• Welcome
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Learning Apps
  • Alphabet
  • Learn to Read
  • Phonics
  • Spelling
  • Struggling Readers
  • Comprehension
  • Writing with Kids
  • Free Printables

This Reading Mama

Christmas Break Boredom Busters

By thisreadingmama 5 Comments

Take a look at our collection of Christmas Break Boredom Busters. They’re perfect for helping you bring just a little bit of structure to your days during the Christmas break!

19 Christmas Break Boredom Busters - This Reading Mama

It’s Christmas break. The cookies are baking in the oven. The kids are home. All is calm and peaceful. Is that what it looks like at your house? If it does, I’m moving in with you! While I love the break time, I find that after a few days of no structure, the kids become a little restless {and so do I.}

That’s why I’m going to be intentional this Christmas Break. I’ve collected some Christmas Break Boredom Busters that I am keeping in my back pocket for those upcoming days when all is NOT calm and peaceful.

**I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Christmas Break Boredom Busters

1. Tell a story or write a story together to instrumental Christmas music. You can even put aside the paper altogether and “act out” the music. If your child isn’t familiar with the story line of the Nutcracker, it makes the perfect music to act out.

2. Get silly and do some Christmas Mad Libs together. I have 5 free Christmas Songs Mad Libs.

3. Play a Christmas Game. The Measured Mom has a great round up of over 40 printable Christmas games!

paint resist Christmas pictures

4. Crayon Resist Mystery Christmas pictures. This one is SO simple. You just need some cardstock {it’s thicker and the paint won’t tear your paper}, a white crayon and water color paint {or a water-based marker}.

Draw a Christmas image on the paper with the white crayon, and let your kids paint over it to discover the image. Kids can even draw images for each other to paint over. For a closer look on how this works, visit our Crayon Resist sight word post.

5. Do-a-dot Painting. My kids ALL love our do-a-dot paint. And The Gift of Curiosity has some amazing packs for do-a-dot, including this Christmas one.

6. Pull out the playdough. Picklebums shares some super cute open-ended playdough mats for Christmas. We also have some Christmas/Winter mats.

 

7. Work a hard puzzle {at least 1,000 pieces}. One of my favorite traditions as a child was working a huge puzzle with the family. It was placed on a card table or on a movable structure and we spent time trying to put it together, little by little.

8. Try a Christmas science experiment! Don’t know where to start? The Educators’ Spin on It shares 20+ Christmas Science experiments.


9. Play with pattern blocks. We have free, printable Nativity Pattern Block Mats and more generic Christmas Pattern Block Mats.

10. Do some Q-tip paining. Break out the Christmas cookie cutters, the washable paint, and Q-tips {yes, it’s so simple} and do some Christmas Q-tip painting. What a super cute idea from 3 Dinosaurs!

11. Play an indoor family game. You can even sneak in a learning game! We have all our learning games here. You could even arrange a family scavenger hunt.

12. Go on a Christmas lights scavenger hunt. Grab my free Christmas lights scavenger hunt BINGO games and fill your time after dinner with some fun!

13. Sneak in a Christmas printable. I have all my Christmas activities and printables in one place so you can find what you need.

14. Make mosaics with dot paint. If you’ve used our Thanksgiving Do-a-Dot Mosaic printable, this one works the same way! Print off the Christmas Magnet pages from Making Learning Fun, then print off the grid from our Thanksgiving pack, and you’ve got a fun puzzle-type activity that’s challenging even for your older elementary kids! {To create our images, we used both the Rainbow pack and Brilliant pack of Do-a-Dot Paint.}

15. Do some dot painting. Homeschool 4 Me shares some really cool Christmas Mystery Do-a-dot printables. These also sneak in some math practice!

 

roll and cover math game for Christmas

16. Play a Christmas math game or two. Brush up some math skills with these fun printable Christmas Math Games with Dice. In this pack are activities for number recognition all the way to beginning division!

17. Play games in the car. You might just want to check out my recent post, 20+ Car Games & Activities. There are free printable games as well as low-prep games that require no materials at all. I also have a TON of games in my NO PREP Road Trip Games Pack!

18. Make some ornaments together. I love, love, love these beaded ornaments from True Aim. They are a great activity for calming kids down and getting them to focus on a quiet activity after all that sugar. Plus, they’re absolutely beautiful!

19. Decorate a pine cone or two. Create some pine cone Christmas trees. These adorn our mantle, but would also make a beautiful centerpiece! Kids of all ages love this {and it’s good for fine motor skills!}

 

Grab any of our Learning Packs, perfect for Christmas break!


 

Enjoy teaching!
~Becky

Want MORE Free Teaching Resources?

Join thousands of other subscribers to get hands-on activities and printables delivered right to your inbox!

Filed Under: Parenting

« 20+ Car Games and Activities {For Long Car Trips}
Long Vowel Word Study App »

Comments

  1. cassieosborne590 says

    December 21, 2014 at 3:20 pm

    Thanks for included 3 Dinosaurs!

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      December 21, 2014 at 3:24 pm

      You’re very welcome!

      Reply
  2. Erica @What Do We Do All Day? says

    December 23, 2014 at 9:27 am

    Thanks so much for including our links!

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      December 25, 2014 at 6:11 am

      You’re very welcome!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Christmas Break Boredom-Busters (with planning worksheets!) - Lifetree Family says:
    December 4, 2015 at 10:43 am

    […] https://thisreadingmama.com/christmas-break-boredom-busters/ — holiday-themed activities for the days before Christmas […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

JOIN MY NEWSLETTER

and get free printables!

Sign me up!


Hi! I’m Becky, a homeschooling mama with 4 blessings who keep me on my toes {and knees}. Before homeschooling, I was a classroom teacher (M.Ed.) and reading tutor. Read more about me here.

Let’s Get Connected!

  • Email
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Subscribe
  • Shop
  • Checkout
  • Privacy
  • Affiliates

Copyright © 2022 · Designed by Visibilia Media