Free Christmas Bells Coloring Pages: 55 printable PDF designs featuring jingle bells, holiday scenes, and decorative bells paired with holly, ribbons, and ornaments. Every page can be downloaded as a PDF to print or colored online in the browser, with no account required.
The bell most associated with Christmas today, the sleigh bell, owes much of its popularity to the song “Jingle Bells,” written by James Lord Pierpont in 1857. The song was originally titled “The One Horse Open Sleigh” and published as a Thanksgiving song rather than a Christmas one, only becoming linked to the winter holiday decades later as choirs took up its snowy lyrics. Bells more broadly have a much older connection to the season, tracing back to church bells rung at midnight Christmas Eve services, a tradition some historians trace to the fifth-century missionary Saint Patrick, who used a bell to call people together for teaching.
With 55 pages spanning detailed narrative scenes, bells paired with characters and animals, decorative designs, and simple standalone bells, the set gives colorists a wide range of options for the holiday season.
What Is Inside This Collection
The 55 pages are grouped by style and detail level, from full narrative scenes through decorative and simple bell designs.
Narrative Holiday Scenes
Sixteen pages place a bell within a full illustrated scene, including elves decorating a giant bell, Santa’s sleigh pulled by reindeer, a snowy bell-shaped house, and children hanging holiday decorations.
Bells with Characters and Animals
Six pages pair a bell with a specific character or animal, including Santa, a reindeer, a small elf, a giraffe, and a mouse.
Decorative and Ornamental Bells
Six pages focus on a bell dressed up with holly, ribbons, bows, or ornament-style patterns, without a full surrounding scene.
Simple and Standalone Bells
The remaining twenty-seven pages are simple, standalone bell designs, ranging from plain outlines to more detailed decorative versions, and several repeat a similar design under different file names.
What Christmas Bells Coloring Pages Do
Fine motor development. The American Academy of Pediatrics identifies fine motor skill development as a core benefit of structured coloring for children ages 2 through 7. The clapper, rim detail, and decorative patterns on the more ornamental bell pages call for careful, controlled strokes that build the same hand control used in early handwriting.
A visual way to connect a symbol to its real history. Because the Christmas bell carries a specific, documented history tied to church tradition and a well-known holiday song with a surprising origin story, coloring these pages gives a child a concrete way to learn that a familiar holiday symbol has a real backstory behind it.
Anxiety reduction through focus. A 2005 study in the Art Therapy Journal documented measurable reductions in anxiety following structured coloring sessions. The repeating shapes on the simple, standalone bell pages give colorists a steady, low-pressure form to settle into during a busy holiday season.
Introduces a range of detail levels within one theme. Since this collection spans full narrative scenes down to simple single bells, it offers colorists of different skill levels and available time a way to engage with the same holiday symbol, from a quick five-minute page to a more involved scene.
How to Color Christmas Bells Pages Well
- Traditional bell metal: Crayola Gold or Goldenrod for a classic brass look, with a slightly darker shade along the rim for dimension.
- Silver bell variants: Crayola Silver or Gray, kept bright and even, since silver bells are a common alternative to the classic gold look.
- Holly accents: Crayola Forest Green leaves with Crayola Red berries, the standard color pairing used on nearly every holly decoration.
- Ribbons and bows: Crayola Red or Scarlet, kept glossy-looking with a lighter highlight along the fold lines of the bow.
- Narrative scene backgrounds: cool Crayola Sky Blue or White for snowy settings, keeping the bell itself as the clear visual focal point.
- Character and animal companions: use each character’s expected colors, warm reds and whites for Santa, tan and brown for a reindeer, so the bell reads as the shared holiday element tying the scene together.
5 Creative Craft Ideas With Christmas Bells Coloring Pages
1. Christmas Bell Garland
Color several small bell pages, cut them out, and string them together with ribbon or twine for a simple holiday garland.
2. Bell Gift Tags
Color a simple bell page, trim it to a small tag shape, laminate it, and punch a hole at the top to attach it to a wrapped gift.
3. Christmas Bells Bookmark Set
Color two or three of the smaller pages, trim them to a tall, narrow bookmark shape, and laminate or cover with clear tape for a small matching set.
4. Holiday Card Front
Color a decorative bell page, trim it to fit a folded card, and glue it to the front for a simple handmade Christmas card.
5. Bell Ornament Display
Color a favorite bell page, mount it on cardstock, punch a hole at the top, and hang it as a paper ornament on a tree or garland.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Christmas Bells coloring pages?
Free printable and online designs featuring bells and other holiday decorations, intended for personal, educational, and non-commercial use.
Where does the association between bells and Christmas come from?
It traces back to church bells rung at midnight Christmas Eve services, with some historians tracing the tradition to the fifth-century missionary Saint Patrick.
Was “Jingle Bells” originally written as a Christmas song?
No. James Lord Pierpont wrote it in 1857 as a Thanksgiving song titled “The One Horse Open Sleigh,” and it only became associated with Christmas later.
What is the difference between a sleigh bell and a church bell in this tradition?
Horses originally wore sleigh bells as a warning to pedestrians, while church bells were rung to call people to worship, and both eventually became linked to Christmas.
Why do some pages show a bell inside a full scene rather than alone?
This collection includes both styles intentionally, giving colorists a choice between a quick, simple bell and a more detailed illustrated scene.
Are the holly and ribbon decorations on these pages historically accurate?
They reflect common, widely used Christmas decorating traditions rather than one specific historical source, and are meant as general festive decoration.
Are Christmas Bells coloring pages suitable for young children?
Yes. The simple, standalone bell pages work well for younger children, while the detailed narrative scenes suit older kids and adults.
Can Christmas Bells coloring pages be colored online, or only printed?
Both. Every design can be downloaded as a PDF for printing at home or opened directly in the online coloring tool for use on a phone, tablet, or computer.
Start Coloring
Download any page by clicking the design. No account, email, or payment is required. Pages print directly from the browser at full resolution or open in the online coloring tool for screen use. Share finished pages on Facebook or Pinterest with the share buttons at the top of each design page.
