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Christmas…
The smell of peppermint…gingerbread…
And an endless supply of fun Christmas activities.
The past few years, I’ve had toddlers running around the house, so we’ve had a chance to try out a bunch of fun activities for the little ones.
Today I wanted to share the 4 easiest Christmas activities that we did over the past few years.
They are simple to set up and use materials usually found around the house at Christmas time.
4 Simple Christmas Activities for Toddlers
Christmas Playdough
We LOVE playdough.
I try to make a playdough provocation for every holiday.
Christmas was no different.
We used our super easy cooked playdough recipe. We added red food coloring and peppermint extract to give it a special Christmas twist.
I cut out a few Christmas shapes and laid it on the table with some loose parts. We used buttons, yogurt pouch lids, glass gems, plastic stars, and beads. You can use any loose parts you have laying around.
Christmas Tree Shape Sorting
We loved this activity and it was super simple to prep.
I took some green felt and cut out Christmas tree shapes. Then used yellow felt to cut out a circle and square. You can use different shapes or sort by color too.
I did the same shapes in a variety of colors. I had about 4 of each shape.
The yellow shapes were used as the tree topper and told my kiddos which shapes go on each tree.
Then I showed Sicily how to sort the ornaments by the shapes and place on the correct tree.
I left this activity on the shelf for several weeks. Sicily kept going back to it, so I added a third shape to up the challenge.
Christmas Stocking Art
You know when you’re wrapping presents and you have a lot of excess wrapping paper?
Now you don’t have to waste it!
I tore the wrapping paper into small pieces and laid it on the table with glue.
I used white construction paper to cut out a stocking shape.
Pro tip: Add liquid glue to a bowl and let your kiddo use a paintbrush to add glue to their stocking.
Invite your child to decorate their stocking with the wrapping paper pieces. I also added some bows.
Jingle Bell Sensory Bin
Christmas is the perfect opportunity to set up a variety of sensory bins. We did one with shaving cream, red paint, and peppermint extract.
But Sicily’s favorite was a Jingle Bells sensory bin. This one was really easy to set up.
Just dump jingle bells into a container then add magnets and a muffin tin. I also added in tongs to work on fine motor skills.
Sicily sat here for 45 minutes playing with the bells. She was trying to figure out how the magnet picked up the bells.
Want more fun Christmas activities?
Click the image below to download our 12 Days of Christmas Play Calendar. Each day has a simple to set up Christmas activity perfect for keeping the kiddos busy.
About the Author: Amanda Stockdale is on a mission to help families fall in love with their homeschool. She uses her 4 essentials to child-led learning framework to help homeschooling moms raise passionate learners while still finding some YOU time every single day. She is the creator of Learning Through Experiences: A Child-Led Curriculum and her signature course Raising Passionate Learners.
