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What are Some Fun Christmas Activities for Preschoolers?
Here are some Christmas activities for preschoolers, create traditions that can last for years to come and provide the chance to learn and explore in a fun way.
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What are Some Fun Christmas Activities for Preschoolers?
The Christmas season is the perfect opportunity to spend time with your preschooler, engaging in season-themed activities.
You can use these activities to share fun times with your little one, create traditions that can last for years to come and provide the chance to learn and explore in a fun way.
In this article, we invite you to try one or more of these Christmas activities for preschoolers to keep your child curious, engaged and smiling.
Make a Sensory Christmas Tree
Children of all ages love Christmas trees. Maybe it’s because of the fun the family has decorating them, because of all the gifts they will find underneath them on Christmas morning or maybe it has something to do with the beautiful lights that light up the entire home during the Christmas season.
If your preschooler loves Christmas tree lights, this activity will surely be a treat!
Items you need:
- Popcorn kernels of different colours
- Navy beans
- White Styrofoam tree – choose a size suited for your child’s age
- Clear Contact paper
- Sellotape
- A large, rectangular, transparent plastic box to use as a sensory bin
- Small green and red pompoms
- Colourful beads
- Spoons, small cups and other sensory utensils, child-sized
How to make your sensory Christmas tree :
- Wrap the contact paper around the Styrofoam tree, with the sticky side on the outside.
- Secure the paper to the bottom of the tree with the help of sellotape.
- Turn the plastic box into a sensory bin by placing inside it the Navy beans, pompoms, popcorn kernels and beads.
- Put the tree inside and encourage your child to decorate by rolling it through the sensory materials. Your preschooler can “load” the spoons and the cups with a mix of materials and pour them to see how they stick to the contact paper.
This activity will enable your child to :
- Practice fine motor skills;
- Measure and count;
- Solve problems and communicate about what they explore.
This Christmas activities for preschoolers has been adapted from Fun-A-Day.
Bake Christmas Biscuits as a Fun Christmas Activities for Preschoolers
We all have sensory memories from childhood, and many of them revolve around dishes our mothers or grandmothers used to cook, especially on festive occasions. The flavour of Christmas biscuits enveloping the entire home can become one of your child’s most cherished sensory memories. This activity has so many benefits for your child that it can become a family Christmas tradition you want to repeat every year.
The Internet is full of recipes for baking Christmas biscuits, and you need to pick one that you can adapt to your preschooler’s age and sweet preferences.
Items you need aside from the main ingredients of the recipe :
- Ice cream sticks
- Sparkling icing
- Coloured sprinkles
- Icing sugar
- Chocolate chips
- Raisins
How to make your Christmas biscuits :
- First, you need to identify the tasks your child can perform based on age.
- If your child is younger, he can pour the ingredients into the bowl, scoop decorating materials like chocolate chips and raisins and stir the ingredients before you add them to the dough you have prepared.
- Your preschooler can have more fun if you hand her kitchen utensils child-sized, such as a whisk and a rolling pin. An apron, a Chef hat, and oven mitts can make your child feel like a real-life chef, so don’t hesitate to provide these fun accessories.
- Decorating the biscuits is the main event for your child, so allow creativity to flow. Spreading the icing with an ice cream stick, pouring coloured sprinkles, dusting icing sugar and putting the hand-picked chocolate chips and raisins on top of the biscuits will be the most fun!
This activity is also learning opportunity, as you child will :
- Learn or practice measuring
- Practice following directions and doing things in a certain order
- Manifest creativity
- Bonus, this delicious treat will make the little one enjoy Christmas more than before!
Create Jingle Bells with Magnets
Jingle bells are yet another element that makes the Christmas season unique. The connection between movement and sound in this decoration fascinates preschool children.
You can create these easy-to-make jingle bells with magnets in no time, providing your child with an opportunity to explore science and have fun at the same time.
Items you need :
- A bowl or container;
- Small and medium-sized jingle bells – red and green
- Several small round magnets
- Large ice cream sticks
- A hot glue gun
How to make your jingle bells:
- Create two magnetic wands by glueing the magnets to the ends of each side of the ice cream sticks with a hot glue gun
- Put the coloured jingle bells into a bowl
- Encourage your child to get the magnetic wands close to the magnets in the bowl and discover what happens
- Have your little one count how many bells fit on each side of the wand
- Spend some time explaining the magnetic attraction in terms your preschooler understands and play together with your magnetic wands.
This activity is a great opportunity for your child to:
- Learn and practice counting
- Understand how the magnets work
- Observe and test the strength of the magnets.
This Christmas activities for preschoolers has been adapted from Fun-A-Day.
Make a Season-themed Obstacle Course
This “don’t ring the bells” obstacle course is a physical activity that enables your child to exercise the ears, the sense of sound and the body while having a great time.
Necessary Items:
- Christmas bells – big and small
- A child-sized Hula hoop
- Wool or string
- A broomstick
- A short wooden beam
How to make your “don’t ring the bells” obstacle course :
The objective of this activity is for your child to cross the course without ringing the bells you set up for each obstacle.
- Obstacle 1:
Tie the Hula hoop with the wool or string to a piece of furniture;
Tie small Christmas bells hanging inside the Hula hoop and encourage your child to go through the circle without ringing these bells.
- Obstacle 2:
Pace a broomstick between two chairs, not too high from the floor, and tie small bells randomly on the broomstick;
Have your child crawl under the broomstick without touching the bells.
- Obstacle 3:
Place the wooden beam on the floor. The beam should be wide enough to allow your child to cross not too easy but with a bit of concentration;
Put two or three big bells on the beam and have your preschooler cross the beam without knocking down the bells.
After your child has successfully crossed the entire obstacle course, cheer like the audience does in a sports competition to inspire a feeling of achievement in your little one.
This Christmas activities for preschoolers has been adapted from Childhood 101.
During the Holiday season, share beautiful moments with your children by engaging them in these Christmas activities for preschoolers!
If you are in Auckland or Hamilton, check out our “14 Fun Toddler Activities in Auckland” or “9 Fun Toddler Activities in Hamilton” articles for ideas over the Christmas holidays!
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