The Big Book of Christmas Activities will turn the days before and after Christmas into happy, memorable ones, while providing your child with a stepping stone to success in the classroom in the New Year.
It's packed with new and traditional stories, activities for maths, literacy, geography and science along with tasty recipes, fun facts, word searches, party games to entertain the whole family and so much more. This book is ideal for anyone wondering how to keep their children entertained over the school holidays. Even better, each activity is linked to the National Curriculum to give your child a boost in learning.
This giant, colourful eBook is absolutely jam-packed with stories, games, arts and craft projects, recipes, worksheets, puzzles and more to inspire any child aged 3-11 to try something new and keep their mind bright and active.
In fact, you'll find over 70 things inside for your child to make, read and do. That's five different activities for every day during the Christmas holidays!
Better still, these activities were originally developed for and used by primary school teachers at both Key Stage 1 and 2.
So if your child has struggled with any of the key areas of the curriculum this year – such as English and maths –- you can find plenty of approved (but fun!) ways to help them catch up in time for January.
Open The Big Book of Christmas Activities over the holidays and your child can...
- Unleash their creative side
- Learn new facts about the world
- Become a budding scientist at home
- Build on their literacy and numeracy skills
- Solve puzzles, quizzes and riddles
- Have FUN with the whole family
Countless ideas for helping bright, young learners
Every day of the festive fortnight, your child will have another new exciting project, brain-boosting puzzle or engaging worksheet to absorb themselves in.
The emphasis is on enhancing your child's learning through fun activities they can do anytime, and with anyone – whether that's you, Grandma and Granddad, an aunt or uncle, or friends and cousins. Why not get the whole family involved?
Younger children will especially love the Christmas stories. Watch their eyes light up in wonder as they hear the traditional Nativity tale told to them through the eyes of a little mouse called Herbert (a favourite with my youngest!).
Older kids can try their hands at something a little more hands-on, by making decorations to hang on the tree or place on the dining table. They'll be so proud of themselves afterwards.
And that's only a small taster of what your child can look forward to!
The Big Book of Christmas Activities will provide hours of educational entertainment, with all of this:
ONE – Christmas Stories
Curl up on the sofa with your child and fire up their imagination by sharing these short stories with them. Reading is a simple, yet effective way to help them understand the meaning of Christmas. And if your child is a bit older, encourage them to read to you.
There are two versions of the well-known story about Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, written especially for Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils, by David Day and children's author Joan Carlyon.
You'll also find four modern tales about festive kindness and sharing – all of which come with talking points for discussing them with your child afterwards – plus a ‘Did you know?’ section packed with fun facts, such as the real reason why we put up Christmas trees!
Learning Boost: General Development/English
TWO – Christmas Around The World
Expand your child's knowledge about different countries across the globe such as Norway, Germany, Greece and more with these great fact-finding activities, and help them to discover how Christmas is celebrated in other cultures.
And for every country your child learns about, there's a delicious seasonal recipe for you to whip up together in the kitchen, such as shortbread, gingerbread and fruit bars. Just make sure they don't spoil dinner!
Learning Boost: Geography/ICT
THREE – Arts and Crafts
Little fingers will be itching to get started on these creative projects, which will bring out their artistic side and show them the rewards of making something themselves.
You can use their finished items to decorate the house in time for Christmas, or to even give to family members as presents. Your child will be able to make:
- Angel mobile
- Jumpin' Santa
- Finger puppets
- Pot pourri
- Christmas cards
And that's not all of them! Plus, each project comes with easy step-by-step instructions, a full list of what materials you'll need and pictures to show what the end result will look like.
Learning Boost: Art/Design & Technology
FOUR – Science Mini Tutorials
No inquisitive mind could resist the excuse to set up a 'lab' at home and try these scientific activities. (Don't worry, there are no explosions involved.)
Straightforward, practical tasks (with a festive twist) like these will help switch the light bulb on in your child's mind, for understanding how things work. They cover topics in the curriculum including materials and their properties, life processes and living things, and physical processes. Why not let them try one, or all of these ideas:
- Wrapping paper ripper
- Magnetic Christmas story
- Animals at Christmas
- We love Christmas food
- Christmas waste
As with the arts and crafts projects, each tutorial comes with full instructions, a list of what you need and handy diagrams. Who said science had to be dull?
Learning Boost: Science/Design & Technology
FIVE – Literacy Worksheets
Once your child has written their letter to Santa, why not get them to try these fun literacy worksheets. Practising capital letters and finding the right missing words will seem much more exciting when it’s related to presents and Christmas dinner!
These worksheets are designed to give your child practise in the following key areas:
- Grammar
- Spelling
- Punctuation
- Sentence structure
- Comprehension
- Word choice
- Writing styles
There are worksheets for both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils, meaning you can quickly pinpoint which ones are most relevant to your child and their learning needs.
Learning Boost: English
SIX – Numeracy Worksheets
Whether your child loves or loathes maths, they won't be able to keep their hands off our Christmas-themed worksheets.
Counting up presents and finding a safe route for Santa out of a maze is an easy and memorable way for your child to deepen their understanding and application of numeracy, and they’ll be able to do so in all of these areas:
- Addition
- Subtraction
- Measures, shapes and space
- Estimating and counting
- Fractions
- Handling data
- Solving problems
These worksheets are also split between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, but your child doesn’t have to stick to the ones purely meant for their age range. If you think they're up to it, give them a number challenge!
Learning Boost: Maths
SEVEN – Party Games and Puzzles
Every child loves to play games and do puzzles, especially at Christmas. You won't have to worry about coming up with any yourself this year though, as there are plenty of ideas right here.
Prepare to have everyone – yes, that includes all the grown-ups – in stitches as you join in for some good old-fashioned fun with your child, including familiar favourites and new twists on well-known games:
- Kim's game
- Crazy Christmas
- Sleeping Santa
- Word searches
- Christmas quizzes
- Riddles
Learning Boost: General Development
What a brilliant book! We loved the balance between “doing” and learning activities and especially liked learning about Christmas in other countries. The children particularly enjoyed the accessibly-written Bible stories and the cooking – there is plenty in here to keep any family amused on a wet December day.
– Catherine Cooper
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In our house, my 6-year-old loved solving the Christmas related word-searches and my 8-year-old loved the numeracy problems involving elves and presents. They found them great fun to work out, and didn't notice that they were also learning important problem-solving skills.
They also loved all the Christmas party games that are included. Many of them are familiar with a Christmas-themed twist that adds to the fun. The boys can’t wait for some festive get-togethers with the relatives to play them all.
– Jo Wildman