A coloring page birthday invitation is a line drawing of the birthday child, made from a photo, with the party details printed or written in a blank area and sent to each guest to color before the big day. It takes about a minute to make the page, 10 to 15 minutes to add the text, and a batch of 12 invitations prints at home for a few dollars of paper and ink. Guests get an activity instead of a card that goes in the bin, and the birthday child gets a wall of their own face colored twelve different ways.
This guide covers which photo to use, what to write, how to print and fold, and how to handle guests of different ages.
Why make the invitation a coloring page?
Three practical reasons. First, children aged 3 to 8 cannot read an invitation anyway; the parent reads it and the child looks at the picture, so the picture may as well be something to do. Second, a colored invitation brought back to the party becomes an instant decoration and an ice-breaker. Third, it costs less than printed cards and nobody else's child has the same one.
Which photo works best for an invitation?
Pick a photo where the birthday child fills most of the frame and is clearly the subject: one face, good light, a simple background. A photo in a party hat, holding a balloon or blowing out last year's candles reads as "birthday" without any text. Avoid group shots and busy backgrounds, which turn into a tangle of lines at card size. If your favorite photo has a cluttered background, the fixing common photo problems guide shows how to crop and simplify it first.
Leave room for text. A portrait photo with empty space above the head or beside the body gives you a clean area to write in.
What should the invitation say?
Keep it to five lines so it stays legible when a six year old colors over it:
- Who: "Leo is turning 6!"
- When: day, date and time, with an end time so parents can plan.
- Where: address, and a landmark if the house is hard to find.
- RSVP: one phone number or email, and a date.
- The ask: "Color me in and bring me to the party!"
How do I add the text to the page?
Two routes. The low-effort one: print the page and hand-write the details in the empty space with a fine black marker, then photocopy. Hand lettering suits the coloring page look and takes 2 minutes. The tidier one: open the PDF in any free PDF editor or in a word processor, add a text box over the blank area, and save. The keepsake PDF already has an optional title line, so "Leo is 6!" can sit at the top without any editing.
How do I print and send 10 to 20 invitations cheaply?
- Size: print two invitations per A4 or US Letter sheet (landscape, two pages per side) for an A5 card, which fits a standard C5 envelope. Full size works for hand delivery at school pick-up.
- Paper: 120 to 160 gsm card so crayons do not tear it. The printing coloring pages at home guide covers ink settings; use draft mode, since line art needs very little ink.
- Cost: a 10-page pack is A$14.95$9.99€9.49£7.99CA$14.99NZ$18.99CHF 8.90, but you only need one page per batch. Make the page once, then print it as many times as you have guests. The first page is free, so a single invitation design costs nothing.
- Extras: slip a few crayons in the envelope for guests under 5. Three crayons weigh almost nothing and make the invitation feel like a present.
What if the guests are different ages?
Make the page at two detail levels from the same photo. Simple for the 2 to 5 year olds, Medium for 5 to 10. Siblings and adults get a Detailed version if they want one. Each extra level is one more page, so after the free first page a second level costs A$1.99$1.49€1.29£0.99CA$1.99NZ$2.49CHF 1.20, and two extra levels bought together cost A$3.54$2.55€2.19£1.77CA$3.55NZ$4.33CHF 2.09. For a mixed group this avoids the classic problem of a toddler scribbling over a card they cannot manage while an eight year old finishes in a minute and asks what is next.
What do we do with the invitations at the party?
String them along a wall or a fence with pegs as the guests arrive. Give a small prize for "most creative" and "most colors used" so there is no single winner. If you want more coloring at the party itself, the birthday party coloring activity guide has a station setup, and the free birthday cake and gift box templates give latecomers something to do while they settle in.
Try it with your own photo
Upload a photo of the birthday child to Coolorio, choose Simple or Medium, add the title line, and download the PDF in A4 or US Letter. Print as many copies as you need. See how it works for the three steps, or check pricing if you want several detail levels or a matching thank-you card afterwards.
Frequently asked
How far in advance should coloring invitations go out?
Two to three weeks before the party, like any invitation, with the RSVP date a week before. Coloring invitations benefit from a little extra lead time, because the fun is in coloring them during the week, not the night before. If you are handing them out at school, aim for a Monday so the whole week is available.
Can I make the invitation without a photo?
Yes. Use a free template such as the birthday cake page, write the details in the white space, and print. It will not show the birthday child, but it still gives guests something to color and bring back. A photo-based page is more personal and costs nothing for the first design, so it is worth trying if you have a clear picture.
What size envelope do I need?
For an A5 card made from half an A4 sheet, a C5 envelope (162 x 229 mm). For a half US Letter card (5.5 x 8.5 inches), an A9 or 6 x 9 inch envelope. If you fold the card in half again, a standard DL or number 10 envelope works, though crayons mark the fold line more easily.
Try it with your own photo
One phone photo becomes a page that looks like your family. The first one is free.
Make my free page