Fun December Activities for 1st Grade

This is a crazy time of year! There is so much going on, both at home and at school, making it difficult to keep our students’ attention. We need some fun December activities that will keep our little ones busy but without adding to the craziness. I’ve pulled together a few activities that you might want to try with your kiddos. I also have earlier posts with Christmas ideas.

crafty december activities

Ornaments

Have you ever made cinnamon ornaments? These are simple to make and can be really nice for kids to take home for their own tree.

Here’s what you’ll need:

3/4 cups of applesauce
2 tablespoons of white glue
1 cup of ground cinnamon (optional cloves and nutmeg)
large mixing bowl
wax paper
straw
string
holiday cookie cutters
rolling pin
wooden spoon

Mix the applesauce, glue, and cinnamon (and other spices if using) in a large bowl.

Use the wooden spoon to mix it all together. If you think it’s too wet, add more cinnamon. If you think it’s too dry add more applesauce. Once it’s mixed together use your hands to work it into a ball.

Lay out 2 sheets of wax paper and sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on each. This helps to keep the ornaments from sticking to the paper.

Now you can have each of your students use a cookie cutter to cut out their ornament from the dough. It’s helpful to use a pin or paper clip to etch students’ initials into them at this point.

Use the straw to poke a hole in each one. Now leave them somewhere safe to dry for 2 or 3 days. They’ll dry a bit faster if you flip them over a few times a day.

Once they’re dry, thread a string or ribbon through the hole for hanging. Kids can decorate these with puffy paint, glitter, buttons, etc.

Thumbprint Cards

Fingerprint Christmas Tree or Wreath Cards are another simple December activity that your kids will love. For this craft, all you’ll need is card stock, paint (acrylic or tempura) in green, red, white, and brown, and glue to add decorations if you’d like.

Fold the card stock to make a card shape.

To make a Christmas tree, kids will make green thumbprints starting with 6 for the bottom of the tree, then working up with 5, 4, 3, 2, and then 1 print for the top.

Paint a brown trunk. After the paint dries, kids can decorate the tree with glitter, buttons, pom poms, star stickers, or anything else you have on hand. Then they can write inside the card.

If you’d rather make wreath cards instead, use the green thumbprints to make a circular shape on the card stock. Add some berries to the wreath with a pinkie dipped in red paint.

These cards would make wonderful keepsakes for families!

Calm and quiet december activities

Image of Christmas Puzzle Pack cover page

Your students will love these fun and challenging Christmas puzzles. These puzzles are a fun way to practice word work and math skills in an engaging way. This fun, but challenging Christmas Puzzle Pack is perfect for independent centers, morning work, and early finishers. Let this NO PREP Christmas Activities and Puzzles pack help you during this busy and distracting time of the year! Packed full of engaging puzzles, using key Christmas vocabulary, your students are sure to find something to focus on!

Activities include word jumbles, color by code, dot to dot, word searches, and code breakers. This puzzle pack is chock full of challenging fun!