25 Resources, Ideas, and Projects for Learning Together in December

Inside: Looking for ideas for your December kindergarten plans? Here are 25 experiences to help you create a more meaningful month with kids.

Your December Kindergarten Plans

If there is ever a month where planning ahead really pays off, it is December. Our outside of school life is super busy and if we don’t think ahead, we could easily miss some wonderful seasonal opportunities for learning together with kids.

Take advantage of the many holiday traditions and community giving that happens in this month to enrich your in-school experiences.

Here are a few special days and events that you might want to take advantage of this month!

December 4: Cookie Day, Sock Day

December 5: Ninja Day (Think Kindness Ninjas)

December 5-11: Hour of Code

December 6: St. Nicholas Day

December 8: Bodhi Day

December 10: Human Rights Day

December 12: Gingerbread House Day, Poinsettia Day

December 13: St. Lucia Day, Hot Cocoa Day

December 18: Hannukah Begins

December 21: Winter Solstice

December 25: Christmas Day

December 26: Candy Cane Day, Thank You Note Day

December 16: Kwanzaa Begins

December 31: New Year’s Eve, Universal Hour of Peace

25 Ideas for Creating a Delightful December

Try something new by adding one or more of these ideas to your December kindergarten plans!

Kick off the month by reading Our Favorite Day of the Year by A. E. Ali to help children see that there are many different holidays and traditions that families celebrate throughout the year.

Send kids home with a Family Traditions Show and Share ornament for them to decorate and tell about one of their family’s holiday traditions. Create a space, such as a bulletin board or garland strand, for displaying and sharing these traditions.

Dedicate the month to helping kids find ways to give to others through random acts of kindness. Begin a Holiday Kindness Countdown that highlights daily ways to give to others.

Make paper plate wreaths to decorate your classroom using tissue or construction paper. Just cut the center out of a small or large paper plate and let kids tear different shades of green paper to make the wreath and add red paper bows or berries.

They can also make thumbprint wreaths and these work well for making greeting cards. Trace a circle with a pencil and kids use their thumbs to make the wreath and their pinkies to make the berries.

Bring in a Cool Collection of different-sized pinecones for children to observe, measure, weigh and sort.

Take kids on a pinecone collecting walk. Show them how the scales can open and close when they are wet and open when they are dry.

Shake some pinecones onto a black sheet of paper so they can see the seeds that are hidden inside.

Read Night Tree by Eve Bunting, where a family decorates a tree for the animals, and use the pinecones to make feeders for the birds. Sunflower Butter is a great substitute for peanut butter if you have children with allergies.

Invite kids to write letters to Santa and then design and create their own envelope to hold the letter.

Bring in a Mystery Bulb for children to wonder about and have them record weekly observations in a science journal as the bulb opens and grows.

Welcome winter with a Snowman Building Party where kids build snowpals indoors at centers using a variety of large and small loose parts while also playing games and creating a snowman snack.

Begin a List Writing Unit, where kids learn how to write several kinds of lists including a gift list, wish list, shopping list, to-do list, packing list, materials and bucket list.

Place some evergreen branches and/or cinnamon sticks inside your Take-Apart Tub for kids to explore. Include scissors, tweezers, and magnifying glasses for kids to use during this fragrant sensory experience.

Bring in a Mystery Object for children to observe and learn about such as coal, mistletoe, or a poinsettia.

Surprise kids with a mystery package that arrives at your door and challenge them to use their “self-control” to wait and open the package. This package might contain everything you need for a Polar Express Day or North Pole Party or even Kindness Ninja Supplies that are a reward for all their kind acts completed in December with the Kindness Countdown.

Challenge kids to an Engineer Design Project where they design and build toy boats to help the Gingerbread Man get across the river safely. Kick off the project by showing kids what happens to a cookie when it encounters water.

Take kids on a Virtual Field Trip to the North Pole where they will look for a missing Rudolph while visiting different spots at the North Pole and participating in different Christmas-themed activities.

Combine real-life experiences with procedural writing as children learn How-to Make Gingerbread, How-to Make Hot Cocoa, How to Decorate a Tree, or How to Wrap a Gift.

Learn about geometry with this Reindeer Shapes Math Mini-Unit. Kids will build, compare, and describe 2-D shapes in a variety of ways including pretzel/stick shape creations, a printable math reader, and the headband game.

Make a Book of Giving where children draw and label pictures of gifts they would like to give to those they love.

Create Gingerbread Man Story Maps that kids can use to retell this beloved story to families.

Set up a loose part invitation where kids can decorate gingerbread men and/or Christmas trees on felt mats or using gingerbread playdough and cookie cutters.

Teach kids How to Draw a Candle and create cards for those who have shared their “light” with your class this year.

Work on number sense in a fun and playful way with a Five Gingerbread Cookies Counting Rhyme where kids can sing the rhyme using the masks and/or puppets included or the printable mini-book.

Create reindeer sacks from lunch or grocery bags and fill them with items for charity or nursing homes or let children use them to take home all their holiday projects at the end of the month.

That’s it for December. Hopefully you found something new to add to your December kindergarten plans.

Enjoy this busy month with your kiddos and don’t forget to take some time out for yourself!

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