Download 34 free printable back to school coloring pages for kids, organized by age from preschool to 5th grade, plus first day of school signs.
If your kids are timid like mine, knowing the first day of school is coming up may be daunting for them. Mine start asking questions in late July, and the questions get more specific the closer we get. Who’s my teacher? How many people are in my class?
These free back to school coloring pages are a great way to keep their hands occupied while we have some heart-to-heart conversations about going back to school. The pack has 34 printable pages sorted by age, from thick-lined designs for preschoolers up to detailed scenes that can hold a fifth grader’s attention. There are also seven first day of school signs your kids can color themselves, letters and all.
Print the whole set or just the pages your kid picks out. Everything is free, and the download is at the bottom of this post.
What’s Inside the Pack
You’ll find the classics in here: school buses, backpacks, a schoolhouse with the flag up, and a few animal friends who seem far more excited about school than most actual children. I split the pages into four groups so you’re not handing a three-year-old an intricate pattern page, or giving a ten-year-old something they’ll finish before you’ve refilled your coffee.
A Quiet Way to Ease First-Day Nerves
Coloring turned out to be one of the easiest ways to help my kids handle the jitters that come with a new school year.
Some of it is simple. A coloring page gives busy little hands something to do, and that focus pulls a worried kid out of the spin cycle of what-ifs for a while. These back-to-school coloring pages are also excellent conversation starters. Sitting side by side with a bus or a classroom scene in front of them, kids start talking. Who will they sit with? What if they can’t find the bathroom? Will their teacher be nice? Those worries come out a lot more easily over crayons than they do when you ask “so how are you feeling about school?” and get a shrug.
The pages that show the actual first-day stuff work best for this: the bus, the walk to school, the classroom, the goodbye at the front door. Coloring the moment before they experience it makes the real thing feel a little more familiar. If you’ve got a kid who’s anxious about starting, that’s the pile to print first.
Simple Back to School Coloring Pages for Preschoolers
These eight sheets have extra-thick outlines and big open shapes, made for little hands still working on crayon control.
Smiling Backpack. A backpack super thrilled about school! The stars floating around it are good practice spots for staying inside the lines.
School Bus. Big headlights, a wide grin, and no rule saying it has to be yellow.
Happy Crayon. A crayon waving hello with stubby little arms. The chunky outline forgives even the wildest scribbles.
Apple with Worm. Finding a worm in the apple I am eating? Yuck. But this worm is adorable and way too excited for school to start.
Puppy with Pencil. This pup holding a giant pencil is ready to supervise homework time.
Alphabet Blocks. Three stacked blocks showing A, B, and C. Ask your kid to name a word for each letter while they color.
Lunchbox. Sandwich, apple, juice box. Let your kid color the lunch they wish they were getting instead of the one you packed.
Teddy with Backpack. First day of bear school. The cub looks confident and ready for homeroom.
Pages for Kindergarten Through 2nd Grade
The middle twelve add more going on: kids boarding the bus, a stocked desk, the walk to school. These back to school coloring pages will appeal to most early elementary kids.
Boarding the Bus. Three kids climbing the steps while the driver waits at the wheel. A good one for talking through what the first bus ride will actually look like.
Desk with Supplies. Notebooks, pencils, and a ruler laid out and ready. Have your kid point out which supplies match the ones in their own backpack.
Waving Goodbye. The front-door goodbye, backpack on, parent waving from the doorway. If you’re sending your first one off to kindergarten this year, this might be one to color together.
Bookshelf and Globe. Shelves full of books with a globe perched on top. Tip for getting the most out of this coloring sheet: each book spine gets its own color.
Pencil Case. An open pencil case with supplies spilling out. Simple shapes, but plenty of them, which makes it a good, quiet breakfast page.
Cat on Textbooks. Every study session needs a supervisor. This one’s for the kid who loves cats or is a magical wizard fan.
Schoolhouse. Flag up, sun out, doors open. Classic first-week scenery.
Walking to School. Two friends heading to school together, one pointing ahead and clearly more excited than the other. Sounds about right.
Teacher’s Desk. An apple, a nameplate, and the coffee mug that makes it all possible. Sweet to color and gift to a new teacher during the first week.
Crossing Guard. Stop sign up, hand raised, big friendly smile. An easy opener for talking about the helpers your kid will see on the way to school.
Packed Backpack. Unzipped and stuffed, with pencils and a ruler poking out the top. This coloring page can be very helpful when packing the bookbag the night before school.
Art Easel. Paint pots and brushes lined up under a waiting canvas. Have your kid draw and color in what they’d paint.
Detailed Pages for 3rd to 5th Graders
These seven detailed back to school coloring sheets are for older elementary school kids. Crayons won’t cut it here; you will need sharpened colored pencils or even gel pens for the tiny elements.
Full Classroom. Rows of desks, a chalkboard, and a window with a view. I love the positive affirmations on the wall. If I were a teacher, I would definitely have tons of motivational quotes plastered all over the place!
Locker Row. Five lockers with one hanging open, books and photos inside. No matter how big the lockers are, there always seem to be way too little space to fit everything.
Science Table. Beakers, a microscope, and safety goggles at the ready. My STEM heart wasn’t going to leave this one out.
Library Nook. An armchair, a reading lamp, and a wall of books. The coziest page in the pack.
Supplies Mandala. Pencils, erasers, and paper clips arranged in a circle. A great page to whip out and decompress from a stressful school day.
Doodle Pattern. School supplies arranged randomly, almost like an I-Spy game.
Bus Interior. The view down the aisle, with a few riders peeking over the seat backs and clouds drifting past the windows. A calm way to preview the ride with a nervous first-timer.
First Day of School Signs to Color
The last seven pages are first-day signs for Pre-K through 5th grade. Each one has a border made of pencils, rulers, and books, and the grade is written in big hollow letters, so the words get colored right along with the frame.
Have your kids color their sign the week before school starts, then hold it up for the front-porch photo on day one. A sign they colored themselves beats the glittery store-bought version, and the wobbly crayon work makes the picture better, not worse.
Ways to Use These Coloring Pages
Spread out the coloring pages on the kitchen table during the last slow week of summer and let your kids go to town! A few other places these pages earn their keep:
- First-morning nerves. A coloring page at breakfast on day one gives anxious kids something to do with their hands while everyone else scrambles.
- Teacher welcome desks. Teachers can set out a stack for kids trickling in on the first morning, with crayons or markers.
- Carpool and sibling duty. Pickup lines and waiting rooms go smoother with a clipboard and a few of these.
How to Download the Free Coloring Pages
Pop your email in the form below and the full 34-page PDF will land in your inbox. Regular printer paper works fine, and you can print the whole set or just your kids’ section. If the crayon bin has seen better days after a whole summer, consider this your excuse for a fresh box.
I hope these pages bring you a little calm during the back to school scramble, and maybe smooth out a few first-day nerves along the way.