Santa's helpers take center stage in this set of cute Christmas elf coloring pages. The elves come in big-eyed cartoon style with pointy hats, scarves, and boots — plus plenty of presents and Christmas trees to decorate.
About Christmas Elves
Santa’s elves became a fixture of Christmas in the 1800s, when American magazines and stories began filling the North Pole with tiny workers. Clement Clarke Moore’s famous 1822 poem actually called Santa himself a ‘right jolly old elf,’ and illustrators soon gave him a whole workshop of helpers instead: building toys, mending sleighs, and tending reindeer. The picture settled into what we still recognize, with pointed ears, tall hats, and curled shoes. In Scandinavia, the household nisse was doing similar gift work on farms, which is why Christmas elves and gnomes can look like close cousins.
The modern elf has picked up one more job: reporting back to Santa. The 2005 storybook The Elf on the Shelf turned scout elves into a December household tradition, with families hiding a small elf in a new spot each night for children to find each morning. Whether they are workshop elves, scout elves, or the reindeer-tending kind, their outfits stay wonderfully consistent for colorists: green or red tunics, striped scarves and stockings, gold belt buckles and bells, and hats that can carry any pattern you like. Stripes are practically an elf uniform all by themselves.
Choose a Coloring Page
Pick any page below to open it full-size, with Download and Print buttons.
Coloring Tips for Christmas Elves
- Classic elf palette: red and green outfits, skin-tone faces, and gold belts and buckles — then go wild on the presents.
- Give each elf’s hat a different pattern — stripes, polka dots, or zigzags turn the same character into a whole workshop crew.
- Markers make the bold outlines pop; use colored pencils for the small snowflake and ornament details.
- Palette ideas: (1) Classic Christmas — red, green, gold; (2) Frosty — icy blue, silver, white with red accents; (3) Candy — pink, mint, and lavender for a sweet twist.
- Shade one side of the hats and scarves with a slightly darker tone of the same color to give the elves a soft rounded look.
FAQ
Can I use these in my classroom?
Yes — free for personal and classroom use.
What size paper should I print on?
US Letter (8.5×11) works best; A4 is fine with fit-to-page enabled. Each coloring page has its own page with Download and Print buttons.
What colors do Christmas elves traditionally wear?
Classic workshop elves wear green tunics with red collars, cuffs, and hats, plus striped stockings and gold buckles or bells. That red-and-green scheme is traditional, not required: candy-cane red and white, plum and gold, or teal and silver all read as Christmas elves, especially if the hat and scarf match each other.
More Coloring Pages You’ll Love
If you enjoyed these, try our Santa Coloring Pages, Christmas Tree Coloring Pages, Christmas Gingerbread Coloring Pages, or Happy New Years Coloring Pages next.
