Educational Christmas Resources for Teachers and Parents
This is the time of year when the Christmas spirit is upon us. You feel it everywhere you go and you can even sense it in the air we breathe. Christmas songs are playing everywhere and the green and red ornaments are constantly reminding us that it is a special holiday season.
Over the last couple of weeks, my entire blogging focus was on one single theme: Christmas. I compiled a wide variety of educational Christmas resources that teachers and parents (and anyone else for that matter) can use to help kids and students have fun while learning about Christmas and its traditions.
These resources include popular movies including classic Christmas films, best Christmas stories and books, free printable Christmas worksheets, Christmas templates for creating cards and slides, secret Santa generators, Santa tracking apps, Christmas coloring pages, Christmas crossword puzzles, and many more. I invite you to check them out and share with us if you have other resources to add to the list.
1. Christmas Worksheets
This is a collection that features some of the best online platforms where you can access a wide variety of printable Christmas worksheets to use with your kids and students during this holiday season. Most of these materials are available for free download in PDF format.
There are various ways to use these Christmas themed worksheets with your kids, from engaging them in fun literacy based activities to boosting their critical and analytic thinking skills through challenging learning games (e.g., crosswords, puzzles, word search, mazes, and more), the learning possibilities are endless.
2. Secret Santa Generators
Looking for some good gift exchange generators? This collection has you covered. These Secret Santa generators are free, simple and easy to use and most of them do not even require email. Instead of using the time-honored tradition of drawing names from a hat, you can now do it online and anonymously, saving you the headache of having to figure out who will gift whom.
3. Christmas Movies for Students
In this post, I featured 12 of the most popular Christmas movies out there. These movies are educational, entertaining, and definitely engrossing. You can watch them with the whole family at home or with students in class. Some of them are also ideal for kids.
The criteria I used to categorize these movies are viewers ratings and reviews as documented in Amazon prime video. The movies are ordered according to their degree of popularity among viewers from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation which has the highest ratings to Office Christmas Party with the least number of ratings in this list.
4. Free Printable Christmas Math Worksheets
In this collection, I provide you with a handpicked collection of free printable Christmas math worksheets and activities to use with your kids and students in class or at home. The worksheets contain various math activities, games, and puzzles to help kids learn math and develop key arithmetic skills, all while having fun.
5. Best Santa Apps
In this collection I featured some of the best Santa apps out there. You can use the apps for various purposes from arranging virtual video Calls with Santa Claus to watching countdowns to Christmas with beautiful backgrounds and soothing classical Christmas music in the background. These Santa apps will definitely amplify your Christmas magic this year.
6. Christmas Coloring Pages
In this selection you will find some of the best places where you can access free Christmas printables and coloring pages to use with kids as well as adults. All you need is to get some crayons, sharpen pencils, set up the activity table and let kids unleash their creative genes as they color a wide variety of Christmas-themed drawings and pictures including those depicting Santa Claus, Christmas ornaments, Christmas trees, reindeers. wreaths, bells, candies, and many more.
7. Google Santa Tracker
Google Santa Tracker is a platform developed by Google which allows people with Internet connection to track and find where Santa is. Since its launch in 2004, Google Santa Tracker has added a wide variety of interesting and fun features making it one of the best Santa trackers out there.
Google Santa Tracker offers a Santa Village where people get together to celebrate Christmas, play games, share resources, and have fun during the season. “On December 24th Santa’s Village transforms into a tracking experience where you can follow Santa and his reindeer as they deliver presents to kids around the world.”
8. Best Santa Tracker Apps
This collection features 4 great and reliable Santa Tracker apps. They provide accurate tracking information and offer simple and intuitive set-ups that you will enjoy. My favorite in the list is Google Santa Tracker which does not only track Santa but also offers a wide range of Santa themed games and interactive activities to educate kids (and adults) on different topics related to this festive season
9. Free Printable Christmas Crossword Puzzles for Kids and Adults
This is a collection of Christmas crossword puzzles that you can use with kids (as well as adults) to help them learn about all aspects of this cultural and religious event. You will find puzzles that cover topics such as Christmas vocabulary, Christmas songs, Christmas stories, and many more.
Besides learning about Christmas, playing puzzles, generally speaking, has many cognitive benefits for kids. It helps kids use their critical thinking skills, develops logical reasoning, improves their problem solving skills, among others.
10. Free Christmas Card Templates and Presentation Slides
If you are looking for professionally designed Christmas card templates and slides this collection has you covered. In it I featured some of the best places where you can find and access Christmas designs and templates to use in your PowerPoint and Google Slides presentations as well as in your cards and posters.
Whether you want to create a Christmas themed presentation where slides are vividly decorated with shining Christmas ornaments and falling snow, or whether you want to create a visually expressive Christmas card to show love and gratitude to your friends and loved ones, the resources in this collection will help you out.
11. Christmas Stories and Books for Students
In this collection I feature a collection of some of the best Christmas stories to read alone, with your kids, or with your students in class. From Dickens’ classic tale A Christmas Carol to O. Henry’s Gift of the Magi, these engrossing Christmas stories are guaranteed to keep you reading through the holiday season and beyond. For kids books, check out this list of the best Christmas books for kids.
12. Free Aesthetic Christmas Wallpapers and Backgrounds
The purpose of this collection is to share with you some good places where you can search for and access free Christmas wallpapers and Christmas backgrounds to use on your phone and desktop. I know there are several other platforms that provide these resources but the ones I curated here are among the best you can find out there.