Christmas Unit Study Ideas
If you’ve been wanting to try unit studies, Christmas is the perfect time to give this homeschooling method a try. You can take off from your regular studies and make everything all about Christmas for the last one or two weeks of school in December leading up to Christmas. This will help you and your children stay on top of schoolwork while also honoring the holiday. At our house, we call this “Christmas school”, and my kids love it. We’ve made it super easy for you to build a Christmas unit study with the resources in this post.
Be sure to download your FREE Heart and Soul Holidays guide to homeschooling through the season in the form below!
What is a unit study?
When you take a theme or a book and connect all of your school subjects back to that theme or book we call that a unit study. So for instance, you could have a unit study on The Island of the Blue Dolphins. That’s a book unit study. You can also have a unit study revolving around a particular theme, such as obedience, or birds, or in this case, Christmas. You can start with something like Christmas in Germany for kids or Christmas in Canada or these Christmas in Italy worksheets and build from there.
Your history, art, science, writing, grammar, and extra-curricular subjects would revolve around topics found in the book or theme. You can even include math in a unit study approach and this works especially well for teaching counting and basic math skills in the younger grades.
When you are homeschooling little ones and elementary students, it’s super easy to build a unit study yourself. You and your children will have so much fun exploring different themes together. A thematic approach engages kids in the learning process like nothing else.
You can even include it in your morning basket time, as I explain in this post: Our Christmas Homeschool Morning Basket
Download your FREE guide to homeschooling through the holidays, Heart and Soul Holidays. Just click the image below:
How Does a Christmas Unit Study Work?
By the time Christmas approaches, everyone is tired and ready to mix things up. So like I said, it’s the perfect time to try a unit study. You can find a huge number of resources to help you cover basic areas of study centered around Christmas. We’ve put together this awesome list of resources to help you build a Christmas Unit Study for yourself. You can pick and choose from this list and do as much or as little school as you want in the days leading up to Christmas. If you prefer a done-for-you approach, you might love this Christmas Unit Study from Amanda Bennet.
One added benefit of unit studies is the ability to teach skills not covered in your normal curriculum. You might find it easier to add critical thinking skills, fine motor skills, or other special topics that need attention by connecting these concepts to Christmas.
When you build your own unit study, you have ultimate flexibility. Pick and choose activities that fit your child’s specific needs. You don’t ever have to do every single activity you find! Our list of activities, games, and resources will help you build a Christmas Unit Study your whole family will love.
Christmas History and Social Studies
To build your Christmas Unit Study you could choose to incorporate history or social studies. You could study how other countries celebrate Christmas or study the history of the holiday.
Christmas in Ireland Activity Pack
Christmas Around the World lapbook
Christmas Science
Have so much fun exploring science with a Christmas theme, you won’t want to go back to your textbook.
Science Experiments and Activities for Christmas
Christmas Art
Christmas is one of the most artistically-celebrated historical events around the world. A quick google search will find so much art related to the nativity and also Santa. Just taking the time to look at art together is a very enriching experience for kids. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that.
Snow Printing Process Art for Kids from Still Playing School
Gingerbread Puffy Paint Project from 123 Homeschool 4 Me.
Kid-Made Christmas Cards from Projects with Kids
Easy Christmas Gingerbread House Ideas from Red Ted Art
Take some time to look at and discuss these beautiful works of Christmas art.
Christmas Literature
Reading books together is such a bonding experience but it is also a powerful way to teach your children a rich vocabulary, reading comprehension, and storytelling.
Eight Classic Christmas Books to Read Aloud Together
35 Christmas Books for Kids to read
Christmas Writing
A little bit of writing practice every day goes a long way! Use these fun writing prompts to stir your child’s imagination leading up to the holiday.
Christmas Writing Prompts for Kids
Christmas Handwriting
Christmas Handwriting Practice from A Mom’s Take
Cute Christmas Ornaments Pre-Writing from Fluffy Tots
Twas the Night Before Christmas Copywork from In All You Do
Christmas Grammar
Fill-in-the-blank stories and crossword puzzles are a fun and engaging way to learn about parts of speech or reinforce parts of speech because the blanks are . . . parts of speech!
Christmas Word Search from Jinxy Kids
Fun and Free Christmas Mad Libs Printable from Happiness is Homemade
Free Christmas Mad Libs from Imagination Soup
Christmas Extras
Christmas Sensory Play and Fine Motor Activities
Fun Christmas Jokes for Kids from Nurture Store
Cute Christmas Pattern Block Mats from Fun Learning for Kids
Enticing Christmas Lacing Cards from Red Ted Art
Get your free Christmas lights Scavenger Hunt printable here:
Christmas Math
Because math is learned best when it can be hands on, you can have fun with counting and basic math using Christmas objects around your home, like ornaments, recipe ingredients, and wrapped presents.
LEGO Math for Christmas from Little Bins for Little Hands
Christmas Counting Worksheet from Team Cartwright
Addition Activity with a Christmas Tree from Fantastic Fun and Learning
Snowman Multiplication Game from Rainy Day Mum
Christmas Nativity PreK Math from With Printables
I hope you enjoy your Christmas Unit Study! Be sure to tell us all about it in the comments.
Don’t miss your FREE guide to thrive through the holidays, Heart and Soul Holidays, chock full of ideas, activities, and printables to help you enjoy the season!
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