FREE Christmas Carols Lyrics PDF to Print Now!

Download an 18 page FREE Christmas carols lyrics PDF book to use at your holiday get together. Print out this Christmas songbook PDF to get your family members and friends singing and spreading cheer! Includes 12 Days of Christmas lyrics PDF!

“FIVEEEEEEEEE GOLDEN RINGSSSSSSSS!” Honestly the night our family and friends get together to belt out Christmas carols is my favorite night of the year.

And it has been since I was born.

Christmas Eve or for us has now become Christmas Eve Eve because of travel schedules is always a night to remember. This is a night where wine runs freely, we are stuffed on Mexican food and rice krispie treats, our white elephant Christmas gifts exchange sometimes ends in tears, and we all accept the fact we are terrible singers.

At the end of the night comes the part we’ve all been waiting for. Gathering in my Mom’s living room (when I was young it was at my Grandma’s house), putting on funny Santa hats and reindeer antlers, passing out bells, and our Christmas caroling books.

If you have ever wanted to start the tradition of Christmas caroling at home or door to door, I have a Christmas carols lyrics PDF free download at the end of the post, but first I want to share with you our beloved Christmas tradition.

Our Christmas Caroling Tradition

My uncle puts on his maestro vest and top hat and sits at the piano (which is now just a keyboard).

Between 20-45 people gather around the piano carrying sleigh bells and our Christmas caroling songbook knowing that their time will come.

We sing Christmas carols until EVERYONE has picked one! We go around the room and each person gets to pick a song they want to sing. But you can’t pick a song we’ve already sung or things might get thrown at you.

My uncle or one of the reluctant kids who are currently in piano lessons plays the chosen Christmas song and everyone sings in whatever key they want. I think we’ve almost all sat on that piano seat before playing the black and white keys while everyone mumbles sings the words that are right in front of them in the Christmas songbook.

If we have any littles that year, they dance around in the middle of the room and ring the bells while we all smile and cheer them on. I was one of those little kids and my kids were also the dancers. It’s a time-honored tradition!

My Uncle might even switch it up and have the boys sing one verse and the ladies sing another. Or have us sing in rounds. Or have us skip certain verses. It really depends on what he thinks we can handle. (We do end up having to do some songs over because they were not up to par!!)

During these fun family get-togethers, you can also play some fun Christmas carol trivia games!

Since we’ve been doing this for my entire 45 years, I thought I’d give you some friendly tips on how to use the Christmas carol lyrics printable.

Tips for Singing Christmas Carols

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• Start out with an easy song that everyone knows like Jingle Bells. Maybe sing it twice to get everyone more comfortable.
• Have one person in charge. If you have a family with a lot of Type A individuals like mine, this can be challenging. My Aunt used to dress up like an elf and lead us!
• If you have a pianist, I’m sure they have their own sheet music or have them get and practice an easy Christmas song piano book. The easier the version of Christmas music to play the better. No one can tell the difference!
• If you don’t have a pianist, have one of the teenagers make a Spotify or Amazon playlist of the Christmas songs from the printable Christmas song lyrics book. The instrumental version is best! Make sure to plug the device into speakers so everyone can hear the music.
• Christmas ballads like Oh Holy Night and Silent Night are always a bit rough, just be forewarned!

• One of our favorite songs to sing is the Chipmunk Song. We have to sing it with a chipmunk voice of course! Plug your nose while you jiggle your throat.
• Go around the room having everyone pick their favorite holiday songs to sing as a group until every family member has had a turn.

• End with a bang and a song that no one is allowed to pick. Our favorite song to end with is the Twelve Days Of Christmas!

The Grand Finale of Christmas Carols!

If you have a good amount of people, then assigning people parts in the Twelve Days of Christmas is so much fun!

Since most people are not comfortable with solos, we make groups of 2-4 people. Then everyone gets one day or two if you don’t have 11 groups.

We have everyone sing the first line of each verse… “On the _______ day of Christmas, my true love sent to me” and then the group is responsible for singing their day.

So Group 1 would sing “a partridge in a pear tree” for EVERY verse! Make sure group 1 is on it and has some loud singers. They are the anchors.

Group 5 who sings “five golden rings” is one of the most sought after groups. It’s usually a group of kids or the loudest adults since the melody slows down while they sing.

So take a look at how it goes from the Twelve Days of Christmas lyrics:

All: On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Group 1: a partridge in a pear tree

All: On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Group 2: two turtle doves
Group 1: and a partridge in a pear tree

All: On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Group 3: three french hens
Group 2: two turtle doves
Group 1: and a partridge in a pear tree

Keep going on with every verse until verse 11:
All: On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Group 11: eleven pipers piping
Group 10: ten lords a leaping
Group 9: nine ladies dancing
Group 8: eight maids a milking
Group 7: seven swans a swimming
Group 6: six geese a laying
Group 5: FIVE GOLDEN RINGS
Group 4: four calling birds
Group 3: three french hens
Group 2: two turtle doves
Group 1: and a partridge in a pear tree

Then EVERYONE sings the entire verse twelve as loud as they can!

After singing your hearts out, sit back down at the table and play some free printable Christmas games and have kids do some Christmas story worksheets or coloring sheets to keep the party going!

How to Use the Christmas Carol Lyrics Printable

Download the entire 20 page Christmas carols lyrics PDF below and either print the free printable songbook out at home or send it to an office store to print. The Christmas songbook of classic Christmas songs is in color, but you can always print it in black and white to save color ink.

You can also have a print shop bind the free printable PDF or you can put them in your own small binders or three-prong report folders. You want something that will last though!

Other Christmas Caroling Ideas

If you want to take your caroling outside, use the printable Christmas carols to go spread cheer to your neighbors!

Our girl scout troop used to do an annual Christmas caroling and collecting cans for the local food bank. It was a lot of fun for the girls and a great way to give back to the community by helping those in need.

We’ve also gone to sing Christmas carols at our local senior living center. The seniors LOVED it and were so engaged in seeing little kids in Santa hats singing.

Another great way to teach young kids to give back! All you have to do is call a senior living center and set up a time with the activities director.

Enjoy singing all the amazing Christmas songs with family and friends with the printable Christmas carols lyrics booklet! And I hope you enjoyed learning about part of our yearly Christmas traditions with my extended family!

If you love free Christmas printables, make sure to check out our free You’ve Been Elfed printable, Merry Christmas printable, and Letter to Santa printable!

What are your favorite Christmas songs?? Have a great holiday season!

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!