Christmas Around the World Activities for Kids of All Ages

As Christmas approaches, we all know our students are buzzing with excitement for vacations, presents, and a break from the usual routine. This time of year can bring a lot of distractions! But instead of letting the holiday energy pull them away, why not bring the celebration into the classroom? That’s why I absolutely love using Christmas around the world activities. These engaging lessons help our students explore how different cultures celebrate holidays around the world. This keeps them curious and connected while they countdown to the break. Plus, it’s fun to dive into geography, traditions, and diversity, all wrapped up in the season’s magic! Today, I’m sharing some of my favorite resources to use to teach about Christmas around the world!

What is Christmas Around the World?

When we talk about Christmas around the world, we’re diving into the unique and diverse ways people celebrate this holiday across cultures. From different traditions and festive foods to customs and celebrations, every country adds its own special touch to the season. With Christmas around the world activities, our students get the chance to explore this variety up close. They get to travel (at least in spirit!) to places they may have never seen. It’s a passport to understanding and appreciating how other cultures celebrate holidays around the world.

This approach brings holiday fun into the classroom. It also lets us combine literacy and social studies skills in a meaningful way. Our students might read about holiday customs in Germany, write about the colorful parades in Mexico, or research the origins of holiday feasts in Italy. Any of these activities opens a window to different ways of life. Best of all, it keeps our students engaged while strengthening their reading, writing, and critical thinking skills.

Christmas Around the World Activities

Luckily, putting together your Christmas around the world activities doesn’t have to be overwhelming! With just a few favorite lessons or traditions nailed down, you’ll have resources you can return to year after year, bringing fresh excitement to your classroom each holiday season.

1. Read Alouds for Christmas Around the World

One of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to introduce our students to different Christmas around the world traditions is through read-alouds. In the days leading up to winter break, I like to set aside a few minutes each day to share a special holiday story. You can weave these books into morning meetings, centers, or library time. Any moment that needs a little holiday cheer!

Some of my top picks for bringing holidays around the world to life are The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola, which highlights Mexican traditions, Tree of Cranes by Allen Say, giving a glimpse into Japanese customs, and The 12 Days O Yule by Susan Rennie, which celebrates Scottish festivities. Each book transports our students to a new culture. They each help our students to connect with global traditions in a way that feels warm and inviting.

For even more ideas, check out my full list of favorite Christmas read-alouds!

2. Nonfiction Passages for Christmas Around the World

My Christmas Around the World Activity Pack includes eight nonfiction passages, each focusing on a unique country’s Christmas traditions. The countries covered are Sweden, England, Iceland, France, Australia, Germany, Mexico, and Italy. Each passage explores specific customs, such as Mexico’s Las Posadas parades or Sweden’s Saint Lucia Day. With these passages, our students learn about Christmas around the world. They also expand their nonfiction reading skills. I love incorporating these readings into my Christmas Around the World unit because they expose our students to diverse traditions in a way that’s informative yet engaging.

Each passage has close reading and higher-level questions to encourage critical thinking and comprehension. These are great for independent work, literacy centers, or group discussions. I especially enjoy using the included text features, which allow us to explore different literacy skills, like identifying main ideas, understanding context, and summarizing key details.

Activity Cards and Recording Sheets

I also made sure to include 24 task cards featuring questions related to each passage. These cards make reviewing traditions fun and interactive, as they can be used in a variety of ways. I like to set up a “scoot” activity where my students move around the room to answer each card. I’ll also place them at a center where they can work through them at their own pace. The recording sheet makes it easy to track each student’s responses. Since there’s an answer sheet, it’s quick to check their understanding.

Mini-Book on Christmas Around the World

After the task cards, I include a 10-page mini-book that allows our students to create their own Christmas Around the World keepsake. Each page introduces a tradition and includes prompts for our students to connect personally with the content. This activity gives them a hands-on way to reflect on what they’ve learned. It’s also perfect for early finishers or as a quiet activity. The two different writing line options let you tailor the mini-book to your students’ needs.

Writing Prompts and Literacy Activities

Other activities I include are 18 pages of writing prompts, a word search, a Venn diagram, and ABC order practice. This adds more ways for students to explore holidays around the world. These prompts inspire creative thinking, comparing and contrasting, and vocabulary building. The Venn diagram is particularly helpful for examining similarities and differences across traditions, reinforcing comprehension and analytical skills.

3. Mini Room Transformation

Why not bring a little holiday cheer to your classroom or library with a Christmas around the world room transformation? This activity doesn’t have to be a complete overhaul. I have learned that sometimes, small touches make a big impact! Set up mini displays at desks or tables where your students can explore objects, traditions, and stories from various cultures. This setup allows them to “travel” from one display to the next, experiencing holidays around the world in a fun, hands-on way.

You can add holiday spirit with simple items like dollar store decorations, mini flags, or symbols representing different countries’ Christmas traditions. Consider playing traditional holiday music from around the world in the background to make the experience even more immersive. This approach makes learning feel festive. Each display serves as a mini-lesson on cultural diversity during the holiday season. Whether it’s a cozy corner filled with items from Mexico or a table decked out for Germany’s Advent traditions, a mini-room transformation turns your classroom into an international celebration!

4. Winter Holidays Around the World

I also created this Winter Holidays Around the World interactive digital resource to cover five winter holidays that don’t fall under the Christmas umbrella: Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali, Las Posadas, and Saint Lucia. For each holiday, I include three informational slides detailing the holiday’s origins, traditions, and cultural significance. These slides are followed by a fourth slide with a comprehension check. These activities are perfect for helping our students to learn about holidays around the world engagingly, while also working on important reading comprehension skills.

I use these slides to kick off each holiday study, showing one holiday at a time. The comprehension questions on each fourth slide make it easy to gauge my students’ understanding and help reinforce key details. With audio support, my students can listen and follow along, making this a great independent activity or a literacy center option. This resource can be used with Google Slides or SeeSaw which makes them easy to assign individually or project for group discussions.

5. Christmas Around the World Digital Breakout

Breakout rooms (aka escape rooms) are always a hit with my students, so I created a set for lower elementary and upper elementary!

Digital Breakout for Second and Third Grade

This Christmas Digital Breakout offers a simple storyline. Santa is too sick to deliver presents, so his head elf, Jolly McJingles, needs your students help to unlock Santa’s directions. This resource includes four challenges, each revealing a code needed to help Jolly open Santa’s safe.

I find that the story immediately grabs younger students’ attention, and they dive right into the first challenge, a reading passage and quiz about Christmas traditions in Sweden. Through questions and hints, students piece together the code, a fun way to build their reading comprehension skills while they learn about Swedish holiday customs. The next challenge introduces them to German holiday traditions, where they analyze a “breaking news” image to unlock the time-based code, which helps them progress further in the game.

In the third challenge, they explore Italian holiday customs and uncover the differences between Santa Claus and La Befana. They use a drag-and-drop activity to identify statements that describe each character. The last challenge is a jigsaw puzzle focusing on Christmas in Mexico, where students arrange pieces to reveal the word Spanish word for Christmas. Each activity helps them learn about another country’s holiday traditions in a playful, hands-on way that keeps them engaged from start to finish.

Christmas Around the World Breakout for Fourth and Fifth Grade

For Grades 4-5, the Christmas Around the World Breakout activity takes our students on an adventure titled “Escape from the Airport.”

The scenario involves our students being stranded at the airport on Christmas Eve and needing to figure out which plane to board. By solving a series of puzzles, they uncover clues to help them “escape.” This breakout has a mix of activities that range from matching countries to traditions, solving quizzes, and putting together puzzles. Each puzzle unlocks part of the final solution.

To get started, I usually group students into small teams of 2-3. This allows them to collaborate and brainstorm as they work through each challenge. This Christmas Around the World Breakout activity is available in both a printable format or a digital format.

Bringing Christmas Around the World To Life

Exploring Christmas around the world can be a memorable adventure filled with learning and discovery! From discovering unique traditions to engaging in fun activities, these lessons bring the joy and diversity of the holiday season into our classrooms. Each activity captures our students’ imaginations. They also build their understanding of global cultures in a memorable and meaningful way. I hope these ideas inspire you to bring the magic of Christmas around the world to your students, making this season an educational celebration they’ll never forget!

Additional Resources

Looking for even more Christmas or holiday resources to engage your students this season? Make sure to take some time to explore the below resources!

• 12 Days of Christmas Lesson Plans and Activities
• 5 Free Downloadable Christmas Lesson Plans!
• Christmas Ornament Book Recommendation Freebie

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