Fun educational Christmas ideas your kids will love

Who doesn’t love Christmas? It’s an exciting time, full of colors, food, gifts, and unique moments with the people we love the most. Kids absolutely have a soft spot for it, and that makes it the perfect time to learn new things in a memorable way.

Take advantage of the excitement of the holidays with these activities!

Christmas songs

Catchy tunes and funny dances make many Christmas songs perfect for children to learn new words, exercise, and awaken their passion for art at a young age. The secret is rhyme and repetition, two powerful tools for improving literacy.

You can also come up with your own lyrics and, who knows, maybe even create a new family tradition in the process! Here are a few songs that your kids might like:

• Let’s decorate our Christmas tree
• Deck the halls
• Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
• Jingle bells
• Santa Claus is coming to town
• The 12-day of Christmas

Christmas-themed crafts

Arts and crafts, such as painting patterns, tearing paper, or even gluing, stimulate many muscles in the body, especially the hands. Regularly using the hands to perform delicate tasks improves fine motor skills, i.e., the fineness of muscle movements.

Why not print out some Christmas motifs for your kids to cut out and color? With some yarn, you could turn them into masks of their favorite characters. You can also make Christmas cards for the rest of the family with cardboard, paint, and glitter.

There are no limits to what you can create with simple materials!

Sensorial play with Christmas items

Kids, especially toddlers, are naturally curious and learn about the world through their senses. Sensory play is designed to stimulate exploration, creativity, and problem-solving using touch, hearing, sight, smell, and taste. Christmas offers many opportunities to play with the senses, as it is full of lights, colors, aromas, and flavors that we don’t see during other times of the year.

Organize a small track with stations where children can experience different smells, colors, tastes, and textures. In the end, they should comment on which was their favorite and why! You can also play a game of counting the lights on the tree, guessing sounds, etc.

STEM activities can also be fun during Christmas!

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education can be intimidating, but a little holiday magic makes all the difference. With magnets and some jingle bells, you can build toys and musical instruments, and take the opportunity to explain some simple concepts to your kids.

Why don’t you try some of these ideas?

• Building challenges (build a string telephone, for example).
• Dissolving candy canes.
• Growing salt crystals with Christmas themes (all you need is salt, water, a jar, and cardboard!).
• Cooking together (yes, it counts as science!)

Try not to look at these activities as separate experiences. Combine them to surprise your children and spark their imagination. Without realizing it, they will be learning lots of interesting things that they will apply in school and later in their adult life.

Happy holidays and happy new year!