December is a tricky month for preschool and kindergarten learning. Kids are excited, routines wobble, and everyone has one eye on the calendar. The good news is that the holiday excitement is something you can use. Learning that looks like Christmas gets far less resistance than another plain worksheet.
Below are simple, skill-building Christmas activities for ages 3 to 6, grouped by skill, with a ready-made weekly plan at the end. They work at home, in homeschool, or as morning work and centers in a preschool or kindergarten classroom.
Before letters, little hands need to practise the strokes that make letters: straight lines, up-and-down lines, diagonals, zigzags, waves and loops.
Tip: Five minutes is plenty. Stop while it's still fun.
Pairing each letter with a Christmas picture word makes the alphabet memorable: A is for angel, B is for bell, C is for candy cane, G is for gift, R is for reindeer, S is for snowman.
Do one or two letters a day and you'll cover the whole alphabet in December.
Tip: Use real objects alongside the worksheet. Counting real buttons onto a printed ten frame is better than coloring alone.
Cutting is a big fine motor milestone. Build it up in steps:
Always use child-safe scissors and supervise. If cutting is frustrating, use thicker paper; it's easier to control.
Ask kids to sort Christmas objects into small, medium and big: a small bell, a medium bell, a big bell. It's simple, but it builds comparison language that feeds straight into math.
Here is a 10-minute-a-day plan that covers the main skills each week:
| Day | Activity | Skill |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Trace two letters + say their sounds | Letters and phonics |
| Tuesday | Trace numbers and color that many stars | Number writing and counting |
| Wednesday | Ten frame or count and circle | Number sense |
| Thursday | One cutting strip | Fine motor |
| Friday | Patterns or shapes, then a star on the chart | Patterns and reasoning |
A learning star chart helps a lot: kids color a star for each letter, number or skill they master, and they can see their progress across the month. End December with a "Super Learner" certificate.
We've put five pages from our learning pack in a free sample (letters A and B, numbers 1-5, a ten frame and cut-out ornaments): download the free Christmas preschool sample.
Pip's Christmas Learning Pack has 47 printable pages for ages 3-6: pencil control, letters A-Z with a Christmas picture word for every letter, a Christmas ABC chart, numbers 1-20, counting, ten frames, more or fewer, addition to 10, shapes, patterns, beginning sounds, scissor skills, a learning star chart, answer keys and a Super Learner certificate. It comes in US Letter, A4 and an ink-saver edition, and the license includes single-classroom use. See Pip's Christmas Learning Pack ($4.99 launch price).
Have older children too? The Christmas Activity Bundle adds a 24-day countdown book (ages 4-8) and class party games (ages 4-10), 147 pages for $9.99.
Jingle & Pip Printables makes screen-free printable activities for kids. The illustrations in our packs are created with the help of AI tools and finished by hand.