Colouring NestWhat families print at Christmas: the most-searched colouring themes in NZ, Australia, the US and UK
Christmas is the biggest colouring moment of the year in every country we measured. In December, searches for Christmas colouring pages run at about 7 to 9 times an average month: 9 times in the US, 7.5 times in Australia and 6.6 to 7.4 times in New Zealand (Google Ads search volumes, measured 27 October 2026). Australians and New Zealanders say “colouring in”, Americans say “coloring pages”, and families everywhere also look for word searches, activity sheets and colour by number. We haven’t measured UK volumes yet, but Google’s UK suggestions show what British families type.
How big is December?
For each country we took the most-searched Christmas colouring terms and compared the busiest month in the past year with the 12-month average. Google reports an approximate number of searches for each month (Google Ads API: monthly search volume), so the multiple shows how sharply interest jumps rather than how big each country is.
Show the numbers as a table
| Search term | December ÷ average month | Average month | December |
|---|---|---|---|
| US: christmas coloring pages | 9× | 135,000 | 1,220,000 |
| Australia: christmas colouring in | 7.5× | 8,100 | 60,500 |
| Australia: christmas colouring pages | 7.5× | 5,400 | 40,500 |
| NZ: christmas colouring in | 7.4× | 390 | 2,900 |
| NZ: christmas colouring pages | 6.6× | 1,000 | 6,600 |
The US jump is the steepest: “christmas coloring pages” goes from about 135,000 searches in an average month to 1,220,000 in December. Australia’s two big terms both rise about 7.5 times. New Zealand’s numbers are smaller, but the shape is the same: in all three countries, December is the busiest month of the year for these terms.
Australia: Christmas owns the year
Christmas is not just one peak among many. When we line up the busiest month of every seasonal colouring term we measured in Australia, Christmas terms take four of the top seven places.
Show the numbers as a table
| Search term (peak month) | Searches in the peak month |
|---|---|
| christmas colouring in (Dec) | 60,500 |
| christmas colouring pages (Dec) | 40,500 |
| easter colouring pages (Mar) | 18,100 |
| christmas word search (Dec) | 14,800 |
| halloween colouring pages (Oct) | 12,100 |
| anzac day activities (Apr) | 9,900 |
| christmas colouring sheets (Dec) | 9,900 |
| mothers day colouring pages (May) | 5,400 |
“Christmas colouring in” (60,500 in December) is searched more than three times as often at its peak as Easter colouring pages are at theirs (18,100 in March). Halloween (12,100 in October) and Anzac Day activities (9,900 in April) are the next biggest moments. Mother’s Day peaks at 5,400 in May.
The Australian wording matters. “Christmas colouring in” is a bigger search than “christmas colouring pages” (8,100 a month on average against 5,400), and “christmas colouring sheets” adds another 9,900 in December.
New Zealand: smaller numbers, same story
In New Zealand, “christmas colouring pages” peaks at 6,600 searches in December and “christmas colouring in” at 2,900. “Christmas word search” adds 1,900. These numbers are measured, but small terms below Google’s reporting threshold come back with no data at all, so NZ-specific ideas such as pōhutukawa or summer Christmas colouring are likely searched but not counted.
Timing is different here too. NZ schools close for the summer by Saturday 19 December (Ministry of Education term dates), so Christmas pages for class need to be printed before then; at home, the holidays run on to late January or early February. Christmas falls in summer, which runs from December to February south of the equator (Bureau of Meteorology), so beaches, jandals and pōhutukawa make more sense than snow.
The United States: Christmas and everything around it
American families search for a wide range of December printables beyond plain colouring pages. Leaving out the head term so the rest are visible:
Show the numbers as a table
| Search term | Searches in December |
|---|---|
| winter coloring pages | 165,000 |
| christmas word search | 165,000 |
| christmas activity sheets | 49,500 |
| christmas worksheets | 49,500 |
| new year coloring pages | 49,500 |
| christmas color by number | 40,500 |
| hanukkah coloring pages | 27,100 |
| kwanzaa coloring pages | 8,100 |
| snowflake coloring pages | 3,600 |
| christmas mandala coloring pages | 3,600 |
“Winter coloring pages” and “christmas word search” each reach about 165,000 searches in December. Activity sheets, worksheets and colour by number each sit between 40,500 and 49,500. Hanukkah (27,100) and Kwanzaa (8,100) colouring pages have their own December peaks too, and New Year colouring pages reach 49,500.
The UK: what families type
We have not measured UK search volumes yet, so we won’t guess them. What we can show is Google’s own autocomplete for the UK, read on 28 October 2026. Typing “christmas colouring” suggests, in Google’s order: pages, blanket, book, sheets, pictures, book for adults, pages printable, books for kids and blanket for adults (Google UK suggestions).
Two things stand out. “Pictures” and “sheets” are the UK words alongside “pages”, and the UK list has no “colouring in”, which comes second in New Zealand’s list (Google NZ suggestions) and in Australia’s. And the UK list mixes printables with things to buy, such as colouring books and colouring blankets. Autocomplete shows that people search these phrases, not how often, so treat it as a guide to wording rather than a ranking.
How we measured
Volumes are Google Ads search volumes, pulled through OpenSEO, which uses DataForSEO’s Google Ads endpoint (DataForSEO documentation), for the US, Australia and New Zealand on 27 October 2026. Each figure is Google’s monthly estimate, rounded, and Google combines close variants: “coloring” and “colouring”, singular and plural, are usually counted together (DataForSEO on grouped volumes). So the US figure for “christmas coloring pages” includes people who typed “colouring”. We report the average month and the busiest month from the past year of data. We did not use Google Trends for this story. If you are a journalist and want the full table, email us and we will send it.
What this means for parents and teachers
Print before the rush: December is the peak everywhere we measured, and in New Zealand the school year ends before Christmas. Mix the formats: word searches and colour by number keep older children busy while younger ones colour. And in New Zealand and Australia, look for summer Christmas pages: pōhutukawa, beaches and jandals feel more like home than snowmen.
