Christmas Activities & Countdown Gifts for Grades 2-3

Delight your second and third grade class with these fun and unique Christmas activities and simple student gifts that will keep them engaged and still learning as they count down the last 5 days before Christmas or winter break! This resource includes all materials in both Christmas Break and Winter Break versions.

Based on the wildly popular 5 Days Before Summer Break, your class will love this roll down anchor chart and simple daily gifts with matching Christmas activity booklets that include math and ELA activities. Students use the treats to do the tasks!

Have students who don’t celebrate? I’ve included a non-holiday, winter themed version so all students can participate.

All activity pages, anchor charts, and gift tags are included in both “Christmas break” and “Winter break” terminology. Have students who don’t celebrate Christmas or holidays? I’ve also included a non-holiday, snowman themed version so all students can participate.

Do you have food allergies or a no-food policy at your school? I’ve included printable paper treats to use as an alternative to do the tasks.

This resource now includes digital! I’ve added digital daily activities with moveable “treats” for students to do the tasks virtually!

Also available for these grade levels:

Kindergarten

Grade 1

Grades 2-3

Grade 4

Christmas activities included:

• Roll down chart with no-prep printable chart parts
• Projectable daily chart options to use digitally
• 30 Christmas activity pages with meaningful math and ELA skill practice in printable and digital versions
• 5 Days of digital activities with moveable “treats” to do the tasks
• Activity booklet covers with Winter Break and Christmas Break terminology
• Student gift tags using both “Christmas” and “Winter” break terminology

*Special section with alternative, snowman themed activity pages, chart parts, booklet cover, and gift tags for students who don’t celebrate Christmas or holidays.

Here’s How It Works…

Each day during the last week before break, roll down the class chart to reveal the gift of the day. Surprise your students with a fun treat and matching activity pages. Students use the treats to add, subtract, measure and graph. They also use them to write, work with word families, practice sight words, and many other skills listed below. I’ve included 3-4 skill filled pages for each day. Use all or pick and choose the skills you want your students to review. At the end of the 5 days, use the included cover to staple all the pages into a booklet.

No time for fancy? No worries! Skip the chart and the gift tags and copy the activity pages. Pass out the daily treat on a paper towel so students can complete the tasks.

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Here’s what happened in my classroom…

T’was the 5 days before Christmas and all through the school

My sugar plums were dancing and testing the rules!

I knew that I needed to reign them all in,

But assessments weren’t done, so I thought with a grin,

I’ll surprise them with gifts each day of the week,

I’ll keep it a secret and won’t let them peek!

But not just a gift, I thought with a wink,

I’ll make tasks to go with them so they’ll have to think!

They’ll be reading and writing and having such fun,

That I surely will get my assessments all done!

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ELA Skills included in the activity pages:

• Nouns, verbs, adjectives
• Plural nouns
• Possessive nouns
• Plural nouns
• Comparing with –er and -est
• Collective nouns
• Base words and endings
• Compound words
• Long vowel teams
• Long and short vowels
• Fact and opinion
• Homophones
• Hidden words
• Story map
• Syllables
• Identifying features of a fiction and nonfiction text
• Mini-narratives writing prompts

Math Skills included in the activity pages:

• Symmetry
• Partitioning shapes and simple fractions
• Ways to make 9
• Building arrays
• Skip counting
• Fact families
• Story problems
• Equal groups
• Measuring
• Comparing and adding lengths
• Place value
• Graphing-bar graph, tally chart, line plot
• One/ten/hundred more/less

Please download the preview to see all the Christmas activities included.

Happy teaching!

Linda Kamp

Around the Kampfire

You may also enjoy these other holiday resources:

Holidays Around the World Unit 

Holidays Math Centers Grade 2

Leveled Reading Passages for Holidays Around the World

Gingerbread Literacy Unit (Print & Digital)

Gingerbread House Lunch Sack Craft