Free Happy Anniversary Coloring Page & Gift Ideas for Kids

Let’s start this list off with the obvious. Of course, that’s pairing an anniversary coloring page with a pretty bouquet filled with their favorite colors. But before you run to the local flower shop for a seasonal arrangement, let’s re-imagine flowers for a moment.

Flowering Plants…For Free?

One of my favorite ways to give flowers is to gift a flowering plant because it lasts much longer than a simple bouquet and is a refreshing change of pace. Hands down my favorite is the African violet, and you’ll love it, too. These beautiful plants are ridiculously easy to care for and bloom gorgeous purple flowers all year long. They require little from their owner, putting up with periods of under-watering, neglect, and less than perfect sunlight. Yet they continue to deliver bloom after bloom, coloring the home throughout the year.
If you’re short on funds (or simply looking for a fun and educational project to do with the kids), plan ahead and start growing your own African violet plants to give away for all different types of occasions. They are super easy to propagate and you’ll have a steady stream of lovely plants to give as gifts that you grew yourself for free. While they are hardy and resilient plants, I do recommend giving your new violet babies the best shot for strong growth by planting them in African potting soil mix. I use this one for all my African violets.

Paper Flowers

Another unique spin on giving flowers is to have your kids make them. You can find many videos on YouTube about how to do this. However, because many of these projects are for older kids, if you’ve got young ones that aren’t ready for that much folding or cutting, you can always have them scrunch up pieces of colored paper and stick them on the top of pipe cleaners or rolled up pieces of green paper to make a stem. You can use any colors you want, and everyone will love them. I still have a bouquet of these types of flowers that my son did in pre-k. Tie them with a ribbon and it’s an instant keepsake!

Nothing brings back memories quite like photographs. And in the endless world of endless digital photos, print photos are almost unheard of. Here are a few ways to make print photos special to give with your happy anniversary coloring page.

Photo Book

Put those digital photos to good use! Creating a photo book out of your favorite photographs of the happy couple is something easy to do and will be treasured for years. Especially for “big” anniversaries like 20, 25, 30 or 40 years, a photo book can be a real tear-jerker, so be prepared! Use this opportunity to share pages of memories, birthday parties, and everyday blessings through images. Your anniversary photo book, created with love, will be sure to offer a high emotional return on investment!

Once reserved for specialty sites like SnapFish or Shutterfly, you can even create photo books online at Walmart.com now. You’ll have a lot of flexibility on the number of pages in the book no matter where you choose, so pick your favorite. Simply add your images, arrange them on the pages, provide as little or as much description as you’d like on each page, and order your print book to be delivered to you or shipped to the recipient. I’ve used Shutterfly many times in the past and been quite pleased with the quality of the results, but have seen that people are having problems with them lately so it may be time for a change. Mixbook has lots of good product reviews on Trustpilot.

Hand-Made Picture Frame

Get your hands on a wedding photo, birthday, or other special event that truly shows off the happy couple’s wedded bliss. Then have the kids make a frame for it, either out of cardboard, cardstock, craft sticks, or decorate and add details to an old picture frame to give it a new and one-of-a-kind look. (You can even find all the colors with rainbow craft sticks for endless options!) Be sure to use their favorite colors!

If you’re too tired to come up with ideas on your own, let’s just say I get it. Been there, and there’s no judgement at all. Sometimes you just need a kit and tell the kids to go to town on it on their own. You can simplify with a 5-pack set of blank wooden frames that come with a set of paint colors and stickers or go for the bling-bling with this super cool mosaic photo frame craft kit for older kids.  For real, I kind of want to do that one myself.

No matter which way you go, customized photo frames designed by kids always get rave reviews! (Especially when paired with an anniversary coloring page they colored themselves.)

Sometimes it’s about maximum impact for minimum effort, and sometimes it’s about getting the most emotional bang for your buck. No matter which end of the spectrum you’re on, this list has something for you! Let’s pair that anniversary coloring page (or even the coloring pages for birthdays or Valentine’s day) with something fun, inexpensive, and unique.

Decision Dice or Fortune Teller

For the couple who has a hard time deciding what to do or where to go for dinner, let the dice decide! These silly gifts may just be what they need to shake things up. This set of two date dice covers both types of cuisine and what to do after dinner.  Alternately, have your kids make a paper fortune teller with the same options, nearly for free! 

You just need a page or two of printer paper. Did you ever make these as a kid? I did and they were so fun and silly. I love it that they are making a comeback and my son gets to have fun with them too!

Hand Painted Paperweight

This is legit one the cheapest, easiest and most fun gift ideas possible. Find a rock that fits in the palm of your hand – it doesn’t even need to be smooth. Wash and dry it thoroughly, then have your kids paint it. If it’s jagged, maybe paint in some details to make it look like a mountain range. Is it smooth and oval shaped? Paint it with red and black colors like a lady bug! Let your imagination go wild. And if the kids change their mind in the middle of their art work? No worries. Go find another rock and start fresh!

Wedding Year Nostalgia Books

What was it like the year the happy couple got married? Search for flashback, throwback, or nostalgia books for 1984, 1992, or whatever year they tied the knot. With a book like this, they can return to days of the past. They’ll go through page after page of details on major events, popular music, books and movies that came out that year, the change in average prices of various products, and more. These nostalgia books make excellent and easy to love anniversary gifts to go with a hand-colored happy anniversary coloring page!

Coloring Page Calendars

Looking for a fully DIY gift your kids can make? What about an adorable calendar? You can use printable months of the year coloring pages sets like this one or have the kids hand color and add their very own art creations. Print out a basic calendar from Microsoft Word or find one online, then use keyrings to attach the calendar pages and coloring pages together. This is an especially cute anniversary gift for grandparents, and it can easily be customized to make a coloring page calendar for any time frame. June through May? Sure. November through October? Why not? August through July? Absolutely! Kids can use any colors they want, too, and go as light or heavy on the details as they have patience for. Page by page, the gift recipients will love this gift all year long.