The best Christmas activities for Kindergarten still teach something. Look for festive phonics and literacy tasks, simple writing prompts, hands-on maths, fine motor practice and crafts that link to a book or a writing task. Keep them short, familiar in format and tied to skills your students are already practising.
Term 4 is a LOT. The kids are buzzing, the calendar is full of concerts and carols, and you still have learning to finish.
Over the years I’ve found the answer isn’t to ban the tinsel. It’s to wrap the learning in it. Below are my Christmas activities for Kindergarten (Foundation or Prep), grouped by area, with the ones I’d reach for first at the top of each section.
Start here if you want to try a few before you browse the rest. All free with a free Mrs Learning Bee account.
- Literacy: Alphabet matching, Dear Santa craftivity
- Maths: Pattern printables, Holiday countdown display
- Crafts and colouring: Gingerbread man, snowman and reindeer crafts, Colouring and design pages, Build an elf craft
- Elf on the Shelf: Elf activities pack, Classroom elf pack, Elf application forms
Christmas phonics and literacy activities that keep decoding on track
Christmas is the perfect time to keep phonics routines exactly the same and just change the theme. Same routine, new festive paint job.
Decodable decorations
Students map decodable words by segmenting each sound onto a Christmas ornament. There are pages for CVC words, consonant digraphs and long vowels, so you can pick the pages that match where your class is up to.
Real and nonsense word sort
Students decode each word, then colour the real words green and the nonsense words red. Pages cover CVC words, consonant digraphs and long vowels. I love nonsense words for this reason: kids can’t rely on recognising them, so they have to sound out every one.
Rhyme and syllable printables
Students count the syllables in Christmas words and colour, circle or cut and paste the answer. The rhyme pages have them circle the rhyming word and draw their own rhyming pairs.
Need a quick freebie? The Christmas Alphabet Matching FREEBIE - Uppercase and Lowercase Letters works well as a literacy centre for students still consolidating letter names.
You’ll also find:
- Christmas Phonics - Snowman Sounds - CVC Words, Consonant Digraphs & Long Vowels for beginning, middle and end sounds
- Christmas Phonics Activities - CVCC & CCVC Word Mats - Decodable Decorations for building words with alphabet manipulatives
- Christmas Activities for Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 - Christmas Literacy PowerPoint, with over 100 interactive slides
- the Christmas Literacy Bundle, which brings 18 literacy resources together
Try this: swap one of these into your existing phonics rotation for a week. Kids get the novelty, you keep the routine.
Christmas writing activities that give Kindergarten writers a reason to write
Little writers write more when they have something to say. And Santa, reindeer and elves give them PLENTY to say!
Dear Santa craftivity and writing prompt (free)
Students write a letter to Santa, or convince him why they’d make a good elf. Not every family celebrates Christmas, so keep the Santa letter optional. I’ve shared more tips and templates in my free Santa letter craftivity post.
Christmas writing templates and displays
Prompts like “If I was a reindeer” and “How would koalas celebrate Christmas?” get kids imagining. Each template comes with and without lines, so you can match the page to your writers and then pop their work on display.
Writing prompt task cards
The pack includes Christmas writing prompts, story prompts (with simple story scaffolds or blank) and setting cards where students use their senses to describe a Christmas scene. For Kindergarten, I’d use the setting cards as a whole-class talk task first and write a shared description together.
You’ll also find Christmas Writing Activities - Christmas-themed Grammar & Descriptive Writing, with fix-the-sentence pages and adjective and character trait brainstorms.
Try this: brainstorm words for the prompt together on the board, then send kids off to write their own on the template with or without lines.
Christmas maths activities for Kindergarten that practise counting and number facts
Christmas maths activities are an easy win because the theme does the engagement work for you. The maths stays exactly the same.
Counting, number facts and addition to 20
Students count and colour to 10 and 20, work with ten frames and twenty frames, and practise addition, doubles and Friends of 10. There are versions with US spelling too.
Pattern printables (free)
Students make a pattern by colouring Christmas items, finish a pattern by cutting and pasting, then create their own.
Christmas maths PowerPoint
Over 120 interactive, editable slides for whole-class warm-ups: show me the number, missing numbers, antler addition and Santa subtraction with ten frames, plus “would you rather” data collection. Answers appear on click, which keeps the pace up and everyone engaged!
You’ll also find Christmas Math Activities - Skip Counting by 2, 3, 5 and 10 and the Christmas Mathematics Bundle with six maths resources.
Try this: run the PowerPoint as your warm-up, then send kids to the printables in rotations.
Christmas fine motor activities that build hand strength and pencil control
Fine motor work is where Christmas activities for Kindergarten really shine. Pencil control and hand strength still matter in Term 4 and festive templates make the practice feel like play.
Snap cube templates
Students build 11 Christmas images with snap cubes or unifix cubes, using colour or black and white templates.
Bingo dabber templates
Twenty Christmas images for students to dab with bingo daubers or paint. Simple to set up, and kids love it.
Tracing printables
Ten Christmas images to trace, each with matching traceable text.
You’ll also find Fine Motor Christmas Activities - Complete the Christmas Drawings (with or without the second half to trace), Fine Motor Christmas Activities - Cutting Practice Printables (available in The Hive) and the Fine Motor Christmas Activities Bundle, which includes playdough, pom pom and dot to dot templates too. For hands-on ideas using things you already have, see my 22 fine motor holiday activities.
Try this: set up the snap cube, bingo dabber and tracing pages as three stations and rotate groups every 10 minutes.
Christmas crafts and book crafts that lead to talking and writing
Will a paper reindeer teach your class to read? Absolutely not. Can it give them something to talk and write about? Absolutely. That’s why most of my Christmas crafts come with writing sheets.
Gingerbread man, snowman and reindeer crafts (free)
Three crafts students can accessorise with scarves and beanies, or keep simple. They make a colourful classroom display.
Gingerbread house craft and writing sheets
Students make a gingerbread house using Arnott’s Nice biscuits, then write a procedure on how to make it, with a sequencing words poster and word bank for support. There’s a paper craft and card option too.
Crayons’ Christmas craft and writing sheets
Made for The Crayons’ Christmas and Green Is for Christmas. Students make crayon crafts and finish sentences like “Red is for Christmas because…” or write a letter to Duncan.
You’ll also find:
- Yule Not Open This Book Christmas Card Craft and Writing Sheets, with persuasive and opinion writing headers
- Macca’s Christmas Crackers, a Macca the Alpaca craft with writing sheets
- The Thing About Christmas Printable Pack - Literacy, Maths, Book Crafts & Design Printables, with a 3D bauble craft plus literacy and maths pages
- the free Christmas Coloring & Design Pages FREEBIE
- the Christmas Book Crafts Bundle, with six craft packs
Try this: once the craft is finished, have kids tell a partner how they made it before they write. Talking it through first makes the writing easier.
Elf on the Shelf ideas for a kind, calm classroom
If you’re bringing an elf into your room, start with my 30+ easy Elf on the Shelf classroom ideas. My elf is there to spot KINDNESS, not to police behaviour.
The free Christmas Elf Activities - Elf on the Shelf Classroom Activities pack has everything to get started: elf quarantine, a kindness-focused welcome letter, “elf proof gloves” tags, over 60 placement ideas and “spotted being kind” cards.
For writing, students can fill in Elf Application Forms (free) or record the elf’s antics in the Classroom Elf Pack - Letter to Santa and Elf Journal (free). The Build An Elf CHRISTMAS CRAFT FREEBIE is a lovely cut-and-paste craft (here’s how I use the Build an Elf craft), and Pig the Elf Craft and Writing Sheets pair with the picture book. Short on time? The Build-an-Elf app in The Hive does the same job on screen, with no cutting.
Christmas games, countdowns and bundles for the last weeks of term
The last few weeks of term are a different beast. Routines go a bit wobbly (yours AND theirs!), so I lean on activities that are quick to set up and still keep the learning ticking along.
Editable board game templates
Six board games with editable text boxes and question card templates. Add the phonics or maths skill your class needs, and students practise it while they play.
Holiday countdown display (free)
Students show the number of days left in different ways, including ten frames and tens and ones. It makes a great maths warm-up during your morning meeting.
Christmas countdown cards
Cards numbered 1 to 25 for a countdown calendar. Write an act of kindness inside each card and kindness becomes part of every day, not just one.
You’ll also find the Christmas Imaginative Play Set (a Christmas shop, Santa’s workshop and post box) and the Christmas Slides Bundle, which pairs the literacy and maths PowerPoints. Want the lot? The Christmas Activities Complete Bundle brings 42 Christmas resources together.
Save time on Christmas prep with The Hive
Teachers are time-poor and December makes it worse. The Hive is my all-in-one teaching platform, built to take some of that load off.
For Christmas, the Holidays & Special Events apps include Build-an-Elf, Build a Santa, Build a Reindeer, Build a Gingerbread Person and Christmas Tree Decoration. Pair them with everyday tools like Word Builder and Ten Frames to keep phonics and maths going right up to the last day.
You also get a digital planner, visual timetable, slide deck builder and classroom tools like the student grouper and name picker, all in one place.
Cancel anytime before day 14 and you won’t be charged.
Christmas activities for Kindergarten: your questions answered
What Christmas activities suit Kindergarten?
Choose short activities that practise skills your students already know: decoding CVC words, counting to 20, tracing, cutting and simple sentence writing. Hands-on tasks like snap cube templates, bingo dabbers and decodable decoration pages work well. Save complex projects for a whole-class session and keep familiar routines in place so the excitement doesn’t take over.
How do I fit Christmas activities in without losing learning time?
Swap the theme, not the lesson. Use a Christmas phonics page in your usual phonics block, a Christmas PowerPoint as your maths warm-up and a Christmas prompt in writing time. Your routines stay the same and the learning goals don’t change. Save crafts for the afternoon and pair them with a writing task.
Do these Christmas activities suit Year 1 and Year 2?
Many do. Most resources in this post are labelled for Kindergarten and Year 1 (1st grade), and several, including the decodable phonics pages, PowerPoints and writing templates, are also labelled for Year 2 (2nd grade). Check the year levels listed on each product page, and use the long vowel and story-writing pages for older or more confident students.
Which Mrs Learning Bee Christmas activities are free?
Plenty of them! The free Christmas resources include alphabet matching, a Dear Santa craftivity, pattern printables, gingerbread man, snowman and reindeer crafts, colouring and design pages, an elf activities pack, a classroom elf pack, elf application forms, a build an elf craft and a holiday countdown display. You’ll find these and hundreds more free teaching resources in the FreeBees library.
Related posts
- 30+ Easy Elf on the Shelf Classroom Ideas for Teachers
- Free Build an Elf Printable Christmas Activity for Kids
- Free Printable Santa Letter Craftivity for the Classroom
- 22 Creative Fine Motor Holiday Activities for Kids
Browse every resource in the full resource library.
