I am convinced that Christmas in the classroom is synonymous with chaos. Students (and teachers) are ready for a long break, and the build-up toward the time off is tedious! However, there is still much to be taught. Plus, we all know that long breaks come with learning loss. I like to spend the time leading up to the holiday break reviewing with fun, hands-on Christmas math activities.
These activities have holiday themes (who doesn’t love a little extra holiday cheer?), and they cover essential math skills that it never hurts to review over and over again. Here are my favorite Christmas math activities your students will actually enjoy doing.
Riddles
There is something about upper elementary students and riddles. Whether they love laughing at them or with them is beside the point. The important part is that they are a fun way to practice math skills.
These math riddles make the perfect Christmas math activity. By solving problems, students will figure out where to place certain letters and uncover the answer to a riddle. Not only are they practicing math skills, but it also serves as a way to check their work. If they can’t find their answer, it means they solved the problem incorrectly.
This Christmas math activity is also no-prep, so you can pull it out at the last minute (because we all know planning in December is chaotic) or use it on “weird schedule” days when you need a quick activity. You can use them for early finisher work, centers, morning work, homework, and much more.
There are three different riddles available. (Each math topic uses the same riddles. Keep this in mind when purchasing.) There are riddles for Area & Perimeter, Multiplication (up to 4 digit x 1 digit & 2 digit x 2 digit), and Decimal Operations.
Each set includes four riddles, an answer key, a paper version, and a digital version.
Escape Rooms
If you’ve been here long enough, you know I love escape rooms. Naturally, I had to include escape rooms in my list of favorite Christmas math activities.
There is a reason escape rooms are a classroom favorite. When you go with the printable version, your students have a hands-on version that’s engaging (and will give you the space to pull small groups or sip your Starbucks). With the digital version, you have a completely no-prep escape room! Win-win.
Currently, I have two Christmas storylines for escape rooms and each has its own math skills.
The first is Escape the Reindeer Barn. You decide to sneak into the reindeer barn and answer your burning questions about reindeer. Unfortunately, while you are sneaking around, one of the elves locks you in the barn! In order to escape and avoid getting caught, you must uncover the codes.
The Escape the Reindeer Barns have three versions, each covering different math skills: Area & Perimeter, Multiplication (up to 4 digit x 1 digit & 2 digit x 2 digit), and Multiplying Decimals.
The other plotline is Escape Santa’s Workshop. You are dying to know what the elves are making in Santa’s Workshop! You sneak in and begin testing out all of the amazing toys. While you’re distracted, an elf accidentally locks you in. You must uncover the code to escape.
The Escape Santa’s Workshop escape room also has three versions, each over different math skills: Division Facts, Division (up to 4 digit divided by 1 digit), and Adding & Subtracting Decimals.
This Christmas math activity includes fun puzzles students must solve using their math skills!
Pattern Block Pictures
This is a classic Christmas math activity, and students enjoy it every year. It makes for a great center, morning work, or early-finisher activity. Using pattern blocks, students will come up with different Christmas-themed pictures.
Students can get creative and create their own designs, or you can name a specific object for them to create. After they create their design, they can create a pattern block mat by either outlining their blocks or using digital pattern blocks, and then printing their design. This pattern block application by Math Learning Center is my go-to.
This makes for a really easy, low-budget activity for Christmas. Increase the challenge by having students name the different shapes in the design, counting sides or vertices, and taking measurements (of sides, the height of the design, or even angles).
Christmas Party Planning
This easy PBL combines several math skills together, making it the perfect Christmas math activity! For this activity, give students a budget for planning a class Christmas party. They will decide what items and food they want at the class party.
Then, students will go online and research the price of these objects. As they “purchase” another item, they will determine how much money is left in their budget. If students don’t have access to computers, you can bring in grocery store ads or even make a mock-up of an ad with various objects and prices.
I created a Christmas Party Planning Freebie to make implementing this Christmas math activity even easier! In this freebie, you’ll have access to student directions, a planning sheet, and more!
Hopefully these ideas got your brain spinning with possible Christmas math activities. All of these ideas are intended to make the holidays simple, so don’t feel like you need to do it all. Pick an idea or two, and run with it!
For more math strategies, resources, and tips, check out these blog posts:
