About these back to school coloring pages
Back to school coloring pages make the first days of a new school year a little easier: a yellow school bus, a backpack full of supplies, pencils and crayons, an apple for the teacher, a chalkboard that says "Welcome back", kids walking into school and a classroom with desks and a globe. Our free printable back to school pages include simple pencils and apples for toddlers and preschoolers, classroom scenes for school-age kids and detailed school-supply patterns for older students.
Print them on US Letter or A4 paper, or color them online. Parents use them to get kids excited before the first day; teachers hand them out on the first morning while children settle in, learn names and find their desks. They work just as well for the first day of daycare, preschool or kindergarten as for a new grade in elementary school.
Getting ready for the first day
A new school, a new class or a new teacher can make children nervous. Coloring a picture of a school bus, a classroom or kids playing at recess gives them a calm way to talk about what the first day will look like. Ask while they color: what do you think your teacher will be like? Who will you sit with at lunch? What do you want to learn this year?
For children starting preschool or kindergarten, color a page each evening of the week before: the backpack on Monday, the bus or the walk to school on Tuesday, the classroom on Wednesday. By the first morning, the pictures already feel familiar.
Teachers use back to school pages in the first week as a quiet task while they meet families at the door, and as a simple "All about me" activity: color the page, then add your name, age and favorite food.
Back to school pictures to color
These are the classic images of a new school year.
They also make good early-learning pages. Count the pencils in a pencil case, name the colors in a crayon box, find the shapes on a school building (a square window, a triangle roof, a round clock) or say the first letter of each object on a supply page. For kindergarten teachers, a backpack page with each child's name written in big letters is a simple first lesson in recognizing their own name.
- The school bus: bright yellow so drivers can see it easily
- Backpacks and lunchboxes: packed the night before the first day
- Pencils, crayons, rulers and scissors: the supplies on every school list
- The apple: a traditional small gift for the teacher
- Chalkboards and books: where reading, writing and math begin
- Kids at recess: swings, slides and new friends on the playground
Back to school facts to share while you color
- In most of the United States, the school year starts in August or early September.
- In Australia, the school year begins in late January or early February, after the summer holidays.
- In Japan, the school year starts in April, when the cherry trees are in bloom.
- In Germany, children starting first grade receive a Schultüte, a big paper cone filled with sweets and school supplies.
- American school buses are painted a shade of yellow chosen in 1939 because it is easy to see early in the morning.
- In the United Kingdom, most schools start the new year in early September.
- An apple on the teacher's desk has been a symbol of school in the United States for generations.
- Many families take a photo on the first day of school every year to see how much the children have grown.
Which back to school page for which age
- Toddlers (2–3)
- One big pencil, an apple or a backpack with thick lines, for little ones starting daycare or preschool.
- Preschool (3–5)
- School buses, crayons to color in their own colors and letters of the alphabet to trace and fill in.
- Kids (5–10)
- Classroom scenes, kids on the playground, "All about me" pages and school-supply pages with space for a name. A good first-morning task while the teacher greets families.
- Teens and adults
- Detailed patterns made of pencils, books and doodles, good for decorating a binder or planner cover, and a calm break during a busy first week.
Coloring tips and color ideas
- Color the school bus a bright yellow with black stripes and light blue windows.
- Make every crayon in a box a different color, in rainbow order.
- Color an apple red, green or yellow, with a small white shine on one side.
- Use a dark green or black for chalkboards and write on it with a white gel pen.
- Write your name in big letters on the page so it can go straight on the classroom wall.
- Use your new supplies: the first page of the year is the perfect test for new pencils and markers.
Ideas for home, school and parties
- Name tags: color a small apple or pencil and write each child's name on it for desks and cubbies.
- Door sign: write "Welcome to second grade" or "Welcome back" with the free quote maker and color it for the classroom door.
- First-day photo prop: hold a colored page with the grade and the year in the first-day picture.
- Binder cover: color a detailed pattern page and slip it into the clear front of a binder.
- A first-day coloring book: upload photos of the kids on the first day of each year and Coloriki turns them into a coloring book to keep.
How to print back to school coloring pages
- Open the page you like and press Print it. A PDF opens, sized for US Letter; the A4 PDF is next to it.
- In the print window choose "Fit to page" or 100% scale, and plain white paper. Thicker paper (100 to 120 gsm) is better for markers and paint.
- Print a few copies: kids like to try different colors on the same picture.
- Prefer screens? Press Color it online and color with a tap on a phone, tablet or computer.