The 12 Games of Christmas: Christmas Learning Activities for Children
Festive educational fun for your family this December!
Welcome to the Busy Things 12 Games of Christmas! Twelve Christmas learning activities for children unlocking daily from 1–12 December… fun, simple and educational ideas that families can dip into throughout the festive season.
Each day we’ll highlight a Christmas-themed game or festive activity designed to spark creativity, boost learning and make December feel a little more magical!
Whether you need a quick after-school idea, a weekend activity or five peaceful minutes of screen time while you tackle the Christmas to-do list, you’ll find something festive and child-approved waiting for you each day! Perfect for families looking for Christmas educational activities at home.
What is Busy Things?
If you’re new to us, Busy Things is an award-winning educational platform used in thousands of UK primary schools. It’s packed with Christmas online learning games for children alongside creative, curriculum-aligned activities covering phonics, maths, English, art, music, history, coding and so much more!
At home, it gives families a safe, ad-free space where children can explore fun, genuinely educational activities – without any faff, fiddly setups or glitter explosions!
You can try Busy Things absolutely FREE, so come and join in with the 12 Games of Christmas: Start your free trial now!
What are the 12 Games of Christmas?
From 1–12th December, we’ll update this page each day with new Christmas learning ideas for kids. You can expect:
- Christmas puzzles and festive problem-solving
- Creative art tools and seasonal paint projects
- Silly sleigh-building!
- Christmas maths games
- Winter crafts and printable activities
- A big surprise finale on Day 12!
We’ve chosen activities that work brilliantly in short bursts, perfect for keeping children busy while still feeling purposeful and fun. So, let’s go!…
Day 1: Pixel by Numbers – Christmas Edition
We’re kicking off the 12 Games of Christmas in style with two brand-new 2025 festive activities! Colour-by-number, pixel-style fun with both an on-screen and printable version for children to enjoy.
If your child loves calming, absorbing activities, this one is a winner. It’s brilliant for fine motor control, attention to detail and building concentration. A lovely sensory-style “brain break”.
Pixel by Numbers – Christmas Edition
Children can select a Christmas design – Santa, snowflakes, reindeer, trees and more – then fill in each square using the matching number. As they colour, the picture slowly appears, one satisfying pixel at a time.
Pixel Art: Christmas Coordinates
Use the grid references to complete a hidden Christmas picture – perfect for practising coordinates, problem solving and careful colouring.
Day 2: Where’s My Present?
The elves are in a muddle! There are presents everywhere, can your child spot the right ones in all the festive chaos?
Today’s festive game is brilliant for building observation skills, reading practice and is jolly good fun!
Where’s my present?
Search through the chaos of wrapping paper, ribbons and bows to find the matching gifts! Children can choose the picture-matching version or, if they’re feeling confident, switch to silhouettes or written clues for an extra challenge.
Day 3: Santa’s Sleigh Dash
Help Santa collect the presents and deliver them down the chimneys! A brilliant mix of festive fun, coordination, maths, early reading and shape recognition. Something for children of all ages today!
Santa’s Sleigh Dash Christmas game:
Children start by flying Santa through the sky, collecting as many presents as they can while dodging the red monsters. Then night falls and it’s time to drop each present down the chimneys.
There are four versions to choose from, making it perfect for all ages:
- The classic just-for-fun Santa’s sleigh dash
- A words version for early readers
- A shapes & colours version for younger children
- A mental maths version with quick-fire questions
Day 4: Copy the Christmassy Picture
Get your drawing fingers ready! Can your child copy our Busy Things Christmas characters? A fun Christmassy activity, perfect for developing observation and fine motor skills… and makes for very jolly artwork!
Choose from eight festive pictures in Copy the Christmassy Picture; from a monkey dressed as Rudolph to a our Yellow Monster elf!
Children can use the paint tools and colours to recreate the image as closely as they can. Encourage them to experiment with brushes, shapes and shades to capture all the little details.
Day 5: Free Christmas Activity Packs
Print, puzzle, colour, and create! Our Christmas Activity Pack is bursting with festive fun! Our Christmas activity pack has had a festive refresh for 2025 and it’s bursting with brand-new activities!
Inside you’ll find Christmas crafts, puzzles, colouring pages, mazes, spot-the-difference challenges and lots more seasonal fun. It’s perfect for classroom activities, after-school downtime or a cosy weekend at home.
And as always, everything comes with a sprinkle of sneaky learning… children will be building problem-solving skills, observation, fine motor control and creative confidence without even realising.
Choose your pack to download:
For Schools: Class-friendly printables and festive activities
For Families: Fun festive pages perfect for home
Day 6: Merry Maths Day!
Two festive maths challenges today! One perfect for early counters and one ideal for older, quick thinkers. A little something for everyone to unwrap!
For younger children: Feed the Monkey – Christmas Edition
Our cheeky monkey is dreaming of festive treats. Children count out the right number of sprouts, mince pies, puddings and pigs in blankets all the way up to 20. A gentle, confidence-building way to practise early counting skills.
For older children: Miner Birds – Christmas Edition
The Miner Birds have migrated to the North Pole and they’re racing to collect 20 candy canes! Children answer quick-fire maths questions to swoop in and grab each candy cane before their opponents.
It’s lively, Christmassy and joyfully competitive!
Day 7: Design Your Own Custom Sleigh!
Today’s festive activity is pure Christmas silliness… children get to design their very own custom sleigh!
They can mix and match all sorts of parts: vehicle bodies, wheels, runners, drivers and even the animals pulling it. A festive bathtub pulled by a kangaroo? A rocket-sleigh driven by a monster? Anything goes in Custom Sleigh!
Once they’ve perfected their design, they can print it out to display at home or school… or send it to Santa’s sleigh-building team for consideration!
Day 8: Snowball Shootout
Ready… aim… throw! Today’s festive activity is Snowball Shootout – a brilliantly fun winter target game children love.
Help Monkey lob snowballs at the pink men hiding in trees and igloos, and see what happens when you hit nets, targets or even the odd passing bird! Just try not to clip the flying angel…
A handy guide helps younger players line up their shot, and older children can switch it off for a trickier challenge.
Day 9: Jolly Jingles!
Ding, dong, merrily we play! Today’s festive activity is Jolly Jingles, a joyful Christmas music game where children help our Busy Things bell ringers play a familiar festive tune.
The monster conductor needs your help! Tap the pink men beneath him to make them ring their bells in the right order, keep going until all the fairy lights are glowing.
Can you recognise the Christmas song they’re playing?
Want to try making your own tune? Head over to our Monster Grid music game to experiment with tempo, rhythm and structure – or just make a joyful noise!
Day 10: Create Magical Snowflakes
No two snowflakes are the same… so let’s see what your children can create! This is a lovely, calming and creative wintry activity for enjoying a quiet moment in the middle of all the December excitement…
Children can use our symmetry paint tools to design snowflakes. Try experimenting with different colours, brushes and patterns to see what beautiful designs they can come up with.
Day 11: Design Your Own Christmas Jumper!
It’s Christmas Jumper Day… so let’s get designing! Today’s activity is all about creativity, colour and fabulously festive outfits.
Children can head into Fashion Fun at Christmas to create their own Christmas jumper (or dress, shoes… even underwear!). They can play with colours, textures, patches, buttons and stamps to design the snazziest festive outfit of the season.
Want something off-screen too?
Inside the FREE Winter Activity Pack you’ll also find a printable cosy jumper template ready for colouring. Children can fill each stitch with patterns, pictures and festive designs – perfect for a relaxed Christmas craft at home or in class.
Day 12: The Grand Christmas Bauble Hunt Begins!
We’ve made it to Day 12, and something magical is happening inside Busy Things… the Grand Christmas Bauble Hunt is officially on! And yes, there are prizes to be won!
The Busy Things elves have been hiding Christmas baubles inside games all across the site. Can your children find them all?
Handy clues will appear to help you track them down. To enter the prize draw:
- Families: find all 10 Christmas baubles
- Schools: find all 5 Christmas baubles
This is a subscriber-exclusive UK activity, and it’s always a huge hit with families and schools. If you’d like to join in, now is the perfect time – with our Christmas Sale, you can access Busy Things from just £2.24 for the first month (offer ends Sunday 14th December)
Full competition terms and conditions are available inside Busy Things.
All 12 Games of Christmas are now live!
The full collection of festive learning activities is ready for you to explore… enjoy discovering them all!
Follow us on social for more Christmas ideas and updates:
A festive extra: the FREE Busy Things Advent Calendar
Families can also enjoy our free Christmas learning activities with the Busy Things online Advent Calendar, revealing a new festive jigsaw puzzle every day.
Free jigsaw Advent calendar
Countdown to Christmas with our free online Advent calendar. Children can enjoy a new jigsaw every day and they’ll get trickier as the month goes on.
A cosy five-minute break whenever you need one!
Busy Things Makes a Brilliant Christmas Gift!
If you’re looking for a thoughtful Christmas gift for child, a Busy Things gift subscription is a lovely option – something creative, educational and useful long after Boxing Day!
Busy Things gives children access to hundreds of creative, learning games and activities at home: phonics, number skills, art tools, music making and festive learning fun. All in a safe, ad-free space parents can feel good about.
If you’d like something to wrap, here are some easy ideas for making a gift certificate look special:: Creative ways to present a gift certificate.
Browse Busy Things Educational Gift Subscriptions
Looking for more Christmas ideas for kids?
Explore even more Christmas learning ideas for children:
- Exploring Christmas Traditions Around the World With Kids
- 20 Festive Family Christmas Party Ideas!
- Christmas activities for kids; FREE Christmas activity pack
- FREE Pop-Up Christmas Card Template: A Fun, Easy Craft for Kids!
That’s all 12 Games of Christmas!
Thanks for joining us each day, we hope your children have enjoyed the Christmas countdown! There’s plenty more to discover inside Busy Things, so enjoy exploring all the festive games.
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