When a child loses someone they love, the feelings are big and the words are small. Many children can’t say “I’m sad” or “I miss Grandpa” when you ask them to, but they’ll sit beside you with a crayon and, a few minutes in, start talking. That’s why we made The Colors of Grief: 21 free coloring pages for grieving children, each with a gentle message like “I Miss You,” “Love Never Ends,” or “Always in My Heart.”
They’re free to print, one page at a time, with no email or sign-up needed.
Free Coloring Pages: The Colors of Grief
Pick just the pages you want. Each one is a separate printable PDF.
Why Coloring Can Help
Making art can help grieving children feel better. In one study, children referred to a hospice grief program were randomly assigned to one of four activities: making art on their own, making art with other kids, doing puzzles on their own, or doing puzzles with other kids. Only the children who made art on their own showed a significant drop in negative feelings. A larger review of 27 studies on using visual art with grieving people, most of them adults, found that creating art helped people build coping skills for their grief.
Coloring helps children settle in stressful times. In small studies of preschool children in the hospital, a scary and unfamiliar time for little ones, children who were given picture-coloring time showed lower anxiety than before, or than children who didn’t color. It helps grown-ups, too: in a randomized trial at a children’s hospital, parents who colored a pre-drawn picture while their child was in surgery felt less anxious than parents who simply waited.
To be clear, no one has studied coloring pages for grief specifically, and these studies were small. So we can’t promise any particular result. But together they point the same way many parents, teachers, and grief programs already see every day: a simple creative activity can give a grieving child a little calm and a way to express what they feel.
For a grieving child, coloring can also:
- Give their hands something to do while their feelings catch up, at home or during a long service
- Open the door to talking. Sitting side by side, without eye contact or pressure, makes hard conversations easier for many kids.
- Offer words when they have none. A page that says “I Miss You” says it for them.
- Create something to give. A finished page can go in the casket, on the memory table, or to a grieving grandparent.
Coloring is a comfort activity, not therapy. It works best alongside love, honest answers, and steady routines.
Ways to Use the Coloring Pages
- At the funeral: tuck a few pages and crayons in a small bag for quiet moments. Our guide Should Children Attend a Funeral? has more ideas for making the day easier on kids.
- As a goodbye gift: a child can color a page to place in the casket, lay at the graveside, or set on the memory table.
- On a memory board: gather pages colored by the grandkids, cousins, or classmates and display them together at the service.
- For grieving grown-ups: a colored page mailed to a widowed grandparent can mean more than any card. And grown-ups are welcome to color too.
- On hard days afterward: birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries of the death are good days to color together and remember.
- In a keepsake box: save finished pages in a folder or memory box. Years later, they become treasured reminders.
Gentle Conversation Starters
You don’t need to turn coloring time into a big talk. Just color alongside them, and if the moment feels right, try a light question. If they don’t want to talk, that’s okay too.
- My Favorite Memory: “What memory are you going to draw? I remember when…”
- You Made Me Smile: “What’s something funny they used to do?”
- You Taught Me: “What’s something they taught you?”
- Our Special Place: “Where did you two like to go together?”
- The Colors of My Heart: “If your feelings had colors, what colors would they be today?”
- I Miss You: “When do you miss them the most?”
Answer their questions simply and honestly, and share a little of your own feelings too. Seeing a grown-up miss someone, and still be okay, shows children that grief is something we can carry together.
What’s in the Set
The Colors of Grief includes a cover page and 20 coloring pages: Always With Me, You Made Me Smile, To the Moon and Back, Forever Loved, You’re Part of Me, Thinking of You, My Favorite Memory, Love Never Ends, I Miss You, Always in My Heart, I’m So Glad I Knew You, Growing Stronger, Hugs Sent to You, Stars Remind Me of You, You Taught Me, Our Special Place, I’ll Hold You in My Heart, The Colors of My Heart, Love Grows Here, and Remember Me. Several have open spaces, like a frame, a heart, or a jar label, where a child can draw a memory or write a name. The last two pages have finer details for older kids.
For more ways to help a child through a loss, our free My Memory Book has 19 pages of drawing, writing, and feelings activities, and our guide Helping Children Understand Hospice and Death covers what children understand at different ages.
More Free Help for Grieving Children
- Dougy Center: free tip sheets and activities for grieving kids and families, plus a directory of grief support groups
- Sesame Street in Communities: free videos and printable activities for young children, including a section on grief
- Your local hospice: many offer free grief support for children and families, even if your loved one wasn’t in their care
If a child is still struggling weeks or months later, with sleep, school, eating, or intense sadness or fear, talk with their pediatrician or school counselor. If a child talks about wanting to die or hurting themselves, get help right away. In the U.S., call or text 988, or call 911 in an emergency.
Please note: Noted & Charmed is not a medical or mental health provider. These coloring pages are a comfort activity, and this post is general information. Neither is therapy, medical advice, or a substitute for support from a pediatrician, counselor, or grief professional who knows your child. If you’re worried about a child’s safety or wellbeing, please contact a professional right away.
Choose your free coloring pages here. Hospices, schools, churches, and funeral homes are welcome to print as many copies as they need. Please keep the Noted & Charmed name on them.
Sources
- Art therapy with grieving children: Effect on affect in the dual-process model. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association. Link
- Weiskittle, R. E., & Gramling, S. E. (2018). The therapeutic effectiveness of using visual art modalities with the bereaved: A systematic review. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 11, 9–24. Link
- Kartika, A. R., Winarsih, B. D., & Hartini, S. (2022). The influence of play therapy with coloring the picture toward the anxiety at preschool children during hospitalization. Menara Journal of Health Science, 1(2), 79–89. Link
- Picture coloring play therapy affects pre-school children’s anxiety levels during hospitalization. (2024). East Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 3(8), 3499–3512. Link
- Randomized trial evaluating the effectiveness of coloring on decreasing anxiety among parents in a pediatric surgical waiting area. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. PubMed