Classroom Printables

• Use printable activity sheets for an inexpensive, low-preparation Christmas activity to do with elementary school students. You can have them make a holiday scrapbook by answering questions about their Christmas at home, and drawing pictures or cutting out pictures from magazines to make a personal, meaningful Christmas scrapbook sheet. Or, have students find different ornaments on a tree and color them, following clues. For a follow-up activity, have them draw their favorite ornament from home and tell the class about it. Or get math and handwriting work into the holiday spirit by using Christmas-themed worksheets with kids the whole week before winter break. See the Resources section for some printable sheets.
  
  

Multiple Classes

• Have each classroom make a Christmas bulletin board art activity based on their age and ability. Kindergartners and first-graders can use cotton balls, pre-cut eyes, noses and mouths and ribbons, crayons and glitter to create their own Santa Claus face. See the Resources section for a printable template you can have parent helpers trace onto construction paper. First- and second-graders can put together their own decorated Christmas trees for a bulletin board, writing their names on the trunks, then decorating green construction paper trees (pre-cut by an adult) with their own colored construction paper balls, stars, garlands and spires. Glitter glue, ribbons, jingle bells and beads are good additions to this craft too. Third-graders can make their own "stained glass" Christmas art with black construction paper cut into traceries of bells, windows, trees, ornaments, angels or other holiday emblems. Have them glue thin colored tissue paper on the backs of these, one color for each separate area of the frame. For older children, help them learn about traditions in other countries by making international Christmas banner covered with ornaments and symbols from other countries that celebrate Christmas.
  
  

Group Activities

• To get elementary students working together on Christmas activities, pair them up with a partner to solve Christmas-themed puzzles like word finds, crosswords, fill-in-the-blanks or easy Sudoku puzzles. In groups of three or four, they can embark on a Christmas scavenger hunt that just requires some thinking and creativity, and can include the use of the Internet for older elementary children. See the Resources section for scavenger hunt ideas, or make your own. Small groups of students also can be given materials to make Christmas collages, or paired up to share Christmas traditions or take turns writing a Christmas story.