10 great classroom activities for Christmas
Christmas is always a magical time of year in the primary school classroom. The decorations go up, excitement builds and learning feels that little bit more sparkly! Adding a few creative Christmas-themed classroom activities can make December even more memorable for your pupils.
We know you already have plenty of festive favourites in your teaching toolkit, but you can never have too many ideas. So, to add just a few more into the mix, here are our Top 10, taken from Busy Things and elsewhere. The first three are time-sensitive so you’ll need to move fast; the others you can fit in as and when you feel the Christmas cheer!
Time-sensitive Christmas classroom activities
General Christmas classroom ideas
- Busy Things’ NEW Nativity activities
- Christmas charities
- Busy Things’ much-loved Christmas activities
- International Christmas traditions
- Christmas activity pack
- ‘Santa’s Sleigh Race’ game
- ‘Santa Says’ game
Here goes!
Time-sensitive Christmas classroom activities
1. Christmas advent calendar
The Busy Things’ Christmas advent calendar is all set for 2025! It all starts on Monday 1st December, so put a reminder on your class calendar to open the first digital door! Three will be a Christmas-themed jigsaw to complete each and every day until the 24th December, with each jigsaw slightly more difficult than the last.
Use it however suits your class. You could:
• Begin each morning with a quick puzzle on the whiteboard
• Reward quick finishers with a piece to complete, or
• Let a different child take charge each day
We’d love to hear if your class has completed each day’s puzzle, so do let us know via X, Facebook or Instagram!
2. Kindness advent calendar
With calendars still in mind, we love the idea of a kindness advent calendar. What a great way to weave kindness into your daily routine this December!
There are lots of examples on the Internet, but we particularly liked this one from 52 Lives: School of Kindness because it’s full of thoughtful, age-appropriate actions.
If your class could use a little reminder to share, include everyone or use kind words, this is a lovely, light-touch way to build those habits. Create your own to incorporate the habits you’re looking to develop. It’s a lovely, light-touch way to encourage more positive behaviours, and all in the spirit of Christmas.
3. Letters to Santa
As always, children can let Father Christmas know what presents they’d like this year by writing and decorating a letter using our Letter to Santa writing template. When it’s finished, simply print it out, send it to the North Pole via the Royal Mail and you’ll get a reply free-of-charge from Santa himself.
The deadline for letters this year is 10th December.
General Christmas classroom activities
4. Busy Things’ NEW Nativity activities
We’re thrilled to share that we have four NEW! Christmas activities for 2025! These include:
• two interactive versions of the Nativity Story
• two nativity-based picture and text ordering activities
The Nativity stories work beautifully on the whiteboard as a whole-class activity. Children can follow along as you read and you can discuss key events as and when they arise at a pace that’s right for the class.
The Nativity Story ordering activities test pupils’ knowledge of The Nativity Story.
One requires pupils to drag and drop images to correctly reflect the words given; the other asks for words to be applied to the pictures.
5. Christmas charities
Christmas is a great time to really appreciate what we have and help those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Talk to your pupils about the causes that matter to them and see which charities are working in your local area.
Nationally, schools often support Christmas Jumper Day, Action for Children’s Secret Santa Christmas appeal and Crisis at Christmas whilst on a global level, Operation Christmas Child and UNICEF are two ever-popular choices.
Even the smallest gesture of charity helps pupils understand the true spirit of Christmas.
6. Busy Things’ much-loved Christmas activities
In addition to the new Christmas activities on Busy Things, there’s a whole host of others to enjoy, all of which are available now.
Some are favourites given a Christmas twist, such as Feed the Monkey: Christmas edition and Miner Birds: Christmas edition.
Whilst others, are distinct and just for Christmas. These include:
• the Santa’s Sleigh Dash series of activities with its English and maths variants,
• Where’s my present? interactive scene,
• Christmas card and tree decorating activities
• Custom Sleigh activity
Plenty to keep your young learners busy right up to the end of term!
7. International Christmas traditions
Christmas also presents a great opportunity to compare traditions and customs from around the world and learn about how other cultures celebrate.
Whychristmas.com is a great website, which looks at how Christmas is celebrated globally. Did you know, for example, that in Greece, as well as Christmas trees, they put up sailing ships? Or that in many European countries, Father Christmas travels with a rather mischievous assistant who decides who’s on the nice list!
8. Christmas activity pack
Looking for a ready-to-go festive bundle? Our free Christmas Topical Pack for Schools includes 25 pages of puzzles, crafts and colouring, complete with puzzle answers! Great for the last week of term!
9. ‘Santa’s Sleigh Race’ game
Add some festive fun to your PE lessons or end-of-term celebrations with a Santa’s Sleigh Race! Split pupils into teams and set up a simple relay where they must carry “presents” (soft balls, beanbags or cuddly toys) from one side of the hall to the other. Pupils can take turns being Santa, dashing to deliver their gifts before tagging the next racer. It’s a wonderful way to get everyone moving, encourage teamwork and spread plenty of Christmas cheer. Best of all, it’s easy to set up with items you already have in school.
10. ‘Santa Says’ game
A simple festive twist to the much-loved game, Simon Says or Simple Simon Says, this game rewards active listening. Say “Santa says put your hand on your head” and the class should do it. However, give an instruction without starting with ‘Santa says’ and the class should just ignore it. It’s ideal for practising listening skills and for sneaking in a few extra active minutes.
To close …
We hope you‘ve enjoyed our Christmas classroom activity suggestions and found at least one new activity to try! We’d love to hear what you think about them, along with any ideas you’d like to share, so please leave a comment below!
A part of this blog, we’ve made The Nativity Story – Version 1 activity free for you to play until schools break up. If you’d like to see any of the other Busy Things’ activities mentioned, please feel free to take a free trial. The easiest way to find them once you’re on the platform is to simply search for ‘Christmas’.
That just leaves us to wish everyone a great run-up to Christmas and fantastic Christmas break from us all here at Busythings!
Merry Christmas! Enjoy!
This blog was reviewed and updated in November 2025.