Counting down to Christmas is one of the most exciting parts of the holiday season, and our Free Printable Christmas Countdown Calendar is the perfect way to make it extra special. Designed with kids in mind, this free printable combines the joy of colouring (and decorating) with the anticipation of the big day, giving families a fun and creative activity to enjoy together.
Christmas Countdown Calendar Benefits
This countdown colouring calendar a great way to keep little hands busy. It also helps develop fine motor skills, inspires creativity, and provides a calming, screen-free activity during the busy holiday season. Plus, of course, it reinforces number recognition, and you can use it to talk about subtraction, fractions and the 5 times table!
But best of all, it’s free to download and easy to use – just print it out, grab some colouring supplies, and start the countdown to Christmas!
If you like this you may also love the following Christmas Craft Activities we have on BlueBearWood
Stay tuned for more festive countdown ideas, and keep a look out for more countdown calendar featuring more cute countdown characters.
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more)! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Materials Required To Make A Christmas Countdown Advent Calendar
Creating your Christmas countdown colouring calendar is simple and uses pretty standard materials! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Printer: for printing the free downloadable (located at the end of the blog post).
- Scissors: to trim the calendar neatly.
- Colouring Supplies: Coloured pencils, crayons, gel pens —don’t use felt tips if using printer paper
- White paper/card: to print out the Christmas countdown colouring calendar. Use printer paper or white card stock
- Coloured Paper/Cardboard (optional): Use packaging cardboard for a sustainable option, printer paper or coloured card (red, green, blue, or black works great) to make the calendar pop.
- Stick glue or Double-Sided Tape: To mount the calendar onto the card or cardboard.
- Optional Decorations: Add glitter, stickers, or patterns to the card border for extra flair before gluing on the calendar.
- Count down materials – think about how the countdown calendar is going to get marked off each day; stickers, paint sticks, colouring pencils, gel pens etc
How To Use Your Christmas Countdown Calendar
Each bauble represents a day closer to Christmas, and your kids can decide whether to mark it off in the morning or evening.
- Morning: Start the day with a burst of excitement as your child colours in the day’s bauble. I
- Evening: Make it part of your end of day routine and something to look forward to.
You can use all kinds of tools to mark the days off.
- colour the baubles in with either a pencil, fine liner or gel pen
- cross each day off with a pen or pencil
- use a Paint Stick to dab
- use a Bingo Marker dab
- stickers – there are loads of fun stickers you could use to cover each bauble day; plain dots, shiny stars, even puffy stickers
How To Assemble Your Christmas Countdown Colouring Calendar
Start by printing the Countdown Calendars onto printer paper or white cardstock.
If you’re dividing the calendars between children, cut each sheet in half (or let the kids do it themselves) so each image is on its own. If one child is colouring both calendars on a sheet, there’s no need to separate them.
Next, colour in your calendar, leaving the countdown baubles uncoloured. For the best results, I recommend using coloured pencils, sharpenable crayons, or gel pens on printer paper. Felt pens and markers can bleed through, so they’re better suited for thicker cardstock.
Once your calendar is fully coloured (don’t forget to leave the baubles uncoloured for the countdown!), it’s time to cut it out. You can cut along the outer black line or inside it for a neater look. For a fun twist, try using pinking shears or patterned-edge scissors to add a decorative border!
Use A4 coloured cardstock or paper to mount your calendar for an easy, no-measuring approach. Simply fold the cardstock or paper in half, cut along the fold, and glue the calendar in place using a glue stick. It’s quick, simple, and mess-free!
Easy Decoration Ideas for Your Calendar Backdrops
- Splatter paint backdrop: Splatter your mounting card with white paint for a snowy effect, and sprinkle fine glitter over the wet paint to add a starry shimmer. This needs to be done before glueing on the countdown calendar.
- Draw Snowflakes or Stars: Use metallic or glitter pens to draw delicate snowflakes, stars, or festive patterns directly on the card.
- Add Ornaments and Sparkle: Stick on sequins, pom-poms, or small stickers to mimic ornaments or festive lights.
- Use Cotton Wool for Snow: Glue small tufts of cotton wool for a textured “snow” effect
These decorations work beautifully on a variety of coloured card options:
How To Download & Print Your Christmas Countdown Calendar
Our free Christmas Countdown Colouring Calendars are available as easy-to-download PDFs, so you can have them printed and ready for fun in no time. There are 2 A4 PDF’s with large countdown calendars and 1 PDF page with all four in bookmark size.
- Download/Open The PDF: Click on the links below to download the Christmas Countdown Calendar PDF. This will open the pdf in a new window on your browser from where you will find the option to download to you desktop or mobile, and to print the bookmark page off.
- Print the Bookmarks: Select the print option in your PDF viewer. Ensure your printer is set to a high-quality print setting to capture all the details. Use thick paper or cardstock for the best results.
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