Christmas Activities for Toddlers
By LAURIN BRAINARD Updated May 15, 2024
The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of year to incorporate meaningful learning opportunities for our little ones! It is the perfect time to pull out themed Christmas sensory bins, fine motor activities, and art activities for toddlers!! There is nothing more exciting than decorating the house in Christmas toddler art projects, the sound of Christmas sensory bins, and handmade toddler gifts. I included all of this and more in my Christmas Toddler Unit! Just grab a few materials and you will be ready to create Christmas toddler activities for the entire month of December!
Christmas Toddler Lesson Plans
This Christmas Toddler Unit is made up of 12 activities you can use for the entire month of December:
- literacy and language activities
- sensory play bin
- math activities
- fine motor activities
- art activities
Interested in downloading these Christmas activities that you can print and use right away? Click on the image or button below to check them out in my TpT shop:
Santa Sensory Bin for Toddlers
Let’s kick off the fun by learning about clothing and body parts as we build Santa in a Sensory Bin! All you need to do is fill a bin with your favorite sensory bin filler. We used black beans to represent the coal in the fireplace. Then, cut out the pieces to build Santa and tuck these pieces into the bin.
Then, give your little one time to choose the pieces they need to build Santa. As your child selects each item say the name of the item to help your child build vocabulary.
_Interested in learning more about how to set up a sensory bin? Check out this blog post: How to Set UP a Sensory Bin
Christmas Fine Motor Activities for Toddlers
I love using pre-writing strips to help my little ones begin to work on writing. Using a tripod grasp (3 finger grasp) takes a lot of practice. One way to begin building hand strength and endurance is by drawing lines and curves on each card. Then, when it is time to begin writing letters, children will already be familiar with some of the motions used to write.
Learning to safely cut with scissors is another important skill for preschoolers, but it can be tricky at first. When beginning with scissors, children need to be taught a proper grip. Then, they can work to build strong muscles in their hands. It takes time and practice for children to use scissors confidently, so the more practice you can incorporate into your day, the better! You can begin with hand over hand movements as they learn to cut with their thumbs up. If you would like to incorporate even more scissor practice, you can grab printables for every season in my Seasonal Fine Motor Activities Bundle.
Christmas Pattern Practice for Toddlers
Learning to make patterns is another important skill for our little ones to learn. In these pattern strips, your children will work on AA, AB, and AABB patterns by pasting the missing pattern square(s) onto each strip.
Christmas Letter Name Practice for Toddlers
These letter puzzles are designed to provide a variety of practice opportunities! Your child will enjoy matching the two picture halves as they also learn new vocabulary and letter names.
Christmas Math Activities for Toddlers
In this math activity, we are packing in all the fun by working on fine motor skills as your toddler works on counting. As you work on each card, your child will add “ornaments” to each Christmas tree as they learn the name of the number and count the same number of items.
Puzzles are so much fun for toddlers! In this activity, your little ones will learn the name of a number and work to find the matching number of objects.
Christmas Toddler Curriculum
If you want to bring some Christmas fun centered around learning into your home this year, then this Christmas Toddler Unit is a perfect choice. It’s full of 12 activities that will get your toddler excited about learning, all while working on their developmental needs.
If adding learning activities into your home this year sounds like something you would enjoy, then you can save money on this unit by purchasing it as part of my Holiday Toddler Curriculum. This holiday curriculum includes activities for Gingerbread Week, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Patriotic days, Halloween, and Christmas! Your toddler or preschooler will be ready for Kindergarten before you know it! You can check it out here:
If you want to learn more about how to get started planning activities for your little ones, download my FREE guide for everything you need to know about the skill areas we incorporate into toddler school:
Here are some other blog posts to help you keep planning activities for your little ones:
- Gingerbread Toddler Activities
- Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments
- How to Plan Toddler Activities - The Complete Guide
If you want to take a closer look at our favorite themes to use to teach toddlers, then check out this post: 40 Themes For Toddler Lessons and Activities
I hope these activities give you the tools to play and learn with your little ones all year long! Feel free to send me a message on Insta @theprimarybrain if you have any questions and I would love to chat about all things toddler learning with you!
This post may contain Amazon affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my affiliate links, which helps to support The Primary Brain blog. As always, I only recommend products that I love and all ideas shared are my own.
Written on February 12th, 2024 by Laurin Brainard