46+ Free September Coloring Pages: School, Apples & Kids

Free printable September coloring pages move from the last summer days into school, apples and early autumn.

These free printable September coloring pages follow the month as it turns: back to school, apple picking, sunflowers, Labor Day, Grandparents Day and the first falling leaves. Toddlers begin with an apple, a school bus or a crayon. Kids get a first day of school, an orchard trip and a blank calendar for the month. Teens find kawaii school supplies and a cafe study session, while adults get farm stands, porches and two September mandalas. Labor Day has its own story, which explains the picnic on one of the pages. There are tips for coloring apples and sunflowers, and simple ways to use the sheets in a classroom.

The month's simplest shapes come first, beginning with one red apple.

Easy September coloring pages for toddlers and preschoolers start with apples and a school bus.

Each toddler page holds one big object with a thick line around it. Choose the , the , a smiling or a tall . These are good first pages for a child heading into daycare or preschool.

Preschoolers can try a little more detail. spells the month under an apple, with a pencil and a leaf below. The is stuffed with books, and the wears round glasses. The has a worm in a baseball cap, and the hugs a leaf. School themes then grow into whole scenes for older kids.

Back-to-school September coloring pages for kids show the first day, the bus stop and the classroom.

has two kids waving under a Hello September banner. holds a notebook, a ruler and an apple, and piles scissors, glue and crayons together. opens on a sandwich and a juice box, and shows a girl handing her teacher a gift.

Some pages leave the school for the orchard and the park. puts a boy beside a full basket, and shows a smiling tree dropping its leaves. has an owl on a hay bale under a giant moon. The has five rows of empty squares for school events and birthdays.

The busier kids' scenes take longer. is full of desks, a fish tank and a Hello September board, and shows a family picking apples. and round out the school week. Two September holidays have their own sheets too.

Labor Day and Grandparents Day September coloring pages celebrate family time.

shows a family eating sandwiches on a checked blanket, with a grill behind them. has a girl sitting between her grandparents, holding a September sign covered in hearts. Both make thoughtful gifts once they are colored and signed.

Labor Day itself has a long history. The U.S. Department of Labor explains that the first Labor Day was held on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City. The first plan called for a street parade, followed by a festival for workers and their families. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and Congress made the first Monday in September a national holiday that June. Many Americans still mark the day with parades and parties, the department notes, so the picnic page fits the long weekend.

Cute and cozy September coloring pages suit teens, adults and seniors.

Teens tend to like , where a pencil, an eraser and a notebook grin under the words September Vibes. shows two apples hugging. The cozy has a sleeping cat beside a laptop, and seats two friends over notebooks and cocoa.

Adults can start with the bold , the or the . The cozy scenes take more time: the , the and in a sunny kitchen. The and along a country path are just as detailed. Seniors who like big, open areas can choose the with its Welcome September sign or the .

Realistic and mandala September coloring pages give adults the most detail.

fills the page with apples, blossoms and one sliced in half. The sits on a branch under a full moon, and shows a single huge flower with a bee. runs rows of trees back to a red barn.

For pattern lovers there is the , the with the month's name across a ribbon, and the . The frames an old one-room school in maple leaves. Apples and sunflowers fill so many of these pages that they deserve their own coloring tips.

How do you color September coloring pages so the apples and sunflowers look real?

Real apples are rarely one flat red. Start with yellow or light green, then layer red over most of the apple, and leave a small pale patch where the light hits. A touch of dark red near the stem makes it look round. Green and yellow apples work the same way with lighter colors.

For sunflowers, color the petals yellow and add a little orange where they meet the center. The center itself looks best in brown with darker dots. For early autumn scenes, mix summer green with a few yellow and orange leaves, because September trees are only starting to turn. On the mandalas, choose apple red, leaf green and sunflower gold, and repeat them ring by ring.

September coloring pages work well in classrooms and as a welcome-back activity.

Teachers can hand out or on day one, while names are still being learned. The doubles as a class schedule, and makes a sweet thank-you note. Colored apples and leaves also brighten a bulletin board.

At home, the pages fill a quiet afternoon after the first busy week of school. To keep the season going, see our fall coloring pages and October coloring pages. For the last warm weeks, the August coloring pages still hold peaches and lake days.

From one big apple for a toddler to a sunflower mandala for an adult, these free printable September coloring pages carry the whole month. They run from school mornings to the first day of autumn. Pick a school scene, a family holiday or a quiet orchard, and color your way into fall.