The holiday season is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. However, as a kindergarten teacher, it may not always feel like the most wonderful time of the year.
While there are many amazing activities to use in school this time of year, getting students to focus can be difficult. Especially in those last two weeks leading up to the winter break! However, with kindergarten Christmas activities that keep students engaged AND excited it really is the most wonderful time of the year!
Christmas Countdown for PreK and Kindergarten
It may seem like the best way to survive the two weeks of school before winter break is to give kids simple and fun activities, like Christmas worksheets or crafts. However, you don’t want to lose two whole weeks of learning. Therefore, it is essential to find activities that are both fun and educational.
Enter our Christmas Countdown for Kindergarten! This 12 days of Christmas learning bundle is the perfect blend of holiday-themed educational lessons and fun activities.
Each day comes complete with a detailed lesson plan and a mix of whole class activities, independent learning, and centers. All of the activities are centered around the theme of the day, and each theme is centered around the holiday season.
- Candy Cane Day
- Christmas Tree Day
- Christmas Carol Day
- Elf Day
- Gingerbread Man Day
- Kindness Day
- Cookie Day
- Santa Claus Day
- Polar Express Day
- Reindeer Day
- Christmas Stocking Day
- Snow Day
In addition, each themed day is a mix of learning activities for different subject areas. Therefore, you can easily cover all the core subjects while still exploring the holiday themes.
Prepare to Use The Countdown to Christmas Bundle
While each themed day is centered around the holidays, they are all individual lesson plans. Therefore, if there is a day you don’t want to use you can simply skip it. This makes it easy for teachers who want to include fun winter-themed activities in their classroom but may not want to include Christmas-specific activities. Moreover, this makes it easy to rearrange or skip lessons if needed for unexpected reasons (like a snow day).
Even though all of these activities are thoroughly planned and you are provided with everything you need, there is some minimal preparation needed. For example, printing materials or uploading activities to Google Drive or SeeSaw. In addition, you may need to check out certain books from the library if you don’t already have them for a read aloud.
With this minimal preparation in mind, we have outlined all the activities for each theme below.
Keep reading to see what fun activities are ready-to-teach in our Countdown to Christmas bundle!
Candy Cane Themed PreK and Kindergarten Lessons
- Legend of the Candy Cane
- Candy Cane Graphing
- Candy Cane Sorting Center and Comparing Length page
- Describe a Candy Cane
- Candy Cane Exchange
- Literature Read-Aloud
- Candy Cane Science Experiment
- Candy Cane Crafts
- Build a Candy Cane with linking cubes
Christmas Tree Themed PreK and Kindergarten Lessons
- Christmas Trees Then and Now text and Easy Reader
- Christmas Trees Then and Now sort
- Decorate the tree page
- Mooseltoe read aloud story and event sequence
- Math story problems
- Tall and short Christmas tree sort
- Paper Christmas Tree craft
- Color by number
- Count and clip center
Christmas Carol Themed PreK and Kindergarten Lessons
- History of Carols Informational Text and comprehension questions
- Sing Along songs
- Favorite Carol Opinion page
- 12 Days of Christmas counting activities
- Carol math addition pages
- Christmas Carol riddle bingo
- A Christmas Carol character activities
- Caroler craft
Elf Themed PreK and Kindergarten Lessons
- The Elves and the Shoemaker text and story map activities
- ”If I were an Elf” opinion prompt
- Story retell puppets center
- Counting shoes worksheet
- Toy workshop one-to-one correspondence activities
- Elf name puzzle pieces center
- The Littlest Elf story and event order activities
- Patterning color or paint activity
- Elf craft
Gingerbread Man Themed PreK Kindergarten Lessons
- The Gingerbread Man text and story map activities
- ”How to Catch the Gingerbread Man” opinion prompt
- Add and subtract to 5 story activities
- Gingerbread recipe activities
- Roll a Gingerbread man game
- Gingerbread man scavenger hunt
- Number matching center
- Decorate a Gingerbread craft
- Gingerbread positional phrases movement activity
Kindness Activities – PreK and Kindergarten Lessons
- The Circle of Kindness text and story event activities
- Acts of Kindness color and shape recognition game
- “The Kindness Book” by Todd Parr story and Kindness sorting activity
- Shape attribute sorting activities
- Kindness is Sweet brainstorming activity
- Acts of Kindness recording sheet and student certificate
- Color Your World with Kindness video and coloring page
- Count the Kindness center
- Kind hands craft- two options
Cookie Day Themed PreK Kindergarten Lessons
- Special Holiday Cookies text, note taking and matching activities
- Favorite cookies prompt
- Favorite cookies sorting center
- Counting cookies activities
- The Cookie Fiasco story and event sequence
- Cookie Jar Chant and Cookie exchange
- Cookie Snatcher clues
- Cookie shape matching center
- Cookie cutter stamping craft
Santa Claus Themed PreK and Kindergarten Lessons
- Santa around the world traditions text cards and comprehension
- Comparing numbers center
- “Must be Santa” song
- ”Must be Santa” sorting activity and worksheet
- Christmas night sequencing
- Santa’s luck sorting activity and worksheet
- Letter to Santa
- Santa Counting Center
- Santa Craftivity
Polar Express Themed PreK Kindergarten Lessons
- Read Aloud Polar Express
- Story Elements: Character & Setting
- Story Sequencing
- How to Make Hot Chocolate Writing
- Marshmallow Measuring
- Polar Express Graphing
- Color by Number
- Design your own ticket and movie
- The Bell Still Rings gift tag
Reindeer Themed PreK and Kindergarten Lessons
- Reindeer Informational Text
- Reindeer Note-taking
- Reindeer Writing
- Infographic and Adaptations
- A Reindeer Grows Up Sequencing
- Build a Reindeer with Pattern Blocks
- Roll and Cover Math Game
- Reindeer Sizing
- Reindeer Movement Game
- Reindeer Headband Craft
- Reindeer Postcard
Christmas Stocking Themed PreK Kindergarten Lessons
- The Legend of the Stocking text and story mountain activities
- Memory game
- Describe a stocking activities
- Counting by 5s or 10s center
- Needs and Wants activities
- Letter to Santa page
- Stocking patterns activities
- Rhyme Time activities
- Design a stocking craft
Snow Themed PreK and Kindergarten Winter Lessons
- Snow text and notetaking activities
- “This is the Jacket I Wear in the Snow” sequencing and
- “This is the Jacket I Wear in the Snow” retelling puppets
- Dressing for the Snow cut and paste page
- Design a Snowflake with pattern blocks center
- “Snowmen at Night” main idea and details activities
- Snowman Glyph activity
- Ways to Make 5 math activities
- Draw a Snowy Scene Snow Globe
- Snowman Name Craft
As you can see, these twelve days of Christmas activities are complete with a variety of core-focused content, plus fun holiday crafts. With this variety of activities, your kindergarten students will stay engaged with learning while still getting excited for the holidays.
The holidays will be here before you know it, so get your Countdown to Christmas bundle downloaded today so you can start preparing. Then, enjoy the most wonderful time of the year!
