Winter Holidays Teaching Resources
Getting your classroom ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the rest of the winter holidays on the horizon? You're in luck!
Our team of teachers from around the US has created winter holiday worksheets, activities, games, and more to make the holidays bright and merry — even if the temperatures outside are bitter cold! Celebrate the major calendar events in an inclusive manner with options for engaging students in multicultural ways.
What Holidays Are Celebrated in Winter?
If you want to get technical, winter begins in December on the Winter Solstice, also know as the shortest day of the year. And yet because the thermometer drops in much of the country well before the solstice, some consider Thanksgiving to be the start of the winter holidays.
Other holidays that fall during the winter season include:
- Christmas
- Hanukkah
- Kwanzaa
- New Year's Eve
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Lunar New Year
- Valentine's Day
- Read Across America Day
Celebrating Winter Holidays in the Classroom
Looking for the best ways to celebrate any (or all!) of the winter holidays? The Teach Starter team of teachers has created printable and digital options — many of which align to the curriculum — to bring the holiday spirit into your classroom. These themed resources can also display the students’ information in new ways around the classroom. This collection contains a variety of resources for all classrooms.
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Snowflake Syllables - Winter Reading Center
Help students practice breaking words into syllables and identifying open and closed syllables with a winter literacy center.
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Christmas Code Breaker Puzzle - Worksheet
Crack the secret Christmas code to reveal a Christmas message.
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Christmas Color by Vowel Sound Worksheets
Use color by vowel sound worksheets for a bit of holiday fun in the classroom.
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Digital Christmas Escape Room for the Classroom — Elf Investigation
This exciting Christmas escape room has been created by our teacher team to engage your upper elementary students this holiday season. Help the Mayor of Elfton catch the person responsible for some mischievous events in his town.
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Christmas STEM Project - Elf Trap
Experience hands-on STEM concepts with an engaging Elf Trap Project!
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Holiday Flip Book - Christmas Printable Activities
Get busy with this engaging printable Christmas activity flip book.
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Christmas Connect the Dots Printables - Alphabet
Practice ordering the alphabet by connecting the dots on printable Christmas dot-to-dot worksheets.
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Gingerbread Phonics - Beginning Sounds Sort
Supplement your Christmas literacy centers with a fun gingerbread-themed beginning sound sorting activity.
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Reindeer Research - Instructional Slide Deck
Use an animated instructional slide deck to guide your students through a reindeer research project!
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Christmas Bingo
Play Christmas bingo with this class set of bingo cards.
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Christmas Crossword Puzzle
Have a bit of holiday fun with a set of three Christmas Crossword Puzzles.
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I Spy - Christmas Printable
Find, color, and count the Christmas objects in these fun printable Christmas I Spy worksheets.
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Identifying Christmas Shapes - Coloring Pages
Use knowledge of 2D shapes to color in these Christmas-themed shape coloring pages.
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Christmas Coloring Pages - Printable
Use a Christmas Coloring Pages printable pack to bring a bit of creative calm into the classroom this holiday season.
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Grid Drawing Worksheets- Easy Christmas Drawings
Bring a bit of art into the classroom this holiday season with easy Christmas drawing activities.
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Thanksgiving Escape Room - Escape the Oven!
Help Urkey the Thanksgiving turkey escape the clutches of the terrible chef who wants to cook him with a fun Thanksgiving Escape Game.
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Thanksgiving I Spy Worksheet
Have a bit of counting and coloring fun with a Thanksgiving worksheet for Kindergarten.
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Christmas Printables - Parts of Speech Worksheets
Bring a bit of Christmas fun into your language arts lessons with printable Christmas parts of speech worksheets.
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Thanksgiving Word Building Activity
Have a bit of word-friendly fun with a Thanksgiving word building activity.
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How to Decorate a Christmas Tree - Kindergarten Writing Worksheet
Practice kindergarten writing skills with a Christmas procedural writing prompt.
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Christmas Writing Prompts for Beginning Writers
Celebrate Christmas time and practice those writing skills with your young sentence writers.
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Twelve Days of Kindness – Christmas Challenge Worksheet
Challenge your students to commit 12 random acts of Christmas kindness with a printable kindness activity for elementary school students.
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Printable Christmas Card Templates for Kids
Bring the season of giving into your classroom with this set of 8 printable greeting cards.
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Paper Wreath Template - Classroom Decor Craft
Use a printable Christmas wreath template to create your classroom Christmas decorations.