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Updated December 10, 2024
Beloved winter holidays present an excellent opportunity to engage students while teaching about cultures and traditions from around the world, as well as winter-related science and language arts topics.
All of the following winter holiday lessons and activities are easy to access, use, and enjoy. Best of all, these are all 100% free!
Best Free Winter Holiday Lessons and Activities
NYT Lesson Plan: How Nature Comes Alive in the Winter
A gorgeous, photo-rich lesson that guides kids in exploring nature at a time of year when the wonders of life are subtle compared to the other seasons. Included are a lesson overview, vocabulary, warmup, questions for discussion, and extension activities. As with all NYT lessons plans, no account is needed to access this lesson or linked articles.
Science Buddies: Why Are Skis So Long?
Maybe you take it for granted that skis have to be a certain length. But did you ever consider why, or what would happen if you donned shorter skis? You don’t need snow or cold temperatures to investigate this question. Gather a few common ingredients—flour, cardboard, glue—and a child’s action figure, and you’re off to the (downhill) races. Includes background, step-by-step instructions, questions, and extension activities.
Why on Earth are Winters Getting Worse If the Planet is Getting Warmer?
A complete standards-aligned lesson that examines a question many of us have wondered about. How can average global temperatures be increasing, while many locales are seeing a substantial increase in snowfall? Find out why this phenomenon is not a contradiction, but rather a predictable consequence of global warming. Contains teaching tips, questions, research activities, handouts, and vocabulary.
National Geographic Kids: Winter Solstice
What is the winter solstice and why is it important, both culturally and scientifically? This article answers basic questions about the winter solstice while highlighting ancient monuments.
8 Winter Solstice Celebrations Around the World
The shortest day of the year has long been a subject of fascination for ancient civilizations. Even before people understood the astronomical basis for the event, they knew through observation when it would occur and what changes would follow. In this article, learn about traditional festivals that looked ahead to the lengthening days while making the most out of the darkness.
National WWI Museum and Memorial: The Christmas Truce, Winter 1914
From the National World War I Museum and Memorial, this remarkable online exhibition explores the unofficial but documented truce between trench warfare combatants along parts of both the Western and the Eastern fronts. Includes extensive primary source material as well as photos, video, and explanatory text. In a quirky twist, users may declare a truce of their own on any topic, as well as voting on others’ truces.
Counting Christmas Trees
A standards-aligned lesson based on sales of Christmas trees that can be customized for students in grades K-8. Included are PDF materials, questions, lesson extensions, and a brief assessment.
Weather for Kids
Obviously, “weather” is not limited to the winter. Nonetheless, in many parts of the country wintertime is associated with colder temperatures, snow, ice, and other weather-related phenomena. This robust collection of experiments, videos, lessons, projects, and games offers a broad range of teaching and learning options.
PBS Learning Media: Why Do We Have Seasons?
A complete, standards-aligned interactive lesson exploring Earth’s year-long trek around the Sun. Grades 3-12, shareable to Google Classroom.
Snow Crystals
An inventive, engaging and educational site, Snow Crystals.com is the brainchild of Kenneth G. Libbrecht, professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology. While Libbrecht studies the physics of snowflakes, he clearly also appreciates the artistry and whimsy of snowflakes. Everything is here, from the hard-core science to snowflake fun facts and activities to time-lapse videos of growing snowflakes.
Googley Wintertime Activities for Kids
Google expert Eric Curts presents awesome digital activities for holiday fun and learning. Try the all-digital magnetic poetry, holiday greeting cards, pixel art, or any of the eight activities. All include full instructions as well as digital templates.
Make your own holiday greeting card
Select images, font, background colors, and greeting to create a customized printable greeting card for your favorite winter holiday. Don’t forget to include a fun graphic on the back. Great for kids of all ages.
All about Christmas
A treasure trove of Christmas traditions, customs, and activities, including Christmas crosswords, quizzes, and puzzles. Christmas song Karaoke, anyone?
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights
Teach the story of Hanukkah, then add the grade-based reading, writing, and art activities to your December classroom instruction.
Kwanzaa
This detailed article from the History Channel covers the history, principles, and symbols of Kwanzaa. Educators can use it to launch a classroom discussion about the importance of rituals in building communities, or how students can put the seven principles into use in their everyday lives.
Give your students the Dickens!
According to some scholars, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is the single greatest literary influence on our modern Christmas customs. Explore these student-friendly ways to study not only A Christmas Carol, but also 19th-century English society. Both encompass themes relevant to today’s world, such as poverty, inequality, and how we treat our fellow humans.
Online Kwanzaa Games
Practice math and language skills while having fun with these Kwanzaa-themed digital games and puzzles.
Online Hanukkah Activities
Kids learn the history and rituals of Hanukkah through engaging activities, including digital Dreidel games, crossword puzzles, and coloring pages. These digital activities are printable too!
Online Christmas Puzzles and Games
Fun online interactives for younger learners include puzzles featuring Santa and the elves, a Santa and Rudolph coloring page, and a digital math game, video lesson, and worksheet.
