Are Christmas carols running through your head and the delicious smell of peppermint following you everywhere? This can mean only one thing–it’s time to think about DIY Christmas activities your home student and other family members will love.
You’ll find a wide array of ideas and suggestions that will encourage your home students of all ages to enjoy the season while keeping the mess and stress to a minimum. After all, ’tis the season for joy, not stress.
So get your computer and printer supplies ready to explore Christmas-themed crafts, games, coloring pages, STEM, and baking.
Christmas-Themed Crafts
The holidays are an excellent opportunity to break out the craft box and add a little sparkle to your decor with handmade Christmas crafts. Holiday crafts don’t need to be messy or require significant prep time.
Here are some easy, almost mess-free Christmas crafts to encourage connection and the celebration of the season.
Gingerbread Playdough
This activity is excellent for kids of all ages, especially 2- to 5-year-olds. Add cookie cutters and a rolling pin to get their imagination going with little to no cleanup. The playdough’s scent and texture are excellent sensory stimulation, and squashing the dough is perfect for strengthening tiny hand muscles.
Santa Star Decorations
While this craft may require just a little bit of prep, they make adorable tree decorations that can come out every year as a keepsake.
Q-Tip Christmas Tree
Q-tip painting is ideal for little ones without the dexterity to handle a real paintbrush. This bright, fun tree is another excellent ornament you can keep for years in your Christmas decorations box.
Candy Cane Reindeer
Candy cane reindeer are excellent for your older at-home students to make on their own. They also make fun gifts for teachers and classmates. Just add name tags to the bow around the reindeer’s neck.
Reindeer Food
This is a classic must-do Christmas activity. We all remember to leave Santa cookies, but what about Rudolph? Grab some glitter and oats to make a special treat for the red-nosed reindeer.
Tissue Paper Wreath
A tissue paper wreath is marvelous for older kids who can sit longer and do a little more detailed work with the tissue paper. While it may not hold up on your front door or mantel, it is perfect for adding a touch of Christmas cheer to bedroom doors and kitchen cupboards.
Christmas-Themed Games
Sometimes our at-home students need a break from the heavy learning with a quick game–or maybe it’s a weeknight, and you’re looking for an easy family bonding game for everyone to enjoy. Here are some games assured to bring joy to your holiday.
Candy Cane Hook-Em
Like Barrel of Monkeys, players use candy canes to hook onto each other and create the longest chain possible.
Christmas Bingo
Get ready for some quick and easy family fun! All you need is your Canon printer, Canon ink, and paper. You can use Christmas candies for counters or create your own from recycled bottle caps.
Christmas Scattergories
Scattergories is wonderful for older elementary school kids. Use it to get them thinking outside the box while incorporating the Christmas theme as a spelling activity. For kids who aren’t quite writing yet, they can still play by verbalizing instead.
Christmas-Themed Coloring Pages
Coloring pages are quintessential printable crafts for kids. They’re fun for kids of all ages, and it’s an activity you can set up in seconds. So, grab some crayons and check out these quick links to holiday coloring fun.
Crayola
Crayola has some excellent generic holiday coloring pages for all ages. There’re some detailed options to keep older at-home students coloring for hours.
Free and Fun
The Free and Fun site offers some simpler Christmas-specific and religious designs for younger at-home students to work on while still helping them work on their fine motor skills.
Christmas-Themed STEM Activities
Although some of these STEM activities might get messy, the pursuit of Christmas science is worth a little mess. The best part about these activities is they engage at-home students of all ages. The younger ones enjoy the reaction, while older at-home students can explain and redesign the experiments to increase the level of difficulty.
Gingerbread Number Hop
This activity is a fun holiday twist on hopscotch for your toddler. Just tape these numbers to the floor and watch the kids hop from number to number. It helps with number recognition, counting, and simple addition.
Dissolving Candy Cane
Science just got more delicious with this easy experiment. Take this experiment up a notch for older students by switching the water to other liquids and creating new hypotheses.
Erupting Christmas Tree
This seasonal take on the classic volcanic eruption experiment might be the messiest, but it gets the biggest reaction–scientifically speaking. Don’t let the mess intimidate you, though. Use a cookie sheet to keep the eruption contained while your student learns about chemical reactions up close.
Christmas Skittles
This activity is for the more artistic at-home scientist. The older students can make predictions about objects in motion and learn about water density, and the little ones will love watching the melting colors.
Christmas-Themed Baking Activities
For your at-home students, baking promotes creative arts, math, and science. Plus, everyone wins with the sweet treat at the end.
Jolly Marshmallow Men
These adorable snowmen are excellent for older students at home, but even toddlers can help with some construction parts.
Christmas Rocky Road
This recipe is a Christmas classic because it’s excellent as a stocking filler gift for all those holiday parties coming up.
Reindeer Bark
This is quick and easy to prep, and the decorating is so simple, a 3-year-old could make these look good enough to share with the neighbors.
Red-Nosed Reindeer Cookies
Want to take Santa’s plain old cookies up a notch this year? Try this recipe, and you’ll be Santa’s favorite stop.
Jingle Balls No Bake Cookies
Quick, simple, and only need one bowl, these cookie dough balls check every low-prep box for stress-free holiday baking with kids.
Finally, there is an endless variety of Christmas activities, games, and stories for you to enjoy with your kids this holiday season. Crafting, baking, and games are a fantastic way to connect with your little ones and create unforgettable Christmas memories.
Organizing a dinner party for family and friends is also an exciting way to bond and create fond memories. Here’re five family Christmas dinner planning tips.
