Christmas Language Arts Activities

December 14, 2023 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

There are so many fun ways to add a holiday spin to language arts learning, particularly sight words. These Christmas language arts activities make classroom time a little more fun as we head into the break, or give you something fur to do for learning at home.

123 Homeschool 4 Me adds a little holiday magic to learning spelling words with a printable of holiday lights. Write a sight word or spelling word in the bulb, then have kids paint over with watercolors to reveal the word. There are also festive printables for your spelling test if you want them.

These Christmas tree spelling worksheets from Teach Beside Me are so cute and a fun way to work with three to six letter words. You start with a single letter at the top of the tree then add a letter to the word on each level (different trees have different numbers of letters).

Miss Decarbo on Teachers Pay Teachers has a free printable word work project for first and second graders. They unscramble a holiday themed word (like reindeer or workshop) then come up with words that are made up of the letters in that word.

Another freebie on Teachers Pay Teachers is from My Fabulous Class, which has a sight word package that includes word list printables, sight word candy canes, and another take on the watercolor ornament sight word activity.

Play a little sight word bingo with these printable cards from ABCs of Literacy. I love the idea of using little holiday themed pompoms as your counters.

As a knitter I love anything with a Christmas sweater theme, and this reading activity has kids use observation and problem solving skills to determine which sweater is the secret sweater. This activity is from The Measured Mom and has a sweater printable as well as the clues kids can use to solve the puzzle.

Looking for the best tools to help teach your child to read? Explore our specially curated Amazon Idea List featuring top-rated reading products designed to make learning to read fun and effective. From engaging phonics programs to interactive toys and books, we have everything you need to support your child’s reading journey. Visit our list now and discover the best resources to teach your child to read!

You can also see some of our other articles on reading activities and ideas here.

125 more activities to get your child to read.

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Valentine's Day Language Activities

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Book Review: Las Mañanitas

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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