Easy Winter and Holiday Activities for K-1
Looking for some fun ways to bring Winter or Holiday-themed learning into your classroom this year?! I have so many engaging, low-prep activities and ideas for you to add into your plans to do with your littles this season! Read about each one below!
Generosity Gift Writing
Winter is the perfect time to teach about generosity or the season of giving during your Social Emotional Learning time! These generosity gift writing responses always make the cutest bulletin board display, plus they just make me happy!
There isn’t any template for these though- they’re done “the old school way.” I cut 1 inch strips of construction paper and teach students how to glue two strips down in a cross-formation on a piece of construction paper. Then I show them how to make “loops” out of the rest of their paper strips. We use Elmer’s white glue to glue these on so that they stick.
I read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and we discuss ways that we can be generous to others, and then we write about those things! I always love seeing the sweet responses. The writing response paper for this activity was just typed up on PowerPoint and I typed “‘Tis the Season to be Generous” at the top. Easy peasy!
Winter and Christmas Read Alouds
There are SO many fun read alouds to do during the Winter season! You can grab any of these books (and so many more) all right HERE on my Amazon list.
Holiday Math and Literacy Activity Pack
This is the PERFECT activity pack for that last week of school before the Winter break. It includes 3 meaningful and engaging Math and Literacy activities that are perfect to do with your class to review important concepts before you head on the break. These concepts include:
-Snowman Sounds (beginning and ending sounds)
-Syllable Santa (syllable counting)
You can grab the bundle at a super discount HERE or you can click each link above to grab the activities individually if you don’t need them all.
Winter Class Party
Having a class party?! This class party kit includes everything you need to have a super fun (and super low-prep) class party before the Winter break! It includes 7 fun stations for your students to rotate through, and you can either use them all or just choose a few to do!
Read more about the Winter Party Pack HERE and grab it HERE.
Have a Gingerbread Day or Week
This pack includes 7 fun hands-on, standards-based activities that are centered around gingerbread! This is always a class favorite. Plan all the activities for one day, or do one or two a day for a sweet week! Grab this pack HERE.
How to Catch a Gingerbread Man
I love the “How to Catch a…” series! Students always love this fun read aloud, and then they love working on their “how-to” writing flip books where they write detailed steps on how they would try to catch a gingerbread man.
This fun activity comes with several options and can be found HERE.
Reindeer Directed Draw
I absolutely love doing these reindeer directed drawings year after year! I have my students paint the backgrounds with water colors, and then we sprinkle the noses with red glitter. You can find this directed drawing tutorial HERE.
Family Holiday Gifts
These handprint keepsakes are the perfect gifts for students to give their families! Make them into ornaments or magnets for the fridge, plus they are sooo easy to make! All you need is a little white modeling clay (like Crayola Model Magic), some tempera or acrylic paint, and these sweet gift tag poems that pair with the gift! So sweet!
Fun Door Decor
Nothing gets students more excited about school than getting to walk through a fun and festive doorway each morning! Above you can see two of the fun door displays that I’ve done in the past, and they were both done with butcher paper!
Word Work for Any Word List
Students always love these fun word work pages! I put a new one into our word work bin each week so students to have one choice that is a little more festive than the other word work that we usually do. Students practice writing word family words, phonics pattern words, heart words, sight words, word wall words, or whatever words your class is currently working on!
You can grab this word work HERE.
You can read more about my word work station HERE.
No Prep Winter and Christmas Math Games
These print and play math games are the easiest math center to prep! They’re also great because they review lots of math concepts that students should be working on consistently.
You can grab the math game bundle HERE.
Math Around the Room
I love these Winter and Christmas Math Around the Room centers because they are so easy to set up (just print, cut, and go) and students are always engaged when they are moving around the room “hunting” for the math cards.
Each pack includes over 20 math concepts so it doesn’t matter if you are currently working on number bonds, place value, shapes, or any other K-1 math concepts because they’re all in the pack for you!
You can grab the Math Around the Room Bundle at a discount HERE.
Winter and Christmas Color By Codes
Color by Codes are perfect for reviewing concepts that have already been taught! I print these out and keep them in a “busy bin” for students to grab from if they are a fast finisher and have nothing else to work on. Each pack includes several math and phonics concepts.
Grab the Christmas Color By Code HERE.
Grab the Winter Color By Code HERE.
Hands-on Word Hunt Word Work
Looking for some hands-on, FUN word work to put in your word work centers? This word work is sooo easy to prep and my students always love it.
Print and Go Craftivities with Writing Responses
Students always love a sweet writing craftivity! All my craftivities come with the pieces needed to make them (they can be printed on colored paper or you can have students color them) and several different writing responses for you to choose from!
You can grab my Craftivities for the Year Bundle at a discount HERE.
Grab the Reindeer Writing Craftivity Here.
Grab the Snowman Writing Craftivity Here.
Student Holiday Gifts
I’ve done a few different student holiday gifts in the past, but these two are my faves and they’re FREEBIES if you’re part of the Firstie Fam!
-Holiday Gift Book: I usually look for the winter gift book packs on Scholastic Book Clubs. I can normally find a pack of 10 for $10, then I wrap them, write a short note inside, and print off one of the freebie gifts tags for them. These freebie gift tags can be found in the Exclusive Freebie section of my website HERE. You’ll need a password to enter, and you can grab it if you sign up to join the Firstie Fam on my website!
-Playdoh Gifts Tags: Super easy! Just print, cut, and place a the tag on a bag along with some Play Doh and mini cookie cutters. Find the editable tags (winter and Christmas images) HERE.
Magic Reindeer Food
This is a fun activity to do with your students because they can learn how to make reindeer food, and then write the steps on how to make it, and then they can make their own. Making it is super simple too!
To get this fun pack (recipe, writing activity, and bag topper) click HERE.
Merry Snack Graphing
Grab a bag of the Mother’s Iced Animal Cookies in Reindeer Shapes and turn them into the funnest math activity ever! Practice tallying, graphing, addition, subtraction, and ten frames with this fun activity that can be found here.
Behavior Incentive Charts
No matter how amazing your classroom management is, students will start to get antsy for many reasons around the Winter holidays. Hey, I even start to get antsy myself!
These Project and Trace (or print) charts are perfect ways to keep students on track. Each time students have a great transition, are all on task, etc., I’ll add a picture piece to the chart. When students earn all the pieces, they get a reward/treat. Rewards/treats can be as simple as earning an extra recess, having a dance party, or getting a candy cane to munch on while they are working. Simple and fun!
I also love leaving these charts for a sub because it helps to remind students to stay on track with the expectations I’ve set for them.
Winter Positive Behavior Notes
I love sending home positive behavior notes with deserving students each day! I keep a stack of these on my desk, and when I see a student go “above and beyond” I’ll write their name at the top of the note, sign my name at the bottom, and tape a little Starburst candy to the top for them to bring home to show their families. This is such a quick and easy way to make a positive connection between school and home.
Grab the Winter Positive Behavior Notes HERE.
I hope you’ve grabbed a few fun ideas to bring back to your classroom!
I wish you all a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season!
