Below are some of my favorite ways of spreading holiday cheer in the classroom! Most of the holiday activities relate to Christmas, but I also have a few games/read alouds for Hanukkah and Kwanzaa as well!
1. Classroom displays
Looking for a super easy way to make a festive display? The one outside my room took about 20 minutes total to tape/staple up to the wall. I wish I could die-cut letters and make cutesy gingerbread cookies on tinfoil pans to hang outside my room. However, I am the ultimate Pinterest FAIL. So I go a different direction.
Print out some letters and glue them up (I always make the letters purposely not line up… like in “kindness” and “shines.” Then people will think I intentionally didn’t make them straight! Little do they know that I like a straight-line bone in my entire body). Print off some cute clip art and glue up as well. A few of my little girls begged me to stay in a few minutes during recess to cut out the cute little kids- of course I said yes! I passed out a lightbulb to each student as morning work to decorate and cut out.
I am an advocate for character education in the classroom, so my “our kindness shines” display hits the nail on the head! On each lightbulb, students wrote one way that they could be kind to others. My heart absolutely melts at the light on the left…. “I will help people get up when they fall.” It reminds me why I love teaching so much- children are unintentionally hilarious while being so sweet and wonderful.
2. Bring the holiday spirit into language arts
I use literacy stations in my classroom, so the holidays are the perfect time to throw in some festive cheer during a review assignment. I look to my Christmas literacy worksheets to review synonyms, fact & opinion, alphabetical order, and how to do a dictionary.
My Christmas interactive notebook activities are super hands-on, which are perfect if your students are squirrelly right before the holidays. This noun/verb sort is perfect to get kids excited and engaged while practicing differentiating between their parts of speech!
3. Give math some festive joy
One of my favorites in my Teachers Pay Teachers store is my new freebie! It is a color-by-number game for multiplication facts. Definitely check it out, it’s no-prep and keeps the kids occupied for a while as they color the picture based on the products of each times table.
I also have an exclusive freebie only available to my newsletter subscribers! It is an equivalent fraction color-by-number. There are so many ways to use these- as independent work, morning work, math centers, or sub work!
Are you subscribed to the newsletter? If so, check your inbox! Not currently on the mailing list? You can sign up here. You’ll receive an immediate download of this color-by-number, AND a fact family resource!
My newest math center game is a favorite in my classroom with my students – Stuck in the Chimney! It is a simple multiplication fact game, but somehow gets the kids engaged by making facts into a competition and with incorporating Santa Claus into the game.
My hands-on Christmas interactive notebook activities include math items as well. You can see here that there is a fraction activity for kids. It also includes Christmas word problems and rounding. I always do a lot of review and spiraling back before the holidays. Kids are so jumpy and excited for the holidays, that it is tough to teach anything new. Getting that vital review time in is great during this time!
4. Lots and lots of fun holiday read alouds!
My favorite read alouds follow! I make sure to read each one every year to my kids (do NOT miss the Hanukkah book, it is awesome and won a Caldecott! Definitely one of my favorite books ever). The below links are my Amazon Affiliate links.
Hey there, I’m Kelly! I I love helping teachers save time with technology and resources so they have more hours in the day to spend with family and friends. Take a look around to find new ideas that you can implement in your classroom today!
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I use literacy stations in my classroom, so the holidays are the perfect time to throw in some festive cheer during a review assignment. I look to my Christmas literacy worksheets to review synonyms, fact & opinion, alphabetical order, and how to do a dictionary. 
My hands-on Christmas interactive notebook activities include math items as well. You can see here that there is a fraction activity for kids. It also includes Christmas word problems and rounding. I always do a lot of review and spiraling back before the holidays. Kids are so jumpy and excited for the holidays, that it is tough to teach anything new. Getting that vital review time in is great during this time!
