Keeping students engaged and on task during the holiday season can be tricky to accomplish. With so many distractions and exciting things taking place, learning academic content can be the last thing students want to do. These Christmas math activities for elementary students are a sure-fire way for students to get the practice they need AND have fun at the same time.
Christmas Math Activities for Elementary Students:
Kindergarten Christmas Math Games
1st Grade Christmas Math Games
2nd Grade Christmas Math Games
3rd Grade Christmas Math Games
4th Grade Christmas Math Games
5th Grade Christmas Math Games
Keep scrolling to see all the games in action and how to play each one!
Build a Snowman Game
In this first game, each time students answer a game card, they get to add part of the snowman to their paper. The first one to finish building their snowman wins! Every question aligns with common core standards. Depending on which grade level students are in, the skill varies.
There are 2 versions included: color and black and white. The color version is great for printing in vibrant colors. The black and white version is ink-friendly.
Build a Gingerbread House Game
In this second game, students solve a task card and then choose one decoration for their gingerbread house. The first student to decorate their entire gingerbread house wins.
This is a perfect review activity before giving an assessment or as an extra practice supplement. You receive step-by-step directions so you know exactly what to do. Lesson plans for a sub aren’t needed when you have an easy-to-implement review game.
Build a Snowglobe Game
In this third game, students answer math problems and get to build a snowglobe at the same time! Each time they answer a card, they get to add a piece of their snowglobe to their game board. There are 24 question cards included and 24 chance cards. The chance cards can spice up the game and help or hurt a student’s chances of winning. The first person to complete their snowglobe wins the game.
Build a Christmas Tree Game
The fourth game follows a similar theme! Each time a student correctly solves a task card, they get to place an ornament on the tree or pick a chance card. The first student to decorate their tree wins. If students decide to choose chance cards, the cards may benefit their gameplay. However, the chance cards can hinder their chances of winning too!
The game is great for spiral review and is easy to set up and implement. “Build a Christmas Tree” can be used for elementary children as a worksheet alternative, printables, in math stations, center rotations, math centers, as enrichment or remediation, in small groups, as test prep, as worksheets, homework practice (send it home as a fun way to practice!), printables, and so much more! The math activity is flexible so you can use it however you’d like in your classroom.
Christmas Math Puzzles
Puzzles are always a class favorite for my students! Incorporating these Christmas math activities for elementary students into math centers is very easy and a great collaborative activity. Students use their math fact knowledge to put together each puzzle. Kindergartners practice number recognition, 1st and 2nd graders practice addition and subtraction facts within 20, and 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders practice multiplication facts. There are certainly plenty of puzzles for students to complete included in each math game pack.
Two versions of each puzzle come with the resource (1st version–difficult with many pieces, 2nd version–easier with fewer pieces). In addition, blank versions of each puzzle are included if you want students to make their own puzzles!
In addition to the games we’ve gone over, these Christmas math activities for elementary students are perfect for math fact fluency! Students will get extra practice with their addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division facts while completing a fun team-building game at the same time. It’s the perfect way for students to get math fact practice while collaborating during the winter season. And most importantly, students are learning!
- Print everything out.
- Lay out the presents all over your classroom.
- The kids race to find all of the presents that belong to their kid and solve all of the equations.
- Each team tries to fill out their recording sheet first with all of the equations and answers.
Or, since all students aren’t ready for math facts, let students play the kindergarten version for counting and subitizing practice! Scatter the presents all over the room. Kindergartners split into four teams. (Team 6,7,8, or 9). Whichever team they are on, THAT is the number they are looking for! Students grab all presents that belong to their team (if they’re on Team 6, they grab any presents that have 6 on them). The first team to find all of the presents that belong to their team wins! The full resource contains more detailed instructions.
Digital Hide and Seek: Editable Christmas Math Activities for Elementary
Next, we have a game that is SUPER easy to play! Have you ever wanted a FUN activity that is 100% editable and can be customized to any age level / any standard you are teaching? Do you need Christmas math activities for elementary students that you can use with the whole class OR just a few students? Something that can be used over and over again without becoming boring? Look no further! Every student I’ve ever encountered has LOVED the concept of hide-and-seek. Students find the hidden object by guessing answers to questions on the screen in this digital hide and seek game. Christmas-themed slides are just right for any holiday celebration in the classroom!
Open Powerpoint to play Hide and Seek. Drag the object on the left behind any picture on the screen so it is “hiding”. The teacher adds in the object on each page so all 10 objects are hidden. Put the game in “Slide Show” mode to play!
Have students “seek” where the object is by calling on students to say answers to the questions on the screen. Click to see if their guess is right.
Then, when students click each picture, it’ll magically disappear to see if the student has “found” the object!
Whichever student finds the hidden object gets to come to the front of the room and call on students to guess on the next slide! Therefore, student engagement is high and students always want to come up next. Or, use the blank version to create whatever skill practice you’d like—math facts, letter recognition, spelling words…the sky is the limit!
To conclude, I hope you enjoyed learning about these Christmas math activities for elementary students and found some new ideas for your own classroom.
Click the picture below to find these math games for your grade level (available for Kindergarten to 5th Grade).
You may also like to learn about how to a Christmas Room Transformation in your classroom here.
