Holiday Home Learning
The holidays are a wonderful time to slow down, reconnect, and sprinkle a little extra fun into home learning.
Below are a few festive lesson ideas that blend education with the magic of the holiday season, in a way that honors a variety of beliefs and celebrations.
Multi-Faith Holiday Traditions Exploration (All Ages)
Pick 3–5 winter holidays celebrated around the world, such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Las Posadas, or Lunar New Year.
- Research Together: Create a simple “Holiday Facts” sheet for each tradition with key info like origins, symbols, foods, and ways people celebrate.
- Create a Mini Museum: Display drawings, crafts, or photos related to each holiday.
- Discussion Prompt: What traditions from each holiday are familiar? What’s new or surprising?
This activity builds cultural literacy and can be tied to social studies and geography.
Holiday Storytelling & Creative Writing
Read seasonal stories from multiple faith backgrounds: Hanukkah tales, Nativity stories, folktales about winter, etc.
- Younger Kids: Draw scenes from the stories.
- Older Students: Write a short story imagining a celebration from the point of view of a person in another country or faith tradition.
- Family Twist: Create a “Holiday Story Book” compiling everyone’s creative work.
This activity promotes literacy, builds writing skills, creativity, and fosters empathy.
STEM: Holiday Lights & Circuits
Use LED lights, a battery, and copper tape to make a simple circuit card themed to any holiday symbol like a star, candle, tree, lantern, or unity symbol.
Activities
- Build a basic paper circuit and watch your creation light up.
- Discuss the science behind electricity and energy transfer.
- Expand the challenge for older students with switches or parallel circuits.
This activity is a practical application of engineering principles and builds problem-solving and fine motor skills.
Holiday Kitchen Chemistry
Every holiday has a dish at the center of celebration, whether it’s latkes, gingerbread, tamales, mooncakes, sufganiyot, or harvest fruits.
- Baking Experiments: Compare how baking powder vs. baking soda affects cookies.
- Cultural Cooking: Choose a recipe tied to the holiday your family celebrates, or explore one from another tradition.
- Math Tie-In: Have kids double or halve the recipe for fraction practice.
In this activity, students apply chemistry and math lessons in a practical setting. They also learn cultural appreciation and valuable life skills.
Winter Nature Study
Bundle up and head outdoors for seasonal science activities, such as:
- Identifying winter birds or trees.
- Observing seasonal patterns: snow crystals, frost, shorter days.
- Creating a nature journal with sketches and reflections.
Optional Add-On: Connect the observations to holidays tied to light and seasonal cycles, like Winter Solstice.
The activities can tie into earth science, biology, and build observation and reflection skills, as well as promote environmental awareness.
Final Thoughts
The holiday season is naturally rich with stories, science, faith, food, and creativity. It’s a perfect time to bring education to life in relevant ways.
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