Coloring with Grandkids: Easy Holiday Activities for Every Generation

Some of the best holiday afternoons are the quiet ones: a pot of coffee, a plate of cookies, and two chairs pulled up to the same table with a coloring page in front of each. Coloring gives grandparents and grandkids something to do with their hands while the conversation finds its own way.

Here is how to choose pages for each person at the table, set up a spot everyone wants to stay in, and start a few small traditions. For the toddler end of the table, our toddler coloring guide covers supplies and setup; for the grown-up end, the large print coloring guide covers what makes a page comfortable to color.

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Why Coloring Works for Every Age

Coloring asks almost nothing of you to begin. There is no rulebook, no score and no wrong way to do it, so a four-year-old and a seventy-four-year-old can sit down at the same table as equals. That is rarer than it sounds.

It also takes the pressure off talking. Some of the easiest conversations with a grandchild happen while you are both looking at a page instead of at each other. and a quiet stretch feels companionable rather than awkward.

And it is screen-free time that still feels like an activity. Twenty minutes of coloring slows the pace of the day and leaves something on the table at the end: a finished page that somebody made.

None of this needs to become a project. A page, a few colors and someone to sit with is the whole setup.

Pick Pages That Fit Each Person

The quickest way to lose a colorer is to hand them a page that feels like work. Match the page to the hand holding the pencil and everyone finishes something.

For grown-ups, choose large print pages: thick outlines, big open shapes and one clear picture per page. The lines are easy to see, the color has roomy space to go into, and a picture can be finished in a sitting or two. Our Simple Pleasures pages are drawn exactly that way, with teacups, pies, birdhouses and sleeping cats.

For little ones, bold and easy pages do the same job in the other direction. Thick lines, big shapes and one cheerful scene per page mean a toddler can fill a whole page without a grown-up guiding every stroke. Our easy Christmas crafts for toddlers use those same pages.

When both kinds of pages are on the table at once, nobody is waiting a turn and nobody feels like the beginner.

The Color Together Bundle

We put both halves of this idea into one download. The Color Together Bundle includes 52 Birdie Christmas coloring pages drawn bold and easy for children, plus 50 large print Simple Pleasures pages drawn for grown-ups: 102 printable pages in all, in US Letter and A4, for $5.99.

Print a handful from each side, set them out, and let everyone choose. It is one purchase for a whole family afternoon, and an instant download you can print the same day.

Set Up a Shared Coloring Table

A well-set table does more for a coloring session than any single supply. Six things make the difference:

• Good light. Sit near a window in daylight, or add a lamp that shines onto the page rather than into anyone's eyes.
• A supply cup in the middle. One mug or jar of pencils and crayons that everyone reaches into beats a table full of private piles.
• A few colors each. Four to six colors is plenty. A large box invites sorting and comparing; a small handful invites coloring.
• A mat for spills. A placemat, a sheet of cardstock under marker work, and a damp cloth within reach turn a smudge into a quick wipe.
• Short sessions. Twenty to thirty minutes suits most little ones, and grown-ups can keep going or stop with them. Ending while it is still fun is what brings everyone back.
• Display the finished pages. The fridge, a clipboard by the door, a string across the kitchen. A page that gets hung up is a page worth coloring again.

Conversation Starters While You Color

You do not need a list to start talking, but it helps on the days when the room is quiet. Every page in Simple Pleasures carries a short conversation starter printed with the picture, so the prompt is already on the table.

Eight prompts we come back to:

• What is your favorite Christmas memory?
• What was your first pet's name, and what did they like to do?
• What is the best cookie you have ever had?
• What did your kitchen look like when you were little?
• What was the best present you ever gave someone?
• Who taught you to color or to draw?
• What does Christmas morning smell like at your house?
• What would you put in a snowman's pockets?

Answer first yourself. Grandchildren pick up the way you share, and a specific answer usually brings a second one.

Make It a Holiday Tradition

Small traditions stick better than big ones. Three that take almost no planning:

Color a page each visit. Keep a folder of pages at your house and add one finished page to it per visit. By January you have a stack, and the stack is a record of the time you spent together.

Mail a colored card to each other. Color one side of a card, write three lines inside, and send it. Children get very little real mail of their own, and a card from a grandparent goes on the shelf.

Color ornaments for the tree. Paper ornaments to color, cut and hang give the tree a piece of everyone's work, and they come back out of the box every December.

Coloring from a Distance

Coloring travels well. If you are not in the same house over the holidays, there are two easy versions.

Mail a colored card, or mail a blank one and ask for one back. A Color-Your-Own Christmas Card from Birdie can be sent straight to a grandchild's door, personalized with their name, and it arrives ready to color and send back to you.

Or print the same pages in two homes and color at the same time. Set a phone on the table with a video call open, work through the same page, and hold the finished pages up at the end to compare color choices. It gives the call something to be about besides catching up.

Books for Both of You

Printable pages are quick, and printed books are the ones that live on the shelf. Our large print book Simple Pleasures has 50 extra large designs, one per page, each with a conversation starter printed beside it.

For the children's side, the Birdie's Cozy Cottage books are bold and easy, with thick lines and one clear scene per page. Birdie's Jumbo Coloring Book gathers all four in one 200-page volume, the simplest way to keep a single book at the grandparents' house.

Supplies for Every Hand at the Table

Three supplies cover almost every hand at the table. Soft colored pencils suit someone who colors slowly and wants color to build up; jumbo crayons suit small hands that press hard; broad washable markers cover ground quickly. Put a few of each in the middle and let people choose.

If you would like to try a page first, our free coloring pages print in about a minute, with large print designs as well as bold and easy ones.

Frequently Asked Questions

What activities can grandparents do with grandkids over the holidays?

Coloring together is one of the easiest, because it needs no rules and suits every age. Baking cookies, making paper ornaments, coloring Christmas cards, reading a holiday book aloud and walking to see the lights all work well too. The common thread is a shared job with something to show for it.

What are large print coloring pages?

Large print pages are drawn with thick outlines, large open shapes and one clear picture per page, instead of many small repeating patterns. The bigger lines and roomier spaces make a page easier to see and easier to fill in with a light hand. Our Simple Pleasures book and the large print printables are all drawn this way.

What coloring supplies work for both kids and older adults?

Soft colored pencils, broad-tip washable markers and chunky crayons all work across ages, because each one gives color without needing a hard grip. A small cup of four to six colors in the middle of the table serves everyone, with a sheet of cardstock under marker work.

Can I print the same pages for several family members?

Yes. Our printable packs are PDFs you print at home, so you can print a page for each person coloring that day, or the same page in two houses to color together on a video call.

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