Christmas scenes first:

• A detailed Santa Claus face with intricate patterns
• Santa Claus placing presents under the tree
• Santa Claus driving a car full of presents

The patterned Santa face, filled with designs through the beard and hat and framed by snowflakes, stars and holly, is the one teenagers and adults ask for. It sits closer to the mandala coloring pages than to a cartoon. Keep the beard to whites and pale grays and put the color into the hat and holly.

The odd scenes make good conversation pieces: Santa looking at the night sky through a telescope (the space coloring pages go further), driving a vintage car through a pine forest (more old cars wait in the car coloring pages), or building a sandcastle with a seashell in hand. The sandcastle makes more sense south of the equator, where December is summer, and the beach coloring pages carry on by the sea.

Santa ideas for Christmas Eve and the classroom

• Letter to Santa: color the wish list page, write the letter on the back, and mail it or leave it by the tree.
• Christmas Eve plate: color the cookies and milk page while the real plate is set out, and leave the drawing beside it.
• Class party: print a few different scenes so children can choose, and add the gingerbread coloring pages for kids who want the kitchen.
• Candy cane treat: hand out the page where Santa gives children candy canes with a real one tucked beside it. The candy coloring pages have more sweets.
• A Santa book: collect the drawings with Add to pack, print the single file and staple it at the corner.

Trees, stockings and the nativity have their own set of Christmas coloring pages.

Printing Santa before the December rush

The red suit takes a lot of marker, so thin copy paper can wrinkle; slightly heavier paper keeps a Santa flat enough for the fridge.

Santa comes as a free 300 dpi PDF drawn for A4, which prints him at 100 percent. Letter paper needs fit to page, or the tip of his hat can slip off the top of the sheet. Teachers can build a class set through Add to pack, then print it once, early in December. The printing guide explains the settings, and these original drawings are free for families, schools and churches.