Christmas activities for preschool and daycare

The last week before the holidays goes better with a plan: one short table activity each morning and a party on the last day. Each activity below takes 10 to 20 minutes and needs only a printer, crayons and a few counters.

The week

1. Monday, Christmas words. Read, trace and write two short words such as tree and star. Children who are not writing yet can trace with a finger first, then a crayon.
2. Tuesday, count and circle. Count the trees, ornaments, stars and gifts in each box and circle the number, 1 to 10. Older children can tell a friend how they counted.
3. Wednesday, patterns. Look at a row of shapes and circle what comes next. Start with two shapes repeating, then three.
4. Thursday, adding within 10. Count two groups of ornaments and write the total. Real counters such as buttons or blocks help the youngest children.
5. Friday, class party. Play Christmas bingo with the whole group: an adult reads the words and children mark their cards. Add charades for movement, and a few trivia questions for older children.

Free pages to start with

Our four free Christmas worksheets cover Monday to Thursday: one word tracing page, one count and circle page, one adding page and one pattern page. For Friday, five free Christmas bingo cards and a caller list are enough for a small group.

For a whole class

The Christmas Kindergarten Worksheets have 25 pages, so each child can do a different page each day, with an answer key. The Christmas Party Games have 50 different bingo cards, 30 charades cards and 15 trivia questions for the party. The Christmas Classroom Pack has both for $6.

They are also sold on their own: Christmas kindergarten worksheets, $3 and Christmas party games, $4. See also how to play Christmas bingo.