Christmas Activities for School: K–5 Classroom Ideas (with Inclusive Alternatives)

The best Christmas activities for school keep real learning going in December (holiday word problems, persuasive letters, story comparisons and engineering challenges) and come with an equivalent winter or holidays-around-the-world version, so every student can take part regardless of what their family celebrates. December is a hard month to teach: excitement is high, schedules are interrupted and attention is short. Themed activities help, as long as they still target the skills you’d be teaching anyway. Below you’ll find ideas by subject and grade band, a ready schedule for the last week before break, and guidance on keeping celebrations inclusive. For dates and planning for the whole school year, see our school calendar guide.

First, check your school’s guidelines

Public schools can teach about holidays, including religious ones, when it serves an educational purpose, but they shouldn’t celebrate or promote a religion. Many districts have written guidelines about decorations, parties, music and gift exchanges. Read yours before you plan. Then think about your actual students. In most classrooms, some families celebrate Christmas, some celebrate other winter holidays and some celebrate none, for religious, cultural or personal reasons.

A simple rule works well: for every Christmas-themed activity, have a winter version that teaches the same skill and that any student can choose without explaining why. Present both as normal options. A student shouldn’t have to sit out or do a “different worksheet” alone.

Reading activities

Compare versions of a story (2nd–5th grade). Read two versions of a seasonal tale, such as two retellings of a classic Christmas story or two gingerbread stories, and compare characters, setting and plot on a Venn diagram. This targets the standards for comparing stories. Winter version: compare two winter folktales from different cultures.

Holiday traditions nonfiction (1st–5th). Read short informational texts about how winter holidays are celebrated around the world. Students find the main idea and key details for each and add them to a class chart. Use texts that describe traditions respectfully and accurately, and focus on cultural practices rather than religious teachings.

Character letters (K–2). After a read-aloud, students write or dictate a short letter from one character to another. Winter version: a letter from a hibernating animal to a friend who stays awake.

Readers’ theater (2nd–5th). Short seasonal scripts build fluency through repeated reading, and students love performing them in the last week. Pick scripts that are funny and secular, or let groups choose between a holiday script and a winter one.

Writing activities

Persuasive letters (2nd–5th). “Convince Santa that you deserve a reindeer” is a classic for a reason. It’s a natural opinion piece with reasons and examples. Winter version: “Convince the principal we need a snow day,” or “Which is the best season?”

How-to writing (K–3). How to decorate a cookie, wrap a present or build a snowman. Students write steps with order words and add a drawing for each step.

Gratitude and kindness writing (all grades). Students write notes of thanks to school staff (custodians, cafeteria workers, the nurse). It works for everyone, fits the season and builds relationships.

Narrative prompts (3rd–5th). “The day the toys came to life,” “Stuck in a snow globe,” “The mystery of the missing mittens.” Narrative prompts with magic or adventure are easy to make holiday-neutral.

Math activities

Holiday shopping on a budget (2nd–5th). Students get a pretend budget and a catalog of gifts with prices. They choose gifts for family members and calculate totals and change. Third graders can add and subtract within 1,000; 4th and 5th graders can work with decimals or multi-step problems. It works for any winter gift-giving tradition or for a “class party shopping list.”

Cookie math (K–2). Count, add and subtract cookies; sort them by shape; create patterns with decorations. Kindergartners can count to 20 with gingerbread cutouts. First graders can solve addition stories (“7 cookies on a tray, 5 more come out of the oven”).

Measurement and geometry (3rd–5th). Measure and design gift boxes, calculate area for wrapping paper, or design a snowflake with line symmetry.

Holiday word problems (all grades). Write word problems with seasonal contexts at your current unit’s level. If you’re in the middle of fractions, the problems can be about sharing pies; if you’re working on multiplication, about rows of lights. Our worksheet generator can produce a themed set aligned to your grade in a few minutes.

STEM challenges

Build a sturdy gift box (2nd–5th). With paper, tape and a limited budget of materials, groups build a box that can hold a set weight. They test, improve and explain the design.

Sled or sleigh design (K–5). Build a small sled that slides down a ramp the farthest. Younger students compare materials; older students change one variable at a time.

Melting ice experiment (K–3). Which melts ice fastest: salt, sugar or sand? Students predict, observe and record. It’s a natural winter investigation.

Coding challenges. The second week of December is Computer Science Education Week, and many schools run coding activities that fit well before break. Our Hour of Code activities for elementary students has unplugged and online options.

A sample last-week schedule

Keep your normal morning routine and transitions. Students handle the excitement better when the structure of the day stays familiar. Short brain breaks between activities help too.

Inclusive alternatives that still feel festive

If your class or school prefers to avoid Christmas themes entirely, winter offers plenty of material. Gingerbread is popular and mostly secular; our gingerbread man activities cover literacy, math and STEM for K–1. Snow, hibernation, migration and the winter solstice are great science topics. Light and darkness connect many cultural celebrations in winter and can anchor a study of seasons. For a full month of neutral options, see our winter activities for elementary students.

A holidays-around-the-world unit can work well if you approach it carefully. Invite families to share a tradition if they want to, never require it, and make sure the unit includes students who don’t celebrate anything in December. Avoid reducing a culture to food and costumes; pair each tradition with a short, accurate informational text.

Keeping December calm and productive

The weeks before winter break are some of the hardest to teach, and it isn’t only excitement. Assemblies, concerts, picture retakes and special schedules interrupt the day, and students sense that the usual rules are loosening. A few habits help. Post the schedule each morning, including any changes, and talk through it at morning meeting. Keep the core blocks (phonics, math, independent reading) running even if lessons are a little shorter. Put themed activities in the slots where students would normally practice, so the theme carries energy without replacing teaching.

Plan for lower attention, too. Break longer tasks into shorter steps, add a movement break between activities, and save the messiest, most hands-on projects for the last two days, when focus is lowest anyway. A quick reflection at the end of each day (“What was one thing you learned?”) keeps the sense that school is still school.

Parties and gift exchanges

If your school allows a party, keep it short and simple. Food rules and allergies apply, so follow your district’s policy. For gift exchanges, a low-cost book swap or a “make a card for a classmate” activity avoids pressure on families. Never require students to bring gifts or money.

Supporting every student

December changes routines, and some students find that hard. Students who thrive on predictability, students who are anxious about the break and students for whom the holidays are a stressful time may need extra support. Post the schedule, preview changes and keep a calm space available. For students with IEPs or 504 plans, the accommodations the team decided on still apply during themed activities.

For dates, observances and planning ideas for every month, visit our school calendar guide.