12 Days of Christmas Holiday Lessons and Activities

Description

Need something fun, meaningful, and already done for the weeks before Christmas break?

This 12 Days of Seasonal Books and Activities pack gives you twelve days of ready-to-go printables built around favorite Christmas and winter picture books. Each day features a different seasonal title and coordinating hands-on activities that review key ELA and math skills—without you having to reinvent the (Polar Express) wheel.

Simply choose the book, print the pages, and you’re set for a festive, standards-based lesson that keeps students learning when their brains are full of sugar-plums.

Books Featured

Each day focuses on one seasonal favorite:

12 Days of Seasonal Books and A…

1. If You Take a Mouse to the Movies

2. Guess Who’s Coming to Santa’s for Dinner

3. Gingerbread Baby

4. The Biggest, Best Snowman

5. A Christmas Carol

6. The Wild Christmas Reindeer

7. The Little Drummer Boy

8. ’Twas the Night Before Christmas

9. The Nutcracker

10. The Polar Express

11. Too Many Tamales

12. The Mitten

Please note: Books are not included. You will need access to the picture books (library, personal, or digital read-aloud).

very book comes with themed printables that connect the story to comprehension, writing, and math skills. Activities vary by day and include:

12 Days of Seasonal Books and A…

ELA & Writing Activities

• Story maps and graphic organizers (characters, setting, problem/solution, events)

• Beginning–middle–end retell pages

• Alternative ending writing (e.g., write a new ending for Gingerbread Baby and A Christmas Carol)

• “Dear Santa” and other seasonal letter-writing prompts

• Personal narrative pages (favorite Christmas memory, Christmas at Grandma’s, family traditions)

• Response prompts (e.g., “What would you do if you lost a ring in the tamale mix?” / “What gift could you bring to a king?”)

• Rhyming word practice using ’Twas the Night Before Christmas

• Noun and verb sort using The Little Drummer Boy lyrics

• Mitten story-retell strip and slider for The Mitten

Literacy Skills Practice

• Sentence correction pages (“Fix the Sentence”)

• Punctuation practice with Christmas tree-themed sentences

• ABC order activities (reindeer words, Christmas words, Nutcracker vocabulary, stocking words)

• Sight-word hide-and-seek gingerbread hunt

• Word building with letters from reindeer names

Math Activities

• Addition practice with “Mouse Addition”

• Patterns (holiday icons and Nutcracker patterns)

• Opposites matching with snowballs

• Counting by 5s strip puzzles

• Money skills with “Christmas Dinner Shopping” and “Tamale” shopping pages

• Rounding to the nearest ten with present-themed practice

• Graphing pages with Nutcracker images

• Time to the hour and half-hour (“Jingle Time” clock practice)

• Number order (least to greatest) with Polar Express tickets

• Mitten-themed addition/subtraction board game

Fun & Hands-On Extras

• “If You Take a Mouse to the Movies” game board with popcorn task cards

• Family tree template and photo boxes

• Reindeer glyph (students answer personal questions and draw their own reindeer to match)

• Build-a-snowman sequencing (draw and cut/sequencing strips)

• Hot cocoa “how-to” sequencing

• Christmas meal drawing and explanation page

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Skills Covered

Reading & ELA

• Story elements: character, setting, problem, solution, events

• Retelling and summarizing

• Sequencing events and procedures

• Sentence editing and punctuation

• Rhyming and phonological awareness

• Nouns and verbs

• Writing: letters, narratives, responses, and creative stories

Math

• Addition and subtraction

• Counting by 5s

• Comparing and ordering numbers

• Money and counting coins

• Rounding to the nearest ten

• Telling time to the hour and half-hour

• Basic graphing and data representation

• Recognizing and extending patterns

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How to Use

These printables are flexible and can be used:

• As a 12-day Christmas countdown (one book + set of activities each day)

• In a literacy or math center during December

• For whole-group read-aloud lessons with follow-up practice

• In homeschool or co-op settings as a simple December unit

• For small-group skill practice or intervention with seasonal flair

You don’t have to use the books in order—mix and match according to the titles you have or the skills you want to practice that week.