Holiday Classroom Activities for Teachers and Educators

When December rolls around, chances are your students have visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. Although families can celebrate a diverse number of holidays during the winter months, it is likely that most of your class observes some form of Christmas —whether religious or secular. To tap into the excitement of the holiday season, try these ideas to inject some extra cheer into your classroom.

Note: Although many students do celebrate Christmas, it is important to be considerate of all your students’ beliefs. Using more generic holiday or winter themes can ensure that no child feels excluded. Teachers in private, religious schools can obviously focus specifically on their school’s faith traditions while teachers in public schools should check with their administrators regarding any district policies related to the holidays.


Holiday Spelling Activities

If you use a packaged curriculum of words, December might be a good time to create a customized list. Holiday words such as lights, celebration and season can be used for spelling tests. In addition, other spelling activities with a holiday theme can include:

• Word searches
• Crossword puzzles
• Word scrambles

Classroom Reading Activities for the Holidays

If appropriate for your school, focus reading lessons on holiday stories. If possible, include both secular stories as well as those from a number of different faith traditions. Use these stories as an opportunity to help your students increase their cultural understanding of others. Some suggested titles include:

• ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
• The Legend of the Poinsettia
• Hanukkah Moon
• Seven Spools of Thread
• Ramadan

Holiday Social Studies and History Activities

After reading about different holidays, lead your students on a journey to explore more about the people who celebrate these traditions. Delve into the origins of holiday activities and how they evolved into what they are today. Older students such as high school classes can complete in-depth research on the subject while younger children may enjoy dressing up in traditional clothing and acting out holiday festivities. Again, this can be a sensitive area for parents and administrators so be sure to review your course material with your principal or superintendent before proceeding.


Math Classroom Activities for the Holidays

With a little imagination, math lessons can be adjusted to fit the holiday season as well. Use winter themes to write story problems or create graphing projects. Snowflakes can be used to teach about symmetry. Even making a gingerbread house or cookies can be turned into a math project that involves measurement, counting and fractions.

 

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Maryalene LaPonsie is an accomplished writer who has extensive experience reporting on education, career advancement and workforce development topics. She specializes in sales and marketing consultation as well as general copywriting services.