Three Kings Day for kids: Día de Reyes traditions and pages

Three Kings Day, Día de Reyes, falls on January 6 and celebrates the Magi's visit to the infant Jesus. For kids it is about letters to the Kings, a parade, gifts in the morning and, in many Mexican and Mexican American homes, a slice of rosca de reyes. Below is what the day means, the customs families keep in Spain, Mexico and Puerto Rico, coloring page ideas, simple activities and books, each tied to a library, museum or official source.

Customs differ a lot between countries and between families. If your kids have a grandparent who grew up with Día de Reyes, their memories are the best guide you will find.

What Three Kings Day celebrates

The Library of Congress folklife blog explains that among many communities the Christmas season ends with Epiphany, observed on January 6, traditionally the day the Magi from the East were said to have come to visit the infant Jesus. The same post notes that January 6 is sometimes called "Three Kings' Night," and that Epiphany was an important holiday among Catholics of Spanish and Portuguese descent.

For a small child: "After Jesus was born, three kings followed a star a long way to bring him presents. On Three Kings Day we remember them, and sometimes they bring presents to children too."

How families celebrate: Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the US

Letters and parades. Spain's official tourism site says it is traditional for every child to write a letter to the Wise Men beforehand, telling them how they have behaved and asking for gifts. Special mailboxes appear for the letters, and on the afternoon of January 5 the Kings arrive in cities in processions and parades. After an early night, children open their presents in the morning. The site gives their names as Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar. In Alcoy, the same site says, the Kings' parade has been held since 1885, with the Kings arriving at sundown on January 5 riding camels and loaded with gifts.

Rosca de reyes. LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Los Angeles describes the rosca de reyes as a crown-shaped sweet bread adorned with colorful candied fruits that fills homes across Mexico and in the United States. If your family has customs about who cuts the rosca or what is hidden inside, let the oldest person at the table explain them while the kids eat.

Puerto Rico. The Library of Congress post on Epiphany includes photographs of a Three Kings' eve party in a tenant farmer's home near Guánica, Puerto Rico, taken in 1942. Christmas-season caroling is part of the season too: the Library's American Folklife Center holds a 1939 recording of "Si me dan pasteles," a carol in which carolers beg for hot pasteles, a food of green bananas, vegetables and stewed pork steamed in banana leaves. The post notes the song is still sung by carolers in Puerto Rico.

In the US Southwest. The same Epiphany post describes a religious folk play, Los Reyes Magos, that ethnographer Juan B. Rael documented in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, with songs a 70-year-old singer still remembered in 1940. Kids who like acting can put on their own three-minute version with paper crowns.

Three Kings Day coloring page ideas

Draw these with a black marker on plain paper, or start from Crayola's free Christmas coloring pages, which include a Three Kings page and a Nativity scene you can use as a model.

• The three Kings on camels following a star. Big, simple shapes. Toddlers can color the star and the crowns.
• A letter to the Kings. A page that looks like stationery, with "Queridos Reyes Magos" at the top and space to draw the gifts a child is hoping for.
• A rosca de reyes. An oval ring of bread with candied fruit shapes on top. Kids love coloring each fruit a different color.
• The parade. Floats, camels, a crowd of children waving.
• Three crowns. One for each King, each with different jewels. Cut them out afterwards and wear them.

A small tip: give kids gold and purple crayons along with everything else. Crowns look best with a little shine.

Activities to go with the day

• Write letters. Let pre-writers draw their wish lists and dictate a sentence or two. Spain's tourism site notes children write to say how they have behaved all year, so include one good thing they did.
• Make paper crowns. A strip of card, a zigzag top, stickers or drawn jewels, staple to fit.
• Bake or buy a rosca. If you bake, kids can press candied fruit onto the top. If you buy one from a panadería, they can still help decorate the table.
• Put on the play. Three Kings, a star on a stick, a doll in a basket. Five minutes, one rehearsal, maximum delight.
• Sing. Look up a recording of a Christmas-season carol your family knows, or ask a grandparent to sing one.

Three Kings Day picture books

• Three Kings Day: A Celebration at Christmastime by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith: a photo book about Epiphany as celebrated by Puerto Rican families in the United States.
• Hurray for Three Kings' Day by Lori M. Carlson: a Hispanic family celebrates El Día de los Reyes by reenacting the long walk of the three wise men bringing gifts to baby Jesus.
• Celebrate Christmas and Three Kings' Day with Pablo and Carlitos by Alma Flor Ada: two brothers write letters to the three kings, with facts about both holidays. A good one to read right before your kids write their own.

Put your family in the parade

The best Día de Reyes page shows your own kids in paper crowns or writing their letters at the kitchen table. Draw it from a photo, or trace one using our guide to turning a photo into a coloring page for free. Colorkin can also draw a page of your family from a photo, drafted with AI illustration tools and checked by a person, and we are making a Puerto Rican Christmas parranda coloring storybook that includes Three Kings Day. It is not on sale yet.

For the start of the season, see our guide to Las Posadas and a tamalada with kids, and for family pages all December, Christmas coloring pages starring your own family. Every holiday guide is in our family and heritage hub.

Questions parents ask