December Homeschool Activities: Ideas, Books, and Field Trips
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December can be a really busy time of year! These December homeschool activities are intended to help you spend time intentionally this month. The ideas can be used to supplement homeschool lessons or to spark conversations.
Do whichever activities seem appealing to your family and fit in your available time. Don’t worry if you don’t get to all of them!
December Homeschool Activities: Ideas, Books, and Field Trips
December Homeschool Activities
December is a wonderful time to make learning fun with Christmas crafts, winter science experiments, holiday baking, and hands-on activities. December homeschool activities offer plenty of ideas for making the month educational and memorable.
Explore Christmas Science
December offers plenty of opportunities for hands-on science. Experiment with candy canes, investigate how evergreen trees survive winter, learn how snowflakes form, or explore the properties of ice. These simple experiments can turn seasonal curiosity into meaningful science lessons.
Learn About Christmas Around the World
Discover how families in different countries celebrate Christmas and other winter holidays. Research international traditions, locate countries on a map, compare holiday foods, and create a notebook documenting what you learn. This is a fun way to teach geography.
Incorporate Christmas Math Activities
Just about anything can be a math manipulative. Try incorporating jingle bells, Christmas-themed mini erasers, ornaments, or cookies into your math lessons.
Make Christmas Crafts
Crafting is a great way to develop and strengthen fine motor skills. Kids can create paper snowflakes, handmade ornaments, or Christmas cards. Older students can explore more advanced projects involving sewing, woodworking, or other practical skills. Embroidery seems to be really popular with teens and young adults right now.
Bake Together
Children can practice measuring ingredients, multiplying recipes, reading directions, and observing how ingredients change during baking. Watching a child follow a recipe is an excellent way to assess reading comprehension.
Explore Christmas History
Discover the origins of Christmas traditions, research the history of Christmas trees, or investigate how holiday celebrations have changed over time. Older students can compare historical accounts and examine primary sources.
Christmas Poetry Teatime
A holiday poetry teatime is an easy way to make a homeschool day feel special. My family liked to host tea with poetry on Tuesdays. Sometimes it was a simple event with just our family, but other times we invited friends to join us.
Literary Adventures for Kids offers a holiday poetry teatime bundle that includes a Christmas poetry teatime plan.
You don’t have to make every December homeschool activity exciting. Choose a few that fit your children’s ages and interests, keep progressing through your regular core subjects, and leave plenty of room for holiday fun.
December Homeschool Unit Studies and Lessons
These December unit studies make it easy to make learning fun while celebrating the season.
Read more: 10+ Christmas Unit Studies
Rabbit Trails Christmas Around the World
The Rabbit Trails Christmas Around the World unit study teaches elementary-age students about Diwali, St. Nicholas Day, St. Lucia Day, Las Posadas, Kwanzaa, and Epiphany. Kids will enjoy great literature and hands-on activities.
Rabbit Trails Through Hanukkah
In this December homeschool unit study, elementary-age children will learn about Hanukkah through engaging stories, copywork, and hands-on activities related to the books.
Christmas Around the World Online Unit Study
Middle-elementary through middle school students can learn about Christmas in ten countries with this online unit study.
Christmas Traditions Online Unit Study
This mini-course offers an overview of Christmas traditions around the world while encouraging students to reflect on their own family holiday traditions.
Pearl Harbor Online Unit Study
This mini-course from Techie Homeschool Mom provides a solid overview of the events of Pearl Harbor. Students will learn about the events that led up to the conflict, the impact, and the aftermath.
12 Days of Christmas School
This elementary December homeschool unit study is perfect for the time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Students will enjoy literature while also completing science, language arts, and math activities.
A Boy Called Christmas Online Book Club
This online Christmas book club is perfect for middle school students who want to complete a month-long novel study while getting into the Christmas spirit.
A Christmas Carol Online Book Club
Middle schoolers and high schoolers can dive into the world of Charles Dickens during the Christmas season.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas Online Book Club
How the Grinch Stole Christmas Online Book Club is a month-long literary unit study. Elementary-age kids will learn traditional literary skills while exploring Santa, mistletoe, and more.
December Homeschool Freebies
All About Reading Christmas Pack
This free Christmas printable is a fantastic resource for preschool and elementary families. There are plenty of pages to practice reading, spelling, and language arts skills.
Printable Advent Book Tags
One of my favorite Christmas activities when my kids were younger was to do a Christmas book countdown. I wrapped a book for every day of the month leading up to Christmas. Each day we found the tag with that day, unwrapped it, and read the story.
December Homeschool Books
Add some holiday magic to your homeschool with Christmas read-alouds and seasonal picture books. Choose stories about kindness, generosity, and holiday traditions, then extend your reading with narration, writing prompts, book reports, or related crafts. Here are a few Christmas book lists to check out:
- The Best Books to Learn About Christmas Around the World
- Best Historical Fiction Books for Kids
- 12 Sweet Christmas Books and Activities for Kids
- 17 Best Christmas Chapter Books for Kids
- 5 Fantastic Christmas Books for Young Adults
December Homeschool Field Trips
December is a wonderful month to take your homeschool learning outside of the house! There are plenty of ways to combine education with holiday fun. These December homeschool field trip ideas make it easy to plan memorable outings for your family.
- Visit a Christmas light display
- Explore a Christmas tree farm
- Attend a live holiday performance
- Visit a history museum or historic home
- Take a winter nature walk
December Educational Holidays
The month of December has quite a few religious holidays. I like to discuss holidays with my kids, even if they are not something we celebrate. I want to raise people who are aware and respectful of other cultures. Learning about other cultures and faiths is important for everyone, and I don’t think it is ever too early to start.
1st – Rosa Parks Day (varies by state) – Rosa Parks has been called the mother of the civil rights movement. She did so much more for civil rights than refusing to give up her bus seat. Learn more about her by watching this short Ted Ed video. I will warn you that it mentions sexual assault, so use your judgment about whether this is appropriate for your children.
2nd – National Computer Literacy Day – Computer literacy is a skill that every child needs to develop. I don’t think every child needs to learn how to understand multiple computer languages or write detailed code, but they should be able to navigate their own computer.
A few ideas for National Computer Literacy Day are:
- Try a free code.org project
- Practice typing with Dance Mat
- Read a book about the history of video games
3rd – Make a Gift Day – If your children want to make winter holiday gifts for loved ones, now is the time! We still have a little time until Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa.
These gifts that kids can make sometimes require drying or curing time, so starting early is a good idea.
4th – First Night of Hanukkah – Hanukkah is celebrated for eight nights, but December 4th is the first night of Hanukkah in 2026.
4th – National Cookie Day – National Cookie Day is a great time to bake holiday treats! Preschool and elementary school kids might enjoy reading How to Catch Santa and then creating a new cookie that might tempt Santa.
Last update on 2026-11-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Read more: How to Catch Santa Activities
7th – National Letter Writing Day – Who else remembers practicing how to write letters in elementary school? In the 1980s, we devoted a lot of time to this somewhat outdated skill. Of course, that was before email.
National Letter Writing Day is a great day for our kids to practice writing a letter. They might choose to write a letter to a family member or a friend. It is December, though, so they also might enjoy writing a letter to Santa.
If you want to change this and just encourage your kids to write in general, here are 25 Christmas writing prompts.
7th – National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day – FDR proclaimed December 7th a “date that will live in infamy” after the horrible attacks on Pearl Harbor. This attack prompted the United States government to officially join World War 2.
Books can be a great way to explain events like this to kids because if the information becomes overwhelming, you can close the book or skip pages.
There are a few highly rated books about Pearl Harbor for kids.
Last update on 2026-11-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Last update on 2026-11-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
10th – Dewey Decimal System Day – Dewey Decimal System Day seems like a great excuse to visit your local library! This post helps explain the Dewey Decimal System to kids.
Read more: Introduction to Library Science High School Curriculum
12th – Gingerbread House Day – Decorating gingerbread houses is a classic Christmas activity, but there is no reason to stop there. When my kids were younger, we would enjoy one December day dedicated to gingerbread. Gingerbread Day was a favorite day that my little ones (little ones at the time) looked forward to all year.
One nice thing about Gingerbread Day is that it isn’t intrinsically tied to any specific holiday. Decorating a cookie house can be fun any day for any reason.
12th – Poinsettia Day – The first thing that came to my mind when I learned about Poinsettia Day is this picture book by Tomie dePaola, The Legend of the Poinsettia. This classic Christmas book tells the Mexican legend of the origins of the Poinsettia flower.
Last update on 2026-11-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
After reading the book, try creating a poinsettia craft or two. Here are some cute ones:
13th – National Cocoa Day – We can celebrate National Cocoa Day in a variety of ways, depending on the time available and our kids’ interest level.
First, we can just make hot cocoa. This is pretty easy to do, especially if we use a mix.
Next, we can drink hot cocoa while reading Polar Express. If we really want to make this day educational, we can add a few activities about the history of chocolate.
15th – Bill of Rights Day – December 15th is Bill of Rights Day because that is the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
This is a great opportunity to explain this government document to kids. Older kids are probably familiar with it, but it might be new to elementary-age kids.
The Constitution Center has two lesson plans available to help teach this document.
17th – Wright Brothers Day – My kids grew up vacationing on the Outer Banks in North Carolina, so they have known about the Wright brothers for as long as they can remember. Not everyone has that experience, though!
The Wright brothers are credited with the first motor-operated flight. The Wright brothers memorial is part of the National Park Service. You can take a virtual field trip to the memorial. There are even lesson plan ideas included.
Read more: 30+ Books About the National Parks
20th – Games Day – Games Day is a great time to slow down the holiday season and spend a day playing games. The games can be educational, but they can also just be games that your family enjoys!
Read more: Educational Board Games for Kids
20th – Sacagawea Day – Sacagawea was a member of the Shoshone Native American tribe who helped the Lewis and Clark expedition. She was only 16 years old but deserves quite a bit of credit for acting as their trail guide and interpreter.
Peanut Butter Fish Lessons has a free unit study all about Sacagawea.
21st – Winter Solstice – December 21st is the longest night of the year. The winter solstice marks the official change from fall to winter. This can be a great time to get cozy and do a little reading.
If you want to read a variety of winter and Christmas picture books, check out the Winter Nature Study Book Bundle from Literary Adventures for Kids. There are online lessons and activities to accompany each book (a great way for kids to be engaged while parents are taking care of the holiday chores).
25th – Christmas Day – December 25th is Christmas Day, and while it is likely that no one wants to do schoolwork then, there are lots of educational activities that can be done leading up to Christmas.
The Christmas Carol Novel Study for Middle School or for High School is a great option for older students. Teens will read the classic novel while learning literary skills. They will also have a little fun.
26th – Kwanzaa – Kwanzaa begins every year on December 26th and ends on January 1st. This Kwanzaa guide for kids is a great resource if you would like to learn more. There are activities, book suggestions, and craft ideas.
27th – Visit the Zoo Day – December 27th is Visit the Zoo Day. This might be a good excuse to get outdoors and walk around, but it also might be really cold, depending on where you live.
If you want to ‘visit’ a zoo but also want to stay at home in warm pajamas, try visiting zoos virtually. You get to see animals without standing in the cold
31st – New Year’s Eve – Rabbit Trails Through New Year’s Traditions offers a lesson on New Year’s Eve traditions. This lesson is intended to be used over 1 – 2 weeks.
December Homeschool Planning Tips
December can be a really fun month to homeschool, but holiday activities, family gatherings, and end-of-year tasks can make your usual homeschool routine hard to maintain. A little planning can help you enjoy the season without feeling like you have to choose between holiday fun and learning.
- Plan a lighter homeschool schedule. December is the perfect time to focus on the educational essentials and take a break from your usual workload.
- Add Christmas and winter learning activities. Incorporate seasonal unit studies, holiday books, Christmas science experiments, winter-themed writing prompts, and hands-on math activities to keep learning engaging. We might as well capitalize on their excitement.
- Prepare activities for busy days. Keep a few low-prep options handy for days when your schedule is full. Printable activities, holiday read-alouds, educational games, and simple crafts can make it easier to fit in learning without adding stress. I liked to create a Christmas boredom-busting basket to keep the kids engaged while I handled holiday tasks.
- Plan your holiday break in advance. Decide which days you will homeschool and when you will take time off. Having a clear plan helps you enjoy family traditions without worrying about falling behind.
- Start thinking about January. Before your holiday break begins, take a few minutes to plan your first week of school in January. This will allow you to be fully present in the family festivities.
I hope these December homeschool activities help you have a great month!
Keep reading . . .
- October Homeschool Activities
- November Homeschool Activities
- January Homeschool Activities
- February Homeschool Activities
- March Homeschool Activities
- April Homeschool Activities
- May Homeschool Activities
- June Homeschool Activities
- July Homeschool Activities
- August Homeschool Activities
- September Homeschool Activities
- Educational Holidays That Are Perfect for Homeschool
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