holiday assignments for high school students

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Summer is a perfect time to relax and recharge, but it’s also a great opportunity for students to gain work experience, engage in enjoyable activities, and improve their chances of getting into a top college. While it might be tempting to spend the whole summer sleeping in and hanging out with friends, it’s also essential to use some of that time productively to prepare for your future. Engaging in summer activities can help you land a good job or get accepted into a prestigious college, and being productive doesn’t have to consume all your time or be dull!

Colleges and employers appreciate applicants who are driven and eager to learn. By staying active during the summer, you’ll demonstrate that you have what it takes to be a valuable addition to your school or workplace.

There are many ways for high school students to spend their summer. Here are some activities that are both useful and enjoyable.

Volunteering

Volunteering means doing work that helps others without getting paid. Knowing that you are making a difference can be added to your resume and college applications. You can find volunteer opportunities in many places like schools, animal shelters, nursing homes, museums, and more. Most of the time, you can volunteer close to home, but there are also chances to volunteer abroad during the summer. This can be organized through your school, religious institutes, or special programs.

Besides helping others, you can often pick volunteer work that matches your interests like working with kids, enjoying being around animals, or prefer outdoor activities. You can usually find a suitable volunteer role that matches your preference. You might also volunteer at a place where you hope to work in the future.

However, just a few hours of volunteering won’t impress colleges much. To make your volunteer experience stand out, you should stay at the same place for a long time, take on a leadership role, and show your passion and interests clearly.

An internship is a great way to dive into your dream job. Generally, an internship allows you to use what you’ve learned in school to solve real-life issues. There are internships in many fields, so it’s essential to decide what interests you. The primary goal of a student internship is to acquire useful work experience. To secure an internship, you usually need to complete an application process that may include writing essays, working on a project, obtaining recommendation letters, and possibly attending an interview.

You can find opportunities in places like museums, labs, companies, community projects, or many reliable online platforms. A great internship for school students is the Artificial Intelligence Internship Program , guided by a retired Senior Researcher from Oxford University. This program allows you to work on a project that meets Sustainable Development Goals and earn a valuable Letter of Recommendation, enhancing your student profile. 

Another is the Space and Generative AI Internship Program specially designed for high school students. Students improve their chances for university admission by getting letters of recommendation from NASA’s former chief scientist. Working with PhD scholars enhances their profiles for top universities that appreciate practical experience. This internship helps students learn new skills and shows their commitment to exploring careers in the exciting areas of space and AI. 

Apply early to improve your chances of getting a position that will enhance your college applications.

Summer Camp

Summer camps have evolved beyond just making s’mores and hiking in nature. Now, many summer camps for high school students focus on unique themes like cultural experiences, performing arts, wilderness skills, and more. Unlike regular extracurricular activities, summer camps provide a more intense and organized experience over a specific time frame, even if they cover similar topics like sports.

Students often join these camps to learn new skills or enhance existing ones. For instance, if you want to improve in a sport or start learning a new language, a summer camp can help you dive deep into that subject with fewer distractions and alongside peers who share your interests. Some programs even offer academic credit for coursework completed during the camp. Adding a summer program to your CV or personal statement shows that you are dedicated to learning beyond regular school hours and during the summer.

Summer is a perfect season for you to discover and create. Start by reflecting on your passions—whether it’s painting, photography, gardening, or writing—and identify skills you want to learn.

Consider local resources like workshops and community events that align with your interests. Connecting with like-minded individuals can enhance your experience and motivation.

Knowing what you need and what interests you is a good way to begin planning fun and successful summer activities!

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Take a look at when students return to the classrooms for the 2023-2024 academic year,, by nbc new york staff • published august 30, 2024 • updated on august 30, 2024 at 9:11 pm.

Summer camps are done, kids are back at home with their families, mornings are getting a bit crisper as evenings are getting a bit shorter — all sur-fire signs that summer is ending and school is about to start back up again.

For some parents, it's been a long summer with the kids. For kids, it wasn't nearly long enough. As we get ready to turn the calendar to September, students will be returning to class very soon.

Day 1 is Thursday, Sept. 5. The first days off, those associated with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, come just under a month later, on Oct. 3-4. Indigenous Peoples' Day/Italian Heritage Day comes 10 days later, on Oct. 14.

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The calendar is available in multiple languages here.

Another key reminder: The "no snow day" concept that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic is here to stay. That means lots of snow might mean no in-person school, but it doesn't mean "no school."

Remote instruction now covers those days and while we can hardly predict when it might snow enough to close physical classrooms, knowing that now might better equip some parents to adjust on the fly should the time come.

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Boosting Middle School Students’ Motivation to Read

To increase interest in reading, teachers can guide students to explore a variety of literacy approaches that support their development.

In his 2009 book Readicide , Kelly Gallagher argued that some ways reading skills are taught have the potential to kill students’ love of reading. I took that to heart and want to share some ideas about making reading relevant and authentic for middle school students—strategies I use to help motivate them to want to read.

Motivation is part of reading , as is close and careful work on the mechanics of the process itself. For middle school readers and beyond, increasing interest in reading can be tricky. After all, these students have had many experiences with schooling and different approaches to reading instruction. Here are some tips for teachers who are thinking about increasing their focus on literacy this school year.

The importance of informational text (and inquiry)

By building on inquiry, teachers can shape genuine purpose for reading beyond the tropes of narrative. Possibilities exist for further literacy connections by approaching reading through an inquiry-framed viewpoint, as discussed in the book Inquiry Units for English Language Arts . If your school or school system already requires a grade-level research project of any sort, the marriage with inquiry is a step waiting to happen.

Many of the complex and challenging texts that students encounter will be nonfiction, and reading in the classroom can be planned in response to that. As students get older, they’re developing and refining areas of interest, testing ideas, and picturing themselves more and more as adults. This isn’t to say that interest can always overcome significant reading needs—but it absolutely helps to be working on areas of literacy development along with texts that students find engaging. Without this ingredient of engagement, the journey becomes even more arduous. 

In terms of relevance, building a case behind a genre-focused study might be more tenuous unless the text addresses the “just right” issues that students are facing. This is work that can indeed be accomplished, but opening up access to nonfiction allows for any number of connections that mirror the kinds of texts that students will encounter for the majority of their adult lives.

Celebrate reading widely

School and evening community-wide initiatives are one way to encourage reading. It’s important for reading to be normalized as an activity for everyone. This was something that was modeled for me at home as a young person and is certainly a move that can be made as a wider initiative. Celebrating at-home literacy practices in English and across languages is a literacy must-do.

But reading across communities or even languages is not the sum total of what I have in mind here. Readers who are familiar with my research interests will likely know that I have a keen interest in connecting students to reading experiences through a variety of texts. As I continue to reflect on and connect with my teaching practices, I’m surprised to find that I am consistently traditional in certain ways.

For example, I believe that to teach reading, kids need to be reading. With so many types of texts available, part of the work is done for us as teachers. From literacy around the worlds of gaming to graphic novels and more, reading is a digital, creative, and expansive endeavor. When I begin working with students in reading or writing, mentor texts are one of the places I often go . Whether working with nonfiction or fiction, I show students that certain elements are very similar.

In a teaching routine with the text A Wish in the Dark , by Christina Soontornvat, for example, I invite students to consider what they encounter on the first page of the book. I begin with some of the questions that you also probably ask about a text: 

1. What do you notice about this world?

2. Does it sound like the world you know or a different kind of place?

3. Who are the characters? Who do you think is the protagonist, and what do they do that makes you believe so? What other perspectives might exist or details might you need?

4. What do these characters want and what seems to be in their way?

In many ways, these are questions that can be applied to texts across content areas. Much of our human story involves solving a problem or overcoming an obstacle, which sometimes leads to another problem that needs to be addressed. I’m also comfortable teaching a portion of a book without teaching the entirety of the text so that students can get a taste and read more if they are intrigued.

Guiding Students to Compose Their Own Stories 

As Toni Morrison famously suggested , write the story you want to read. Stories can be sources of healing, escape, processing, and comfort. They can also be ripe places for creativity. 

While working in online spaces for reading tutoring with graduate student mentees, I’ve found that encouraging older readers who are striving to write and engage with their own story-making is a liberating and encouraging process. Composing is a frequently recurring theme in my teaching and work. Helping students write a plan of advocacy and sharing their lived experiences for healing and building community expands what reading, writing, and literacy can be about.

Students who experience significant difficulty with content will often act out. They’ll work hard to avoid the tasks that they don’t feel confident about. Who can blame them? I wouldn’t want to spend all day every day performing a task in front of my peers that I didn’t feel good about and that could be, in fact, embarrassing. 

Tending to students who are still working through fundamental reading processes can be done compassionately and artfully—and for the reader who isn’t readily engaging with any text at all, opening up composing with a variety of tools can be a step in a positive direction.

As teachers, we know that this is careful and critical work. As we begin the new school year, I hope these ideas can be ground from which more ideas germinate—maybe taking yet another step toward dealing with readicide.

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High School Assignment Sparks Controversy for Asking Students to Answer ‘Is God Real?’

“This is some crazy s--- overall and also on a technical level,” said a Skiatook High School student’s mother

A homework assignment ignited uproar online after a concerned parent shared a photo of the questions a teacher wanted her child to answer, including "Is God real?"

Oklahoma mother Olivia Gray posted her sophomore daughter Nettie Gray’s world history assignment from a Skiatook High School teacher on Facebook on Aug. 15, describing it as “some crazy s---.”

The assignment — titled “How did the world start?” — ended with two questions that raised concerns: “Is God real?” and “Is Satan real?”

“It’s being called a research paper,” Olivia wrote of the assignment, which asked students to provide sources using APA Style to support their answers. 

“This is some crazy s--- overall and also on a technical level. Literally the kid had been in school ONE WEEK,” she concluded.

Many reacted to the assignment in the comments section of Olivia's Facebook post.

“This assignment is wrong on more than ten levels,” one person commented, while another wrote, “I’m stunned and horrified they are even being allowed to push or preach their own personal religion/religious bias like that onto students in a public school in the United States.”

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. In a statement to area news outlet 2 News Oklahoma on Aug. 19, the school district addressed the situation.

“Skiatook Public Schools became aware of the World History assignment in question through a social media post,” the statement read. “Once administration reviewed the assignment, it was determined that the presentation of the material was not conducive to our instructional plan.”

“Administration and staff will continue to collaborate on best practices to meet the Oklahoma Academic Standards,” the statement added.

PEOPLE reached out to Skiatook Public Schools’ Superintendent Rick Loggins and Director of Curriculum Tim Buck for comment about the controversial assignment, but did not immediately hear back.

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Facilities Director at Birmingham Community Charter High School

Application Deadline

9/10/2024 8:00 AM Pacific

Date Posted

Number of openings, add'l salary info, length of work year, employment type, about the employer.

The Birmingham Community Charter High School is a thriving, collaborative community that provides an academically challenging, personalized, and supportive environment that prepares individual students to be the best version of themselves and pursue their post high school academic and career goals. We achieve excellence through perseverance and consistent growth. -- We value equity and choice because we know that with opportunity, our diverse and talented students can achieve their maximum potential. -- We exhibit empathy in our effort to provide compassionate support that will empower students. -- We value our community and believe fostering positive relationships with students and parents will enhance student learning. --We value curiosity and adaptability in our effort to identify and meet our students' needs.

Job Summary

Under the direction of the Administrative Director overseeing operations, assists with the daily operations and planning for Facilities, Maintenance and Operations services and activities; this includes coordinating, directing, supervising, and evaluating building and/or grounds maintenance programs and related activities. These responsibilities include, but are not limited to, supervision of maintenance staff and projects, work orders, alteration projects, as well as the coordination and organization of construction, reconstruction, modernization, relocation, and other capital outlay projects.

Requirements / Qualifications

EDUCATION: • Graduation from high school or evidence of equivalent educational proficiency, preferably supplemented by additional courses in personnel management, supervision and related subjects. • Verification of successful completion of authorized courses in Building and Grounds Training, Heating and Ventilation, Supervision, and Scheduling Practices preferred. EXPERIENCE: • Five years of experience in janitorial, custodial or building maintenance work • At least two years in a lead/ supervisory capacity preferred

To apply, please complete the edjoin application and provide: - A cover letter, explaining your interest in this position - A resume - Three (3) letters of reference, preferably from supervisors

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Birmingham Community Charter High School

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APA Style for beginners

Then check out some frequently asked questions:

What is APA Style?

Why use apa style in high school, how do i get started with apa style, what apa style products are available, your help wanted.

APA Style is the most common writing style used in college and career. Its purpose is to promote excellence in communication by helping writers create clear, precise, and inclusive sentences with a straightforward scholarly tone. It addresses areas of writing such as how to

• format a paper so it looks professional;
• credit other people’s words and ideas via citations and references to avoid plagiarism; and
• describe other people with dignity and respect using inclusive, bias-free language.

APA Style is primarily used in the behavioral sciences, which are subjects related to people, such as psychology, education, and nursing. It is also used by students in business, engineering, communications, and other classes. Students use it to write academic essays and research papers in high school and college, and professionals use it to conduct, report, and publish scientific research .

High school students need to learn how to write concisely, precisely, and inclusively so that they are best prepared for college and career. Here are some of the reasons educators have chosen APA Style:

• APA Style is the style of choice for the AP Capstone program, the fastest growing AP course, which requires students to conduct and report independent research.
• APA Style helps students craft written responses on standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT because it teaches students to use a direct and professional tone while avoiding redundancy and flowery language.
• Most college students choose majors that require APA Style or allow APA Style as an option. It can be overwhelming to learn APA Style all at once during the first years of college; starting APA Style instruction in high school sets students up for success.

High school students may also be interested in the TOPSS Competition for High School Psychology Students , an annual competition from the APA Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools for high school students to create a short video demonstrating how a psychological topic has the potential to benefit their school and/or local community and improve people’s lives.

Most people are first introduced to APA Style by reading works written in APA Style. The following guides will help with that:

Many people also write research papers or academic essays in APA Style. The following resources will help with that:

Instructors will also benefit from using the following APA Style resources:

In addition to all the free resources on this website, APA publishes several products that provide comprehensive information about APA Style:

The APA Style team is interested in developing additional resources appropriate for a beginner audience. If you have resources you would like to share, or feedback on this topic, please contact the APA Style team . 

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Lesson Plan

Aug. 29, 2024, 2:01 p.m.

7 resources for teaching about Labor Day

Updated on August 29, 2024

Looking for powerful Labor Day lesson plans and resources? Help students understand the history of the labor movement and its current relevance at home and around the world. Checkout NewsHour's website Journalism in Action on how journalists covered the role of civic engagement in U.S. history, including units on Exploitation: Labor and Immigration and the Muckrakers .

1. Lesson plan: Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire and migrant farm workers

Take a look at these primary sources of the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist factory of 1911 and the hardships migrant workers have faced in the U.S. for decades. Be sure to check out the political cartoon activity that follows the lesson above here .

Screenshot of New-York Tribune. March 26, 1911 via Journalism in Action

Screenshot from New-York Tribune. March 26, 1911 via PBS NewsHour Classroom's Journalism in Action

2. Lesson Plan: Dolores Huerta — a lifetime of activism

Learn about Dolores Huerta’s role as a labor leader, organizer and activist beginning with the California grape strike and boycott in 1965.

Press conference with the UFW leadership, Dolores Huerta, Richard César Chávez, and Rick Tejada-Flores, 1972. Photo Credit: Farmworker Movement Documentation Project

3. Lesson plan: How the Amazon Labor Union was formed

Learn more about the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and the role of the news media in covering unionizing efforts.

“This campaign should be the most talked about campaign in the country. … We’re talking about workers. Workers from the bottom who have nothing.” — Christian Smalls, president, Amazon Labor Union

Screenshot of Christian Smalls, president of the Amazon Labor Union, taken in March 20, 2022 on Krystal, Kyle & Friends. Credit: Krystal, Kyle & Friends

4. Mini-lessons on the muckrakers and the Progressive Era

Using Journalism in Action , NewsHour Classroom's website on the history of journalism in America, take a closer look at the harsh conditions facing workers in the U.S. as reported by the muckrakers (journalists in the Progressive Era who exposed corruption and wrongdoing in business, housing and factories at the turn of the 19th century).

Ida Tarbell and Standard Oil (2 activities)

Upton Sinclair and the meatpacking industry

Jacob Riis and living conditions in NYC's tenement housing

5. Lesson Plan: Role of labor unions today and in the past

United Auto Workers, Aramark workers carry strike signs while picketing outside the General Motors Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. September 15, 2019. Photo by Rebecca Cook/Reuters

6. Student activity: For Labor Day, explore this labor/management negotiation scenario

Use this lesson to engage students in the basics of labor negotiations through the lens of professional sports and a simulation activity that puts students in the seat of negotiators.

Supporters of the California Grape Boycott demonstrate in Toronto, Ontario, December, 1968. Credit: "United Farm Workers Collection, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University

7. Student activity: The global effort in making a t-shirt

NPR’s Planet Money decided to make a t-shirt and follow the process of its creation around the globe. This lesson plan takes your class along for the ride by interspersing activities with NPR’s exciting video tour around the world.

Fill out this form to share your thoughts on Classroom’s resources. Sign up for NewsHour Classroom’s ready-to-go Daily News Lessons delivered to your inbox each morning.

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Lesson plan: History of Juneteenth and why it became a national holiday

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Lesson Plan: Political Parties: Two is Company, Three’s a Crowd

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Miami-Dade high schoolers participate in EV race at Miami International Auto Show, driving go-karts they built

MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Some Miami-Dade high school students made power moves this holiday weekend as a special race kicked into high gear at the Miami International Auto Show — and it’s all electric.

These students were driving into the future in South Beach when they stepped behind of electric go-karts that they built from scratch got to put to the test.

Representing four different schools in Miami-Dade County, the young motorists hit the electric vehicle test track on Saturday morning. It was all part of the first-ever Electrathon student race, where the objective is efficiency and distance, not speed.

First-time participant Nidhi Begur summed up the experience with one word: time. She said that while parts of their kart had to be fixed during development, it’s still exciting to have this opportunity.

“All these cars racing, it’s inspirational that all these high school times can do that, and as a first-year team, that only makes us more excited, especially because we’re actually an all-girls team,” she said.

The students raced their electric go-karts thanks to a donation by Florida Power & Light.

“We’re trying to grow the sport in the state to try and encourage students to consider careers in clean energy, sustainability, automobiles and e-mobility,” said FPL spokesperson Isabella Burckhardt.

Last school year, FPL provided electric vehicle building kits and training to help students across Florida design and create their own vehicles. They culminated the program with an electrifying race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in June.

Burckhardt said it takes about 60 hours over the span of a few months for a team to build a kart like the ones that raced Saturday.

“They do everything, from wiring to body paneling, start to finish. They’re trying to design the most energy efficient vehicle,” she said.

For some of the participants, the event gave them a chance to learn about the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, and put themselves out there in a very competitive field.

“It’s never gonna be easy, especially in an under-represented field where women in STEM aren’t as commonly found,” said Begur, “but to have a community that you can always look back on — it’s like having 20 sisters with you at all times — it’s so awesome. So, if there are any girls watching this that wanna get involved in STEM, just do it.”

FPL will select another 10 high schools across Florida to participate in their EV building program this year, including one in Miami-Dade County.

Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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8 Students From Waverly High School Join Cleanroom Microfluidics Lab Today

Mar 27, 2024, 7:07 PM

How differences in designs can alter the behavior of the fluid? On Wednesday March 27, VINSE welcomed 8 students from Waverly High School to our Cleanroom Microfluidics Lab. They went inside the VINSE cleanroom, home of the cleanest air in middle Tennessee, and found out with hands-on activities! The students stenciled with light to pattern a mold for hair-thin pipes, put together flexible pipes to make microfluidic devices, and examined how liquid in the devices flows using the same tools and techniques as industry and academic researchers. They also designed, made, and tested their own custom paper microfluidic devices.

Special thanks to VINSE NanoGuides TuanKhai Nguyen, Chris Boyd, Alexandria Carter, Haley Dishman, for making this event engaging!

If your school is interested in this hands-on learning opportunity, please contact [email protected] for more information.

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El Paso Matters

SISD’s $58.9M stadium hosts first game as high school football season kicks off

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Edward Cano has one enduring memory of Socorro High School that predates his arrival to the Lower Valley campus as its head football coach in December 2021. 

Cano was a wide receiver for Irvin High School in the late 1990s. His Rockets traveled to the Far Eastside to take the field against the Bulldogs who, at the time, were the four-time defending District 2-5A champions. The game, played Sept. 10, 1999, at the Socorro Independent School District Student Activities Complex, was a defensive slugfest that the Bulldogs won 10-0

The play Cano remembers is sobering. 

“I remember running across the middle on a broken play,” Cano recalled earlier this week during a morning football practice at Socorro High School. “I probably shouldn’t have been there, but I was just trying to get open for my quarterback.”

That’s when a Bulldog defender careened violently into Cano, sending him skittering across the grass field. The forceful collision wasn’t unexpected, Cano said.

“That aggressiveness was just the way Socorro competed back then,” he said. “Those guys had some extra oomph in them. They played with a lot of pride. The community had a lot of pride. And they liked to let it be known.”

That pride is something Cano is looking to re-instill in the Socorro program this season. The third-year coach gets his first chance at doing so Friday — Socorro will host Horizon High School at 6:30 p.m. in the inaugural game at the district’s Student Activities Complex II.

The Bulldogs haven’t had a winning season since 2002 and have gone winless in six of the last eight seasons, including during Cano’s first two campaigns. But, he said he is optimistic about his team’s chances this year as his program returns key players and seasoned contributors from the previous two seasons. Socorro is one of six SISD high schools (Americas, Eastlake, El Dorado, Montwood and Pebble Hills), who will play their home varsity games away from their campuses at either the original Student Activities Complex or SAC II.

The game between Socorro and Horizon marks a significant milestone for Socorro ISD. Officials say the christening of the district’s new $58.9 million facility highlights not only a new era in local sports but also a broader commitment to student and community engagement.

The SAC II, built as part of a 2017 voter-approved bond program, features a Hellas turf athletic field that sits within sleek, modern confines. District leaders say the stadium was designed to also serve a wide range of student needs across various disciplines including in fine arts and career and technical education. 

Friday night logistics

The new stadium, located next to the original SAC I, which opened in 1992, seats 6,500 and is equipped to handle large crowds with more than 2,100 parking spots. According to James Nunn, SISD’s director of athletics, the venue has been designed to create an intimate atmosphere for spectators, with the absence of a track bringing crowds closer to the action on the field. 

“It’s going to be a football, soccer facility. The lack of a track makes it a little more intimate,” Nunn said. The original SAC features a track.

Security remains a priority, Nunn said, particularly since the district will spend most Friday nights this season with games being played concurrently at SAC I and SAC II. Nunn said kickoff times will be staggered, with games typically starting at 6:30 p.m. in SAC II and at 7:30 p.m. in SAC I. For much of the past decade, SAC I would host two games each Friday with the first game kicking off at 4 p.m.

Nunn said the timing implemented this year allows for minimal disruptions to pre-game and halftime band performances in neighboring stadiums. It will also be conducive to traffic flow as spectators arriving for the earlier game will naturally fill in parking spaces on the eastern fringe of the complex where SAC II is located while fans arriving for the later game will find available spaces on the west edge near SAC I. To reach both stadiums, students and fans will be able to enter from Bob Hope Drive on the north end of the complex and from Southview Drive on the south end. 

Nunn added that 32 security guards and SISD police officers will patrol the grounds and assist with traffic control during games. First responders and emergency management vehicles will also be present. 

“We will have a fire truck on site, an ambulance every Friday, and fully functional emergency management,” Nunn added.

A vision beyond football

Beyond sports, SAC II is set to be a hub for various community events. The facility’s design and functionality can support student activities such as mariachi festivals, large soccer tournaments and band competitions. 

The stadium is also home to the district’s fine arts department. The south end of the facility features a kiln room, an instrument repair shop, music storage and conference rooms.

This approach aligns with the district’s broader mission to foster a well-rounded educational environment, said Enrique Herrera, assistant superintendent of schools.

“It’s an unbelievable experience for our community,” Herrera said. “At the end of the day, the ones that really benefit from it are the bands, the cheerleaders, the JROTCs, all of our kids. That’s at the forefront of everything that happens at both stadiums.”

Herrera has spent 25 years in public education, most of that time with SISD. He said providing opportunities and venues for students to engage in extracurricular activities is a boon for all campuses.

“I always tell people about fine arts and sports, these are the best mentorship programs for any campus,” Herrera said. “If you have high numbers in the band, that means you have great kids in the halls. If you have high numbers in athletics, that means that kids are passing their classes and being disciplined and doing what they need to do.” 

On game days, it will be students in audio-visual programs who man the stadium’s production room, handling in-game elements such as the clock, scoreboard animations and live feeds. Students who are part of the district’s high school criminal justice programs will also be at each stadium monitoring entry gates. 

“People forget that it’s our law enforcement kids that are running the gates, it’s our AV kids who are running the cameras,” Nunn said. “Student council and the band are down there on the field. So, it’s not just about football kids, it’s about all kids and their community. There’s a lot of those little things that made the way we built this stadium make sense.” 

Stadium arms race stalls

SISD’s new stadium was part of a $448.5 million bond measure in November 2017. The bond included three new campuses and a reconstructed flagship school along with SAC II. It was approved by 60% of voters. Since then, SISD opened Col. Ben Narbuth and Cactus Trails elementary schools. The rebuild of Socorro High School was completed in December 2023. 

The passage of the bond came amid the construction of a slew of multi-million-dollar high school stadiums throughout Texas. One of those, Legacy Stadium in Katy near Houston, served as a portion of the inspiration for the locale of SAC II. Legacy Stadium, which opened in 2017, has 12,000 seats and cost $70 million. It sits steps away from Rhodes Stadium, a Katy ISD facility that opened in 1981. Both sites are used to host football games today. 

“We took a tour of Katy ISD,” Nunn said. “Once they established that (stadiums side-by-side) could be done, the district decided to move ahead with it.”   

Other standalone high school stadiums have come at hefty price tags for taxpayers. In Allen, a $60 million, 18,000-seat stadium opened in 2012. In McKinney, another Dallas suburb less than 10 miles away from Allen, a nearly $70 million, 12,000-seat stadium opened in 2018.    

SISD’s 2017 bond was approved two years before the state Legislature signed several laws that impact how school districts draft ballot and proposition language for their bond elections. As part of those changes, districts must separate general purpose projects from special purpose projects and put them on the ballot separately. Special purposes, as defined by Chapter 45 of the Texas Education Code , include the construction, acquisition or equipping of facilities including any stadium with a seating capacity for more than 1,000 spectators.

The changes have stalled the pace of new football facilities being constructed throughout the state. Just this year, bond measures for athletics facilities upgrades have been rejected by voters in the Anna, Argyle, College Station and Mansfield school districts. Prosper ISD, which opened a $48 million stadium complex north of Dallas in 2019, saw its $94 million bond measure for a new football stadium rejected by voters in November 2023. 

“So when they (parents) see millions of dollars going to sports facilities or to things that are kind of less of a priority than academics, you’re seeing parents vote and say, ‘We’re just not going to say, ‘yes’ to that. We don’t need that stuff as much as we need to focus on educating students,” said Brendan Steinhauser, a political consulting strategist, in an interview with KXAS-NBC in Dallas-Fort Worth. 

The scrutiny of dueling athletics and academic priorities is exacerbated by the financial pressures faced by Texas public schools. The education advocacy organization Raise Your Hand Texas has highlighted the challenges of underfunding in the state’s education system. Despite federal stimulus funds providing temporary relief, the organization warns that the expiration of these funds in 2024 will exacerbate existing funding shortfalls. According to the organization, Texas currently ranks 42nd in the nation for per-student spending, trailing the national average by over $4,000 per student. Raise Your Hand Texas contends that the state’s basic allotment — the foundational component of public school funding — has not kept pace with inflation, putting further strain on school districts. 

Along with these factors, SISD is also contending with financial concerns. In June, the district’s school board approved a $479.6 million budget with a $22 million deficit for the 2024-25 school year. The budget represents a 19% decrease over the 2023-24 school year’s $594.5 million budget. The vote came on the heels of a tumultuous period for the district, which saw its superintendent leave for a since-rescinded position in Arizona and two school board members arrested for charges that appear to be related to their official duties.  

‘We’re excited, man’

For his part, Cano is focused on ensuring his Bulldogs are prepared to have success on the field. Socorro will have four preseason games before entering District 1-6A play against Eastwood on Sept. 27. Before that, Cano is thrilled about the prospect of starting the season on a high note. 

“We’re excited, man, super excited,” he said. “I think the kids are pumped about having that opportunity. They’re kind of seeing, ‘Hey, you know, they want us in the spotlight.’ I think for a long time, these kids felt a little on the outside. Hopefully, our kids come out with some confidence.”

One of those kids is Antonio Montes. 

The Socorro High School junior will lead the Bulldog football team’s offense as one part of a two-pronged quarterback attack. Montes, who enters his third varsity season Friday, said it means a lot to him to be part of the team that will open the new facility. He said the support he and his teammates receive from the community is immense and serves as a source of pride. 

The team has the additional task of representing their fellow students well as it is homecoming week. Despite the anticipation surrounding the milestone moment, the soft-spoken Montes puts the approach simply.

“The coaches set up the game plan, we just have to execute,” he said. “It’s going to be business as usual.”

Nunn is familiar with that sentiment. The Montwood High School graduate played in the inaugural game Sept. 25, 1992, at the original Student Activities Complex. Nunn’s Rams topped Socorro 31-12 in front of 10,000 people. He said playing in that game and following it up by being part of the opening of a new stadium nearby is momentous.

“Everybody in El Paso has a favorite moment at the SAC,” he said. “That’s what we’re hoping to give to the future. Thirty-two years ago, I played in the stadium next door. All these years later, I would’ve never thought that I would be here in this capacity to see this stadium open. The idea that there’s going to be a kid walking down that tunnel, that 32 years from now, who knows what’s in their future because of what this facility gave to them.”

High school football schedules: Week 1 All games begin at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30, unless otherwise noted. • Horizon at Socorro at SAC II, 6:30 p.m. • Burges at Bowie • Austin at El Paso  • Jefferson at Fabens • Irvin at Hanks • Ysleta at Parkland • Riverside at Big Spring • Andrews at Clint • Anthony at San Elizario • Chapin at Franklin, 7:30 p.m. • Pebble Hills at Canutillo • Montwood at Del Valle • Andress at El Dorado at SAC I, 7:30 p.m. • Americas at Coronado, 7:30 p.m. • Eastwood at St. John Bosco (Bellflower, California) • Eastlake at Bel Air • Cathedral vs. Rocksprings at Junction (Texas) High School To see more high school football schedules by district, click below: • El Paso ISD •  Ysleta ISD • Socorro ISD • Anthony ISD • Canutillo ISD • Clint ISD • Fabens ISD • San Elizario ISD • Tornillo ISD

Pablo Villa

Pablo Villa is assistant editor of El Paso Matters. An El Paso native, he returned to journalism after working in public relations in the education sector, which included stints at El Paso ISD, UTEP and... More by Pablo Villa

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Homeschool with Moxie

20 Holiday Activities for High School Students

We’ve got 20+ holiday activities for high school students that will keep your teens busy this season.

As soon as you turn the calendar page to December, many teens begin to lose steam. With Christmas holidays in a few short weeks, it can be hard to stay motivated. But it’s okay to change things up during the holidays even for our teens.

Much of the holiday activities are geared toward younger siblings. But if you have middle and high school students in your home, what can you do with them that isn’t a complete loss of learning? Here are 20+ ideas to consider.

Holiday activities for homeschool high school students

Here are 20+ holiday activities for homeschool high school students. Even mature middle schoolers will appreciate these activities.

And while it’s okay to just relax and do “non-educational” things leading up to the holidays, most of these ideas will encourage a love of learning, a new skill, or asking teens to do something for others. I think we can all agree that these are valuable things to spend time on, even if it’s not progressing our high schooler through their Algebra II lessons.

What kinds of activities can you do right before the holidays?

There are so many activities you can do – or NOT do – right before the holidays. But keeping some sort of routine is always a good idea. Teens thrive on a predictable routine. 

It’s okay to put away some (or most) of the normal homeschool subjects. Clear it out of sight so you can enjoy the lead-up to the holidays. Let your kids deep dive into one or two subjects for the first few weeks in December. Or let them get lost in their favorite book series instead of doing math.

Some families purposefully take the whole month of December off from homeschool. If you homeschool year round, you can plan your year to still get in the required number of days of school (if your state has regulations) and then enjoy December off with no guilt!

How do I keep my homeschooled teenager busy during the holidays?

If you want to keep your homeschooled teenager busy during the holidays, choose a couple items from the list below and let them change their focus during December. Changing up your homeschool expectations and routines is a good way to prevent burnout, both for you and your teen.

But just because they’re not doing their full load during December doesn’t mean they’re not learning. Remember, all of life is education. And sometimes some of the most important aspects of learning fall to the wayside because of the required classes on the transcript .

Yes, they need their math and English and science and history . But they also need to learn life skills like budgeting, maybe focus on serving others, and making fun memories with the family. Those things are all important too!

How do you celebrate the last day of homeschooling?

On the last day of official homeschooling before your Christmas break, no matter how long your break, it is nice if you can wrap up loose ends so you can start fresh in the New Year. It’s pretty hard if you’re in the middle of a unit or chapter to be able to remember where you left off. So, if you can close down the regular schedule in between new topics, your teen will be better off.

It’s also a lot of fun to plan a celebratory activity for the last official homeschool day of the calendar year, whether that falls before Thanksgiving for you, on December 1st, or not until the week before Christmas.

It could be as simple as enjoying a meal out with the family or watching your favorite holiday movie. Or, you can make a bucket list for your holidays using the list below.

Print out this holiday bucket list and encourage your teen to write down the top activities he would love to do during this holiday season. Then, each day your teen can work towards those fun, educational, or service activities on the list.

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What kind of activities do you do in the school holidays when you’re homeschooling?

Here are 20 holiday activities for homeschool high school students that will encourage learning, fun, community, and friendship.

Organize a musical performance

If your teens are musical, they can perform at a nursing home or other venue. Maybe they have friends who also play instruments or sing, then consider gathering a group and blessing nursing home residents with a Christmas concert or recital.

Book exchange

A book exchange party with friends can be a fun idea! There are a few variations you could try.

One fun idea is to wrap your books and then write just the first line on the wrapping paper. It will be a nice surprise to pick books by the first line!

Or, on top of the wrapping, have your guests write a little note about why they loved the book, but don’t reveal the name of the book. Then, you can run a book exchange like a white elephant gift exchange. Go around your circle and each person chooses a book to unwrap. On your turn, you can either choose a new book to unwrap or steal a book that was previously chosen.

Dress up like your favorite book character or have a snack table where everyone brings a snack based on the book theme.

Cookie exchange

A cookie exchange is a lot of fun for teens who love to eat cookies and experiment in the kitchen! Enlist half a dozen or more friends to participate with you. Decide on how many cookies each participant will bring – usually this is about 2 dozen.

Then, decorate your venue (even if it’s just your kitchen or living room!) for the exchange and remind everyone to bring copies of their cookie recipe plus a large container for taking cookies home.

Now every participant gets to sample other cookies, take home some new recipes, and leave with an assortment of cookies baked by other guests to enjoy over the holidays.

One of the most important holiday activities for homeschool high school students is to volunteer. It’s wonderful for our teens to be able to nurture a servant’s heart, compassion for people, and selflessness. There are many ways to volunteer in the community! Check out the local pregnancy center, soup kitchen, free food pantry, or gather toys and toiletries for women and kids at a shelter.

Secret Santa for Foster Kids

Do you know any foster families? Your teens can be a huge blessing to those families over the holidays. Get a list of favorite toys, clothing sizes, and other gift ideas from the foster parents. Then, raise money or use some of your own money to purchase these gifts and surprise the foster kids as a secret Santa!

Create a scavenger hunt for younger siblings

If you have a houseful of younger children, your teen can create a scavenger hunt for those younger siblings. It could be a nature scavenger hunt, Christmas-themed scavenger hunt, or photo scavenger hunt around your local town.

Handmade gifts

Enlist your teen’s help to create handmade gifts for family, friends, and neighbors. Need some ideas?

These firestarters are fun to make and everyone loves them! Check out our complete tutorial plus download some cute firestarter gift tags and see how we packaged them as a gift set.

Instead of spending a crazy amount of time playing computer games, go ahead and haul out the favorite family card games or board games! Or purchase a new game to play this month.

My teens’ favorite board games and card games include Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Scattergories, Pit, and Settlers of Catan.

Organize, plan, and cook a meal

The holidays can be a great time to allow your teen to organize, plan, and cook an entire meal for the family. They can make shopping lists, budget, decorate the table, and cook a meal. Even if your teen doesn’t love the idea of cooking, you can use the time around the holidays to teach your teens the life skill of cooking a complete meal.

Christmas art lessons

Sometimes we’re so busy during the normal homeschool meal that we ignore the arts. So give your high school students the time and space to enjoy some Christmas art lessons.

Here a great mix of free + paid Christmas art tutorials from Masterpiece Society.

Joy to the World Mixed Media Ornaments for Kids – Yes, I know this says it’s for kids, but I would personally love to make this even as an adult! So I think your crafty (and non-crafty) teens could definitely do this project. These would make cute gift tags.

LiterARTure: A Christmas Carol  – Read Charles Dickens’  A Christmas Carol  and then your teens can create an old fashioned wreath in front of a frosty window in this festive mixed media project.

Process Art Christmas Ornaments – This free tutorial might be a bit messy, but I think your teens will love it!

Winter Wonderland Mixed Media Workshop – This Winter Wonderland Mixed Media Workshop will give you enough art lessons and projects to last all season! Your teens will learn to create 20 different art projects using various art forms, including sketching, acrylic painting, watercolor painting, chalkboard art, collage art, sculpting, hand lettering, art journaling, and more.

Hand Lettering Course – Your teen can learn how to create beautifully hand lettered art to frame or use on greeting cards or as gifts.

Classic Family Friendly Christmas Movies

What would the holidays be without classic family friendly Christmas movies? What are your favorites? Pull them out and spend a day (or two or three) binge-watching in between baking cookies. It’s okay not to “do school” during the lead-up to the holidays. In fact, building family bonds and relationships is one of the reasons why watching a family friendly movie is a great activity in December.

Need some new ideas? Here’s a small list of the best family friendly Christmas movies:

• It’s a Wonderful Life
• Meet Me in St. Louis
• A Christmas Story
• White Christmas
• Miracle on 34th Street
• The Santa Clause
• Christmas in Connecticut
• The Polar Express
• A Charlie Brown Christmas
• Little Women
• The Man Who Invented Christmas
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
• The Muppet Christmas Carol

Family Tree Project

The holidays tend to include wonderful family traditions, so why not encourage your teen to spend some time researching the family tree? It can be a full project where they create a digital scrapbook or physical scrapbook, highlighting grandparents, great-grandparents, and showing connections on the family tree.

Create holiday décor

Maybe your creative teen would love to be in charge of the holiday decor this year. They could make beautiful garland, create a centerpiece for the big Christmas dinner, or help create a special display area for all the Christmas cards and family photos that will be arriving in the mail.

Make Handmade Crafts with Felted Wool

This is a fun creative activity for your teens and it doesn’t even have to cost a dime! Just upcycle some old wool sweaters. Check out my beginner’s guide to felting wool sweaters . Then it’s time to make some beautiful wool sweater crafts ! These would be lovely handmade gifts.

Another way for your teens to serve their community is to organize a group of friends to go caroling. You can find a list of shut-ins from your church or just go around your own neighborhood.

Gingerbread houses

Can you think of another Christmas activity that is so tied to the season like making gingerbread houses? You could just do one for fun as a family, or you could invite friends over and make it a bigger event with a table full of supplies and gingerbread house decorations.

Advent Bible Readings

Even if you’re taking a pause on some other subjects, it’s a great idea to give your teens a meaningful Advent Bible Reading. Either with the family or independently, your teen could:

• read through the Old Testament prophecies and New Testament fulfillment in Christ – if you want an open & go resource for this, you’ll love our Advent Bundle: Jesus – Prophecy Fulfilled
• study the Names of Jesus
• read through one of the Gospels

Home and Life Skills

If you don’t regularly include home ec or life skills in your teen’s high school routine, don’t beat yourself up about it. But realize that the change of pace that can come in December might give you the perfect opportunity to focus on some of these skills.

They could include a couple of these items on their holiday bucket list so that they grow their life skills!

• grocery shopping
• laundry (I really hope they’re already doing this! It will change YOUR life!)

Organize a white elephant gift exchange

Organizing a white elephant gift exchange with friends is one of the most fun holiday activities for homeschool high school students. You could

This fun activity is perfect at Christmas. Or, you could host yours in the new year and regift items you don’t want! It could be a fun way to  declutter the house in the new year . Teens can regift items they don’t want anymore.

Open an Etsy Shop

Do you have an entrepreneurial or crafty teen that would love to open an Etsy shop? Maybe it’s just been too busy with your normal high school routine. But the weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday give your teen the perfect window to focus on opening an Etsy shop.

Here’s a free checklist for your teen. If your teen wants more help opening an Etsy shop, try the Etsy Quickstart Guide or the more comprehensive Selling on Etsy Masterclass for Teens . (Hint: this would make a great Christmas gift for your creative teen and if you use the coupon code HOLIDAY, you’ll save 20%)

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Start a Podcast

Is your teen interested in the newest technology and media? Do they love listening to podcasts? Maybe they’d love to launch their own podcast during the holidays? I’ll show them how in the Podcast Launch for Teens.

More Winter & Holiday Homeschool Ideas

I’m joining forces with a few dozen of my homeschool blogging friends to bring you some great winter & holiday homeschool ideas, activities, resources, and freebies.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Christmas Activities For High School Students: Games, Writing Prompts, Activity Books, Gift Exchange, And More

September 26, 2023 //  by  Christina Swiontek

Finding Christmas activities for high school students can be tricky. It is important to make sure that these activities are engaging and suitable for the holiday season. Sprucing up your content with a holiday theme is a great way to maintain your students' focus at the high school level. If you are looking for engaging activities to celebrate Christmas with your high schoolers, you may want to check out these 30 classroom resources.

1. Christmas Scattergories

Christmas Scattergories is a fun game for English class that allows students to sharpen their vocabulary and writing skills. This game is perfect for both middle school students and high school students. Playing scattergories is sure to be an engaging experience for everyone.

Learn more: Creations by Kara

2. Finish the Lyric Game

If you have a creative group of students, you may be interested in having a wreath decorating contest.  You can provide DIY wreath ideas and have students create their own wreaths. The winner gets to display their wreath on the classroom door for the rest of the year.

Learn more: Country Living

4. Christmas Rush Card Game

Christmas Rush is a fun class game that is similar to musical chairs but in a card game format. You can have a "Christmas Rush" tournament to increase the level of competition among the class community.

Learn more: Amazon

5. Holiday Escape Room

Escape rooms are very popular with high school students. You can set up an escape room for the classroom, or you can put together a digital escape room online. They are both equally as fun for students as they race against the clock to complete the puzzles.

Learn more: Jenna Copper

6. Holiday Writing Prompts

If you are interested in holiday-themed writing prompts, you may want to check out this amazing resource. It includes all of the holidays celebrated by various cultures around the world. This is a great way to give students the opportunity to share their own holiday traditions.

Learn more: Expository Writing Prompts

7. Christmas Activity Books

Christmas activity packs are a great way to keep high school students busy while celebrating the holiday season. Activity books are classroom activities that require critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Students can work on these alone or with a partner.

Learn more: Christian Books

8. Snow STEM Experiment

Have you ever wondered how fake snow is made? If so, you may want to check out this fun and easy snow STEM experiment. Your students will be engaged with this hands-on winter themed experiment. It would be perfect for the last week of school before winter break.

Learn more: The Home School Scientist

9. Hot Chocolate Experiment

There's nothing quite like a warm cup of hot chocolate to get ready for Christmas! Get your students to gear up for the holidays with this hot chocolate experiment. Your high schoolers will investigate water temperatures. Their favorite part just might be the taste test after finding the results.

Learn more: Creative Family Fun

10. Christmas Scavenger Hunt

This Christmas scavenger hunt can be used with students from Elementary school through high school.  This is an entertaining Christmas-themed activity for the days leading up to the holiday break from school. Students will have fun using critical thinking skills while searching for the special prize.

Learn more: Etsy

11. Christmas Dice Game

The Christmas Dice Game can be played in small groups of students. This is an awesome resource to celebrate the holiday season and have students engage in friendly competition. It is also a great way for students to interact socially and have fun.

Learn more: Grandma Ideas

12. Holiday Writing Activities

These holiday writing activities are the perfect sentence starters for your high school students. If they are already used to journal writing, these Christmas prompts will be a nice change. These daily writing prompts can be used in a traditional notebook or interactive online documents for the digital classroom.

Learn more: Journal Buddies

13. Christmas Word Search

I love this little book of word search puzzles. This is a great activity for students to work on independently or with a peer. Word search puzzles are beneficial for spelling and vocabulary. You can incorporate these puzzles with other grammar activities in a holiday themed activity package.

14. Christmas Mad Libs

Mad libs are always interesting for students. You can incorporate mad libs into an activity sheet with other exercises or use it on its own for extra holiday fun. Mad libs are a fun way to express creativity with words at every grade level.

Learn more: Christian Book

15. Holiday Gift Exchange Game

If you are looking to start a new classroom holiday tradition, you may want to check out these gift exchange games. You can set a $5 limit and have everyone buy a random gift. This will allow students to be generous to one another and ensure everyone receives a gift.

Learn more: Play Party Plan

16. Book Speed Dating

Book speed dating allows students to fall in love with books! You can use holiday-themed books around Christmas time in the days leading up to the winter holiday break from school. This activity is good to use with high school English students or even middle school students.

Learn more: Reader Pants

17. Video Game Design

Many high school teens are interested in playing video games. If you have access to a computer lab or laptops for students, this video game design website would be an engaging digital activity for students to interact with. Many students will enjoy the creative elements of designing video games.

Learn more: Game Star Mechanic

18. Community Service Project

The winter holidays are an excellent time to organize a service project with a local organization. You can put together a canned food drive, cookie bake sale, or a park clean up team. These are effective ways to raise money for a good cause or give back to the community.

Learn more: Donor Box

19. Christmas Caroling

The holidays can be a difficult time for some people. While there is much to celebrate, it can also be a time when we remember loved ones that have passed. Christmas caroling can lift people's spirits and truly make someone's day special. It's a lot of fun for kids, too!

Learn more: Songs and Smiles

20. Christmas Cake-Inspired Bath Bomb Project

Bath bombs make great Christmas gifts. You and your students can make your very own bath bombs to gift or to keep this holiday season. Students will have the opportunity to create a hands-on project that includes aspects of science and math. Students can also write about their experience!

Learn more: Creative Green Living

21. DIY Christmas Cards

Students can create their own DIY Christmas cards to distribute to loved ones over the holiday break. In addition to making cards for their own family and friends, they can also make effective holiday cards for soldiers on military bases. It is a thoughtful gesture that is much appreciated.

Learn more: DIYs

22. Virtual Field Trip

The holiday season is a wonderful time for high school students to take a virtual field trip. Virtual field trips are amazing online experiences that students can be fully immersed in to learn something new. The penguin virtual field trip is one of my personal favorites.

Learn more: Special Learning House

23. Printable Christmas Mazes

Printable Christmas mazes are very useful for students of all ages and grade levels. These are pre-made digital activities that are easy for you to print and utilize in your classroom.  You can even create digital resources with these also if needed. This is a very fun activity!

Learn more: Big Activities

24. Pop-Up Christmas Crafts

This pop-up Christmas card craft tutorial is an excellent activity for high school students. They can make pop-up cards as gifts for family and friends. Personalized gifts are always well received, especially gifts that are handcrafted and made with love.

Learn more: Youtube

25. DIY Personalized Christmas Ornaments

If you are looking for a creative project for high school students to celebrate the holidays, you may be interested in these DIY ideas to make personalized Christmas tree ornaments. These make great gifts because they can be tailored to fit specific interests or school colors.

Learn more: For Creative Juice

26. Create Board Games

Designing and creating board games can be a fun challenge for teens. Creating board games allows students to practice analytical and problem-solving skills. They will be challenged to think outside the box and be creative.  Students can then swap and play each other's board games.

Learn more: Science Friday

27. Christmas Poetry Workshop

Christmas is a great time to reflect on the year and think about what the new year will bring. Poetry is an excellent outlet for students to write down their thoughts and reflections. Incorporating a Christmas or holiday themed poetry workshop would provide an opportunity for students to express themselves.

Learn more: Happy Strong Home

28. Christmas Cross Stitch Choice Project

This Christmas cross stitch idea is an awesome art project for high school students. Cross stitching improves focus and patience while students work towards achieving a goal. The finish product would also make an amazing gift for someone special. I love the Christmas designs they can choose from!

Learn more: A Little Craft in Your Day

29. Wonderopolis Holiday Investigation

Wonderopolis is one of my favorite resources to use as a teacher. You can simply search "Christmas", or any other holiday keyword and articles will come up in the form of questions for students to explore. This interactive resource is suitable for students of all grade levels.

Learn more: Wonderopolis

30. Christmas Readers' Theater

A Christmas themed readers' theater activity is an engaging way to practice reading skills and comprehension while role playing with friends. Students will take turns reading the script in the voice of their assigned character. It is so much fun for everyone involved.

Learn more: What the Teacher Wants Blog

14 Christmas Activities for High School Students (they’ll Actually Find Cool)

By: Author Amanda L. Grossman

Posted on Last updated: December 2, 2023

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Need fun holiday things older students will actually participate in? Here's a list of fun Christmas activities for high school students.

Finding Christmas activities high school students and older students won’t roll their eyes about can be a bit tricky, amiright ?

Yet when you get your whole group of teens enjoying something together – it’s magical.

That’s the idea behind this list below. A chance for your group of older students to have some fun together and create a classroom memory.

Hint: We all know not every student celebrates Christmas. That’s why I’ve included several options for holiday-themed activities instead of just a list of Christmas ones. Tweak and adjust, as needed to fit your group – you know them best!

Christmas Activities for High School Students

Even better than getting some free inspiration for Christmas activities for high school students?

When most of those ideas are low-prep.

1. Host a Holiday Gif-Making Party

Can you think of a teen who wouldn’t be super interested in spending class time creating a GIF of themselves?

It’s actually pretty simple to do. And free, using Canva’s free gif-maker (you don’t even need an account) or giphy’s free maker .

• You need several image files or a short video file. Each student can do this alone, with a friend, or in a group (you choose what dynamic is best) doing something silly.
• Once the images or video file is uploaded, they get to edit it with stickers, fonts, backgrounds, and whatever they’d like.
• Get teacher approval.
• Download as a GIF file.

Look – I just made this super silly one in about 5 minutes using Canva and my laptop’s camera while working on this article at Starbucks!

Here’s a 9-minute video tutorial from Canva’s design school on exactly how to do this using Canva.

Afterward, you can share your students’ gifs digitally using your Google Classroom, a school website/newsletter, or whatever means you can at your school. And, they can text them out to friends and family!

2. Play a Round of School Supply White Elephant

Every student has school supplies. Some they love. Some they hate.

And by Christmas time? They’ve figured out which is which.

What makes this game hilarious for older students is they get to off these supplies onto others (or, there’s another variation, in case you don’t feel comfortable with students giving up school supplies their parents probably bought…).

Either have students choose one of their own school supplies they’re dying to get rid of (with parent permission, of course…), OR, pick through random, unwanted school supplies in your own closet (maybe other teachers can donate their unloved items?) to use in a White Elephant game.

Play according to the regular White Elephant rules either as an entire classroom or as groups.

• Everyone comes to the table with 1 unloved/unwanted school supply. Put them in one location for the whole classroom to choose from (hint: you can set this up a few days ahead of time to increase anticipation and get your teens buy into the silly process about to unfold).
• Put a number for each student in a basket. Each student grabs a number from the basket – this is the order they will go in.
• For each person’s turn, they can either a) choose an unwanted school supply from the table, or b) steal someone else’s school supply they chose on their turn.
• The person whose school supply gets stolen gets to either a) choose another school supply from the table, or b) steal someone else’s school supply.
• A school supply can only be stolen one time per turn, and picking a school supply ends the turn.
• The game is over when each student has a school supply in hand, and after the first person has been given one more shot to either steal another school supply or keep the one they have (since they couldn’t steal one during their turn as the first person who went).

Don’t be surprised if students tote around their unloved school supplies like a badge of honor for a day or two after this event.

3. Christmas Trivia for a Free Homework Pass

Divide your students into teams, and have them play this Christmas Trivia game . Winning team? Give them a free homework pass.

That might pique their interest…

Psst: here are more small prize ideas for students .

4. Create an In-Class Volunteer Project

The holidays and this time of year present an excellent opportunity to teach students to be giving and charitable.

On top of these activities to teach giving to your teens, you can also do an in-class volunteer project together.

There are tons of at-home volunteer projects people can do that can work in a classroom setting, too.

Things like:

• Talking to the elderly online for social comfort
• Student-powered science research
• Log walks outdoors for a walk-a-thon that’s digitally tracked and donations automatically go to a charity picked by your class vote

5. Christmas Selfie Scavenger Hunt

These free teen Selfie Christmas scavenger hunts and challenges would probably work best as something you send your teens home with.

BUT, there are some that work well in school, too.

6. Do the 12 Days of Gratitude

For the first 12 days of December, have your students write about one thing that they are grateful for each day.

You could challenge them with different prompts, like:

• One thing I’m grateful for that doesn’t cost any money…
• One thing I’m grateful for now but that I didn’t like at the time…
• One thing I’m grateful for that no one else knows about…

OR, keep things open-ended.

7. Invite Kids in for Activities

Put your teen students in a leadership role by inviting an elementary or middle school class of kids into your classroom for Christmas activities.

You can even give your students the task of coming up with ideas, and voting on the best ones.

Your students could:

• Set up a cookie decorating station
• Read Christmas or holiday stories to the kids
• Help the kids make a Santa list, or create a holiday card for someone in their lives

8. Decode Christmas Ads and Offers

Hear me out on this one.

Teens understanding how to read an ad and see what kind of deal they’re actually getting? Is a pretty critical life skill.

And we’re in the season of hot cocoa, Santa hats, and, well, ads!

You can gather a bunch of Christmas ads, both paper and digital ones, and share them in presentation mode. Ask your students to bring in ads, too.

Talk about what the fine print means. Compare the price of the same product between two stores (online is fine), and see which offer is better (after comparing shipping costs, the packaging, features, and other things).

Discuss online shopping hacks .

9. Play “Celebrities Caught Red-Handed”…Being Generous

Teens love celebrities and often put them on a pedestal. Why not celebrate these people for a really good reason – their charitable acts this time of year?

Research a list of celebrities who specifically give around Christmas time .

Create a quick trivia game around it, with each index card having what a celebrity did at Christmastime, and students needing to pair the gesture with the correct celebrity (from a different list).

Then, reveal who did what.

This can be eye-opening to students who look up to these guys usually for other reasons, like their fame, their fortune, and their coolness.

Finally, ask your students to write an essay on what giving they would do if they ever were to become a celebrity and “be rich”.

10. Set Up a Christmas Product Taste Testing

There are so many name-brand products that come out with Christmas flavors near the holidays. Like Oreo Peppermint Bark Sandwich Cookies, Eggnog Pancake mix, and Toasty Vanilla M&Ms.

Grab a bunch of these products, and divvy them up – one for each table station.

Break your class up into groups, and have each group rotate through the taste-testing stations.

Have them write down answers to a few questions at each table, such as if they think the product was a good idea. On a scale of 1-10, how good does it taste compared to the original? Do they think it will increase sales? Why do they think the company came out with this product?

The class can then vote on the winning product(s).

11. Do a Christmas Seasonal Jobs Hunt

Teens typically think about how to get their hands on more money, and one of those ways is to get seasonal or summer jobs.

It would be an interesting activity for teens to hunt for what types of jobs typically pop up around Christmas time.

You could explain to them what a seasonal job is. Why are they short-term only?

Have them calculate how much they would earn if they took a seasonal job (here’s a paycheck calculator), and how many hours they would have to work for that money.

Debate the pros and cons of taking a job around Christmas time.  

Hint: My Teen Job Lab can help a lot with the teen job hunt.

12. Complete an “Evolution of Christmas Celebrations” Project

Some things about Christmas have remained the same over the decades and centuries.

And other things? Well, they’ve changed.

Have your students complete a project highlighting the changes in how Christmas is celebrated over the years.

They can do things like:

• Interview their grandparents, parents, and elderly family members about things they did for Christmas as a child vs. now
• Research at average spending per year during the holiday season over the years. How does today’s spending compare? How does it compare after accounting for inflation ( input total average spending and the year , then see how that equates to today’s dollars)?
• What dishes were served in, say, the 1950s, versus now? Are they the same, or different?

13. Play the Jelly Bean Game with Christmas Flavors

Have you ever heard of the Financial Literacy Jelly Bean Game ?

It’s where you give students a bunch of jelly beans that count for “money”, and they need to decide how to distribute them across their spending categories.

Well, let your students play that game, with holiday-tasting jelly beans they get to eat afterward.

14. Gather Guinness World Records for Christmas

Learning about Guinness World Records can be interesting and fun. Make it into an activity by having your students come to class with at least one Christmas or winter-themed Guinness record they researched.

During class, share each of them. Have everyone vote on the weirdest or coolest one.

If nothing else, everyone will leave for the holidays with an interesting piece of trivia to share at family gatherings.

I hope you've found some cool Christmas activities for your high school students to do this year, OR, at least gotten inspired to come up with your own idea. Either way, be sure to share in the comments below how things turn out!

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• BookWidgets Teacher Blog

15 fun school holidays activities for students - The bucket list

Almost time for the next school holiday! Your students have some time to relax now, but we all know, they might get bored quickly.

This post isn’t about giving your students homework, it’s about giving your students challenges and fun activities they can do during the school holidays. This way they’ll have something to do when they get bored, and it will keep them motivated. Some of the activities they can do with friends or family, others they can do alone.

Bucket list activities for students

Let’s create a digital bucket list with holiday activities for your students!

Good news…you don’t need to do this, I already made one with the planner widget from BookWidgets .

Here it is:

How does it work?

I added a list of 15 fun activities to this digital planner. Some are completely digital, others ask your students to be creative, handy, and to go outside. The activities are perfect for primary school students and high school students. It depends on the activity they choose and if they get help or not. Just share the link with them.

Students can open the digital school break bucket list by clicking on the link. Now, they can put together their own vacation bucket list with activities.

They click on the + icon in the upper right corner and start adding the activities they want to do this summer. As a teacher, you could say they at least have to 10 bucket list activities.

Most of the activities ask students to take a picture from their work and send it to the teacher. For that, make sure to create a free BookWidgets account so students can send their work to your BookWidgets account so you can take a look at their work. Just go to the “Grades and reporting tab > Student work” to see the work they’ve submitted.

OR, create a digital bucket list with activities yourself using the BookWidgets Planner widget .

15 fun school holiday activities for students

Of course, I want to give you an overview of all the activities in the planner with, for some of them, the link to the digital exercise. You can use them in your own planner as well.

1. Colour hike

Students open this digital worksheet on their smartphone.

They have to take pictures and upload them to the digital worksheet. Of course, the pictures must relate to the assignment. Since they go on nature exploration, they must take pictures of nature representing different colors and the earth’s elements. When walking, students have to pay attention to their environment so they can take pictures.

2. The m&m game

Ask your students to bring some m&m candy. Then, when the time is right, they get together and open this digital game on their smartphones. It’s full of fun questions, based on the m&m colour they pick.

Check out the digital game and instruction right here:

This ice breaker game was digitized by Eva Robyn, a Belgian teacher.

3. School holiday video

Let them use the free Adobe Express video maker for that. It’s easy to use and has many different video templates available.

This version in particular encourages students to read and keep up with their problem-solving skills. And it’s fun too!

We’ve many different Cluedo game versions in different languages in this post . Find out how to create your own with BookWidgets as well.

5. Postcard time!

6. Create a birdhouse

If you are dealing with older students you could ask them to go beyond the plans… Let them design their own dream-birdhouse.

When finished, students can upload a picture of the image in the digital worksheet.

7. Guess who?

8. Make a board game

Check out this digital worksheet. Here they get a checklist that will help them with this project. When done, they have to take a picture of their board game and add it to the worksheet.

9. Play cards

10. Picture album

11. Keep a diary

Use BookWidgets’ timeline widget for that. Here, students can add an event for each new day and describe what they did. They can also add images of that day. You can ask your students to submit their dairy to you (if they want to).

I already created a dairy template for you. Just share the link with your students. Click on the image below to open it.

12. Digital artwork

Here’s this digital artwork template you can share with your students. It’s made with BookWidgets’ whiteboard widget.

Again, if you sign up for a free BookWidgets account, students can send in their work by clicking on the envelope in the upper right corner and type in the e-mail address of your BookWidgets account.

13. Grow a herb garden

This project is about being creative and crafty and getting knowledge about the herbs they want to add in their garden.

I already added a digital worksheet with tutorials on how to create a herb garden. Students can also answer a basic question about the herbs they chose for in their garden and they can upload an image of their garden.

14. Recycle and reuse

Share this worksheet with many fun ideas students can use as inspiration. They can also upload an image of their creation.

15. Geocaching

Geocaches are scattered all over the world, so students can do it anywhere, whether it’s in their neighborhood or on a vacation.

Time to create your own holiday bucket list for your students or let them create their own. Which activity was your favorite? Let us know on Twitter ! Can you think about a fun activity? Join the BookWidgets Facebook community and share your idea to inspire other teachers.

I’m Lucie Renard, and I’d love to connect with you on LinkedIn or Twitter .

Join hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and get the best content on technology in education.

BookWidgets enables teachers to create fun and interactive lessons for tablets, smartphones, and computers.

Holiday Activities for High School Students

• Filed under: Culinary Arts , Family Consumer Science , Global Foods , lesson planning

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During the holidays, being a teacher can be exciting and challenging. High school and middle school students get just as excited as little kids about Christmas and the promise of winter break. Teens enjoy holiday traditions and can be quite distracted during this time of year, so having timely and fun activities ready can help your sanity! Taking the pressure off of you and your students a little can go a long way and doesn’t mean they aren’t learning. Read on for holiday activities for high school!

Best Christmas Holiday Lesson Ideas

Gingerbread house lesson.

Learning about the history of gingerbread houses and even how they are made is a fun way to get into the holiday celebrations. We have a  history of gingerbread house  slideshow with guided notes, questions, and videos to help you get started. Whether you are making gingerbread with your students or just teaching them about the history, this lesson will have you covered.

The gingerbread lesson includes videos of a professional baker making gingerbread and putting together a beautiful gingerbread house, which is really fun for the students to watch. You can also allow them to create their own gingerbread creations with either homemade gingerbread or store-bought.

To take it a step further, have the houses on display for others to judge the best one. I have seen some culinary teachers post in the Facebook groups asking other educators to vote for their favorite, or you can have faculty and other students be the judges! 

Holiday Festivities Around the World

Christmas around the world is a perfect opportunity to teach students about different cultures. Many different foods are eaten in different countries around the holiday season and students enjoy learning about the different traditions. Start by asking students what they typically have for Christmas dinner and then discuss family traditions during the winter holidays.

Download this free Christmas food around the world crossword puzzle that will expose your students to other cultures.

This is an easy way to reinforce their learning if you use our  Christmas foods around the world lesson plan  that includes a slideshow, guided notes, and questions. The lesson covers countries such as Australia’s prawn on the barbie, France’s Buche Noel, England’s Mince Pie, Poland’s Babka, Ethiopia’s Rooster Doro Wat, and more! If you want all of these lessons at a discount, we have a Christmas Bundle with a holiday bell ringer activity that can also be played as a game, the gingerbread house lesson, the Christmas around the world foods lesson , and a Hannakuh foods lesson.

As an extension activity, have students choose a country not covered in the lesson and research their holiday traditions. Have them make a short slideshow or video presenting the information they found.

You can have students do a sort of holiday “gallery walk” and move around the room looking at either the slides, videos, or printed slideshow, gathering information. They can record the countries’ name, a culinary tradition during the holidays, two main ingredients in the food, and one additional interesting fact. It is a great way to put the teaching into your student’s hands and allow them to move around the classroom looking at other students’ work. This is an effective way to incorporate cross-curriculum instruction because you cover social studies and your subject area. 

Cookie Decorating

If you teach culinary arts, you have a built-in food lab. If you don’t, you can still have your high schoolers decorate premade cookies! It is a festive way to gather for a class party. Set up paper plates and allow students to decorate cookies with frosting and sprinkles. Students of all ages can participate in this. You can even get some community service time with your students and have them invite younger grades to come in and decorate with them or head out to an elderly community to have them help decorate cookies as fun mental health community action projects.

We have a  holiday cookies lesson  that will introduce your students to Christmas cookies around the world, as well as questions to check for understanding. Students also can design their own holiday cookies with this lesson! Have them share their designs on paper or slideshow with the class. Let them make their cookies and share if you teach culinary arts or family and consumer science.

This is a great way to review recipe-building and problem-solving. You can take it a step further and have them find YouTube videos on making different types of holiday cookies and ask questions for their classmates based on short videos. 

Making holiday spritz cookies in culinary arts was a hit recently. We used a cookie press and this recipe:

Watch Holiday Shows 

Showing the Gingerbread Showdown is a great idea if you are teaching about gingerbread houses. The professional bakers take on some pretty cool challenges like this  Home Alone House gingerbread house challenge . 

Gordon Ramsey’s Christmas Dinner  video with his son is another fun holiday cooking show that will get your students in the holiday spirit. Of course, you can skip all the cooking and show How the Grinch Stole Christmas instead!I have popped popcorn for my students during the holidays while they watch a movie or allow them to bring in snacks if they want. They really appreciate the break and opportunity to veg out during a classroom holiday party.  They can watch the shows as they make holiday decorations if you want them to be more engaged!

Making Gratitude and Holiday Cards

Another low-key idea activity is to have students make happy holiday cards for staff, classmates, family members, etc. We have these  free Christmas card printables  that can help to get you started, and they make cute tags to go on holiday gifts. This helps to build a school community, and it helps students to consider those they care about during the most wonderful time of the year. 

Make Gratitude Cards that list the things you are thankful for. You can assign students another student and have them write something nice about them. Crafting gratitude cards requires students to think about the people, experiences, and things they are thankful for. This reflective process helps them develop a deeper understanding of what brings joy and fulfillment into their lives.

Expressing gratitude through cards allows students to convey appreciation to their peers, teachers, or other individuals in their lives. This strengthens interpersonal connections and contributes to a supportive and empathetic school community.

More Holiday Activities for High School – Let Them Color

What better way to relieve stress and have fun than to color? High school teens probably don’t color very often nowadays with phones and technology, so offer them some holiday coloring pages and fresh boxes of colored pencils as they watch the movies and participate in the festivities. You’ll be surprised how many students are excited to color, and you can hang their artwork around the classroom! The Crayola website has free  Christmas coloring pages.  

High school students often face academic pressures and stress. Coloring has been shown to have therapeutic effects and can provide a break from the demands of schoolwork. Coloring can also be a social activity, allowing students to work on a project together. It can encourage conversation and collaboration, fostering a sense of camaraderie among classmates. You can even make a contest out of the coloring and have judges choose the best pictures!

Another way that I allow students to decompress before the holiday break is to bring in board games and allow them to play them in small groups. It is really fun to watch your students interact with one another beyond academics and it can really nurture your classroom environment. Right before Christmas break is a perfect time to allow students to play a fun game, color a picture, and enjoy themselves a little bit. 

Why High School Holiday Activities Matter

Engaging high school students in holiday activities goes beyond the joy of the season; it creates memorable experiences and fosters a sense of community. From the multicultural exploration of holiday foods around the world, the hands-on creativity of decorating Christmas cookies, to delving into the rich history of gingerbread, these activities offer a blend of cultural appreciation and festive fun. The therapeutic joy of coloring Christmas pictures and writing holiday cards is a huge stress relief. The culinary inspiration gained from watching holiday cooking shows, contribute to a holistic and enriching holiday season.

By incorporating these diverse and interactive elements, you can make the holiday season in high school a time of both learning and joy, leaving students with warm memories that extend beyond the classroom.

Collectively, these holiday activities for high school create a festive tapestry that weaves together education, tradition, and the spirit of the season, leaving a lasting impact on high school students’ holiday experiences.  

Check out our 5 Career Exploration Games for High School Blog Post for more high school activities and lesson plan ideas for career and tech education and family and consumer science.

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12 Ideas For Holiday Activities In The Classroom

What is the relationship between The Grinch and his dog? Who’s more important to the story and why?

by TeachThought Staff

This time of year, students are excited about the holidays.

And they’re often excited for different reasons, of course. Elementary students are learning holiday traditions and enjoying festive songs and stories, while middle and high school students are eagerly counting down the days to vacation! And with Thanksgiving and Christmas break quickly approaching, you might be seeing less enthusiasm for classwork in your older students.

Holiday Activities For The Elementary School Classroom

1. (Kindergarten)  Handprint Reindeer

An entire collection of reindeer activities with all the best reindeer crafts, learning activities, and even reindeer snacks.

2. (1st-2nd Grade)  Santa Claus is busy

Practice verb tense in this simple holiday-themed activity.

3. (4th-5th Grade)  Creative Writing Prompt

Have students write one to two paragraphs answering the question, “What does ‘holiday spirit’ mean to you?” Have them focus on correct spelling and grammar. For added difficulty, list specific parts of speech (adjectives, verbs, adverbs) for them to use, underline and label in their writing.

4. (3rd-5th) A Creative Christmas Wish List

Have students make a Christmas wish list but with some specific criteria. You could have them come up with a wish list for their parents–or favorite book character or sports team. You could even get creative and ask students to create a wish list for something academic. For example, what would a tree’s root system ‘want’ for Christmas? Inert gases–what do they ‘want’? Couplets in a Shakespearean sonnet–what might they ‘want’?

Holiday Activities For The Middle School Classroom

5. (6th-8th Grade)  Holiday Math Word Problems

Create holiday-themed word problems that mix holiday festivities with your current math lessons.

6. (6th-8th Grade)  Rewriting the Holidays PAFT-Style

Draw out your students’ creative writing skills with this fun writing project. Students choose any holiday tale and rewrite it using the PAFT format. Consider ‘Frosty The Snowman,’ for example.

Premise & Perspective: Frosty is told from a third-person narrative perspective

Audience: young children

Format: short fiction/cartoon

Topic/Theme/Thesis: loyalty/faith/friendship

In this activity, students would choose one or more of the above categories and alter it to create something new. The PAFT acts both as analysis and pre-writing. Here’s an example:

Premise & Perspective: the same story told from the point-of-view of the magician

Audience: teenagers

Format: flash fiction

Topic, Theme, Thesis, or Tone: sarcastic or humorously ’emo’

7. (8th Grade) Analyze Anything

This literacy activity can be done in collaboration in the classroom. The most obvious approach is to reach for low-hanging fruit like holiday traditions–stories like The Night Before Christmas are good examples for discussing the concepts of rhythm, rhyme scheme, and figurative language.

But you can also consider analyzing the effect of the economy on gift-giving, the impact of emerging technological trends on familial traditions in their own home. You can also use the TeachThought Learning Taxonomy to create critical thinking prompts around any holiday custom, song, movie, video, symbol, etc.

For self-guided homework, you can also choose a short holiday novel for students to read and have them paraphrase in writing what the novel is about. Paraphrasing is a great skill to practice for future research and writing projects.

Holiday Activities For The High School Classroom

8. Holidays Across the World

Students research holiday traditions from different cultural standpoints. You can either assign the different cultures/countries of origin or have them randomly draw from a bowl.

From their research, have students write an essay explaining the holiday traditions observed in that culture. You can direct them to focus on whichever writing concepts they are currently practicing or simply for excellent spelling and grammar.

9. Critical Thinking About The Holidays Discussion Or Writing Prompt

Have students answer a thought-provoking question like, “Is Christmas too commercial?” They should write a brief, thoughtful answer to the question. Other choices?

Argue for or against the magician (Professor Hinkle) from ‘Frosty’ as an anti-hero. Put another way, who’s the hero of ‘Frosty’ and why?

Many people disagree about religion, consumerism, the ‘true meaning’ of the holidays, etc. Whose perspective about ‘the holidays’ is valid and why?

What are the ‘parts’ of the holidays? Analyze them from a given perspective. Factors could include culture, chronology, weather, economics, color, light, sound, food, etc. Be specific and give concrete examples.

10. Holiday Poetry Writing

Have students write a holiday-inspired poem. Students can draw from a mix of different types of poems (Ballad, Haiku, etc) and then write a poem using that poetry type. Then, students can present their poems to the class, publish digitally, or turn them into something new using PAFT.

11.   Genius Hour

This one isn’t expressly an ‘activity’ but could be used as one in a short enough duration. The idea here is for students to simply choose a topic and learn what they want, how they want–and create what they want in response. The key is how to choose the topic (try brainstorming by category) and how to learn (consider using our Genius Hour framework or self-directed learning model ).

12. QFT Time!

In addition to the Genius Hour approach above, another idea for a holiday activity for high school students is to use the QFT strategy to guide student inquiry. The idea here is to identify a topic, then come up with a series of refined and improved questions. This critical thinking-intense activity isn’t the lightest approach to holiday classroom practice, but for certain classrooms (you know who you are), it’d be the perfect fit.

As always, feel free to modify the activities listed here to suit your content area, age group, lesson planning needs, or your specific teaching style.

Simple Holiday Activities For Students

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14 Winter Holiday Activities for School

What holiday (or holidays) are you celebrating in December? There are plenty of winter holiday classroom activities that can you do with your students regardless of whether they typically celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, more than one holiday, or nothing at all.

In a season marked by singing cheery songs, eating traditional holiday foods, wrapping gifts, and doing fun crafts, check out our list of holiday activities for elementary and middle school students below to ensure your class has a great send-off before winter break.

Fun Holiday Activities for Elementary and Middle School Students

1. holiday crafts for the classroom (grades k–8).

There’s so much you can do when it comes to easy holiday crafts for the classroom—the list is endless. You can start by searching social media or consulting with your teacher BFF for ideas, but here’s a list to start you off:

• Making snowpeople out of cotton balls (and other supplies)
• Making snowflakes out of popsicle sticks or paper
• Designing holiday ornaments
• Writing and illustrating a book or story based on a holiday

2. Have a Holiday Music Listening Session (Grades 3 and up)

Have each student choose one or two winter holiday songs to add to a classroom playlist. These can be traditional holiday songs, like Jingle Bells, or popular songs that celebrate winter months.

Listen to the playlist at a holiday celebration in the classroom or use it to start a discussion with your students about the music. What makes it a holiday or winter song? Consider creating a Venn diagram of words and feelings associated with the holiday season and the sounds and words in the music. Have students share their thoughts in small groups.

3. The Year in Numbers (Grades 2–3)

Celebrate the New Year by inviting students to explore the upcoming year as a number. Is the new year odd or even? What number do you get if you add 100 to the year? What if you subtract 100? How many thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones make up the new year? Provide students a copy of the printable “ New Year's Math ” to complete these and other activities. Review their work as a class and invite students to explain what they wrote. Finally, challenge students to create a visual representation of the year using base-ten blocks, tallies, counters, a graph, number sentence, or drawings.

4. Create Holiday Cards (All Grades)

It’s time for your students to get creative! Have them create holiday cards for their loved ones—their parents or guardians, family members, or close friends—using construction paper, glue, glitter, markers, and any holiday decorations you can find.

For older elementary and middle school students, you can consider even turning this into a writing assignment. Perhaps they can write short poems about the holiday they celebrate in their cards, draft a letter to somebody wishing them a happy holidays, or thank someone for a kind act they did in the past year.

5. Make a Multicultural Calendar (Grades 6 and up)

For this middle school activity, download the printable PDF below. Students will research the traditions of different cultures and create a multicultural calendar. You will need to divide your students into groups, with each one assigned to a specific culture they would like to learn more about. They will then choose a month where at least one holiday is celebrated in that culture, research those holidays, and complete the assignment below.

6. Collect Food Donations (All Grades)

This can be done on a schoolwide or classroom level. Consider collaborating with other staff to make a schoolwide effort a reality. Make sure students know that bringing in food donations is not an obligation. Keep it fun and friendly in the spirit of giving.

7. Keep It Traditional With Gingerbread-House Making (All Grades)

For this activity, Katie Risolo Radovich, a first-grade teacher at the Diocese of Rockville Centre in Long Island, New York, explains that she spends a few days collecting milk cartons from her lunchroom and then washes them out so they can be used to build gingerbread houses. This is a great way to foster student collaboration (social-emotional learning!) and get your students to be creative. Radovich says:

We have white icing and graham crackers to help give the milk cartons a gingerbread house look. Then, the students get to work with decorating. They use all kinds of candy and snacks—peppermints, marshmallows, pretzels, M&Ms, Skittles, gum drops, and so on. It is a great way to bring families into the school to build that home-school connection and to celebrate the holidays. We do this the day before break starts as a wonderful send-off!

Another option is to decorate gingerbread cookies! You can invite parents into the classroom to participate and read a holiday book aloud.

8. Have a Classroom Holiday Celebration! (All Grades)

Another great activity holiday school activity is having a party. You may want to have students bring in food related to whatever holiday they celebrate, such as dishes specific to certain cultures or holiday-themed cookies. You can even invite family members to the classroom and have them read picture books and discuss the importance of each holiday. Get creative—how you structure this activity will depend on many factors, including student guest policies, food restrictions, and classroom limitations.

9. Modern-Day “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” Poem (Grades 5 and up)

Download the activity below and have your students write a version of the famous poem “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” When the poem was written in the early 1800s, the details in the poem (sugar plums, stockings, nightcaps, chimneys) were all modern. Have them update the poem to align with the technological advances and societal shifts that have taken place since then.

10. Decorate the Classroom (All Grades)

You can have your students help you decorate your classroom so that it's themed for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and winter so it can serve as an ideal environment to host your winter holiday party! Have students wrap their desks and create their own decorations to be hung up on the walls and ceilings.

11. “Warm World Wishes” Writing Assignment (All Grades)

Jade Mackney, a teacher at P.S. 43, an elementary school in New York City, recommends that rather than focusing on what your students want for themselves for the holiday season, have them consider and share their wishes for the world. This writing assignment can be a good opportunity for students to write about something they are passionate about and want to see change in the new year —world peace, a cleaner environment, or virtually anything to better their community and society. Have them share with their classmates when they finish!

12. Polar Express Party (Grades K–5)

Consider winter holiday activities for elementary students related to the book The Polar Express and/or the 2004 movie! You can have your students participate in a Polar Express pajama party, where the week before winter break, they (and the staff) come to school in their pajamas. The teacher can read the book to the class (or the students can read it themselves, depending on their age) and then watch the movie in the classroom or the auditorium. You can even serve hot chocolate and cookies. If you want, consider assigning students to complete a writing piece explaining what they would do and where they would go if they had an opportunity to travel on the Polar Express.

13. Play Holiday Word Games (Grades 6 and up)

Use holiday-related phrases to play fun holiday word games. See how many words students can make out of the phrase “Happy Holidays” (or another word or phrase related to the holidays or a specific winter holiday). Turn this into a competition by dividing your students into groups and seeing who can come up with the most words!

If you want to do something a bit more advanced, create a word search, word scramble, or crossword puzzle using holiday words. You can search online for free tools to create crossword puzzles and other word games. Be sure to tailor the words and clues to the appropriate grade level. If you teach English language arts, get creative using vocabulary words tied to the curriculum. Or, download our winter word search template (complete with answer key!) and get your students started with this free activity.

14. White Elephant or Secret Santa (All Grades)

This holiday classroom game—which can be adapted across grade levels—can take different forms. For a secret Santa, you can have students randomly pick one of their classmate’s names out of a hat. Make sure they don’t reveal the classmate they selected! That is the student they will give a gift to. Try gifting free options, such as having students write stories or poems, make crafts for one another, or create voucher coupons for their classmate.

In a white elephant, students can make crafts for their classmates, wrap them, and place the items in a central location in the classroom as gifts. You should then determine the order by which students will choose a random present to open. The first student selects and opens a random gift (make sure everyone can see what it is!), and then each student can subsequently either unwrap another gift or swap one with another participant. The participant whose gift was taken can then open a different wrapped gift or, again, choose one from somebody else. Continue until all the presents are unwrapped! There are many variations of this game, but you can read about your options here .

Share Your Favorite Holiday Classroom Activities

Have any examples of holiday classroom activities or games that we missed? Share your favorites with us on Twitter ( @HMHCo ) or Facebook , or email us at [email protected] .

With that, we hope you and your students enjoy the winter holidays this year. Whether you decide to host a classroom holiday party or do simple crafts, ’tis the season to celebrate and recharge for the new year !

Find more lesson plans and classroom resources o n Shaped .

This blog, originally published in 2019, has been updated for 2023.

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8 Fun Games For Celebrating Christmas Season

Tis the season to be jolly, and what better way to spread some yuletide cheer than with a playful and festive celebration among high schoolers! The halls are decked, the cookies are baked, and it’s time to bring the holiday spirit to life. From the thrill of a gingerbread house decorating competition to the excitement of a Secret Santa gift exchange, these Christmas games are sure to bring laughter and joy to your holiday season. 

So gather your merry friends and get ready to let your creativity and holiday cheer shine through in this celebration filled with festive activities! Whether you’re looking to win or simply have a good time, these games are the perfect way to make this holiday season unforgettable. So get ready to deck the halls, light the tree, and make some holiday memories!

Celebrating the holidays with a twist: High school edition Christmas games

Christmas is the time when children look forward to cakes, games, and a lot of fun. With the approaching winter vacation, the below-mentioned activities offer a great closing before the break.

1. Secret Santa Gift Exchange 

Secret Santa is a fun way for high schoolers to exchange gifts during the holiday season. To organize a Secret Santa exchange, determine the number of participants and set a budget for gifts. Have each participant write their name on a slip of paper and put all the slips in a hat. Have each person draw a slip of paper to determine who they will be buying a gift for. Make sure to set a deadline for when the gifts should be exchanged, such as at the next school gathering or at a holiday party. Encourage everyone to keep the identity of their gift recipient a secret. On the day of the gift exchange, have each person take turns revealing their gift and guessing who their Secret Santa was. 

So, join in on the holiday spirit by participating in a Secret Santa gift exchange. Draw names and bring a wrapped gift for the person you picked. On the day of the exchange, watch in excitement as the gifts are unwrapped and the giver is revealed in a heartwarming surprise.

2. Christmas Trivia

Christmas Trivia is a fun and interactive way for high schoolers to test their knowledge of holiday facts and traditions. To organize a Christmas Trivia event for high schoolers, create a list of trivia questions related to Christmas, such as historical events, popular traditions, and holiday-themed movies. Divide the participants into teams and have each team take turns answering questions. Keep score and award a prize to the team with the most points at the end of the game. To make the event more festive, play holiday music in the background and serve holiday snacks and drinks. You can also encourage participants to wear holiday-themed attire. 

Be ready to test your Yuletide knowledge and compete against your peers with a fun-filled game of Christmas Trivia. From movies to songs, history, and traditions, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

3. Christmas Carol Pictionary

Get into the musical spirit of the season with a thrilling game of Christmas Carol Pictionary. It is a fun and festive way for high schoolers to get into the holiday spirit while also testing their drawing and guessing skills. To organize a Christmas Carol Pictionary event, create a list of popular Christmas carols, such as “Jingle Bells,” “Deck the Halls,” and “Silent Night.” Divide the participants into teams and have one member of each team draw a Christmas carol while the rest of the team tries to guess what song is being drawn.

Keep score and award a prize to the team with the most points at the end of the game. To make the event more festive, play holiday music in the background and serve holiday snacks and drinks. Christmas Carol Pictionary is a great way for high schoolers to get into the holiday spirit and create a memorable experience. If the kids love some music, they can also engage in some music activities , and enjoy the true essence of Christmas with the sound of melodies.

4.  Elf on the Shelf Scavenger Hunt

Join in on the search for Santa’s mischievous helpers in an exciting scavenger hunt. Participants race to collect as many elves as they can and bring them back to the North Pole (i.e. the finish line). It is a fun and festive way for high schoolers to get into the holiday spirit and compete in a team challenge. To organize an Elf on the Shelf Scavenger Hunt, hide small Elf on the Shelf dolls in different locations throughout the school or event space.

Divide the participants into teams and give them a list of clues to find the hidden Elf on the Shelf dolls. The first team to find all the Elf on the Shelf dolls and bring them to the designated finish line wins the game. You can also encourage participants to wear Christmas caps. Elf on the Shelf Scavenger Hunt is a great way for high schoolers to create a good high school memory while also competing in a fun and interactive challenge.

5. Christmas Movie Charades

Get into the holiday movie mood and act out popular Christmas films in a festive game of Christmas Movie Charades. Your teammates have to guess what movie you’re portraying.

To organize a Christmas Movie Charades event, create a list of popular Christmas movies, such as “Elf,” “Home Alone,” and “A Christmas Carol.” Divide the participants into teams and have each team take turns acting out a Christmas movie without speaking while the other teams try to guess what movie is being acted out. Keep score and award a prize to the team with the most points at the end of the game.

6. Deck the Halls

Get into the holiday decorating spirit and compete to see who can deck the halls or classroom with the most creative and festive decorations. From tinsel to ornaments, let the decorating commence!

To organize a Deck the Halls event, divide the participants into teams and have each team decorate a section of the school or event space with holiday-themed decorations, such as tinsel, lights, and ornaments. The team with the most creative and festive decorations wins the competition. To make the event more interactive, have the participants sing holiday carols as they decorate their designated section. This creates a joyful and festive atmosphere for everyone to enjoy. To add a competitive element, you can also have the participants vote on their favorite decoration. 

7. Wrap Battle

Show off your wrapping skills in a fast-paced and creative competition. Participants race to wrap a present with flair, and the gift with the most pizzazz wins.

To organize a Wrap Battle event, divide the participants into teams and have each team compete to see who can wrap a holiday gift the fastest and with the most creative and festive wrapping paper. The team with the most impressive wrapping job wins the competition. To add an extra challenge, you can also have the participants race to wrap a difficult-shaped item, such as a large vase. You can also have a prize for the winner, such as a holiday-themed gift or a gift card.

8. Cookie Decorating Competition

Unleash your creative side in a sweet and sugary cookie decorating competition. Who will create the most scrumptious and festive design?

To organize a cookie decorating contest, provide pre-baked sugar cookies and a variety of holiday-themed decorations, such as icing, sprinkles, and candies. Divide the participants into teams or have them compete individually, and give them a set amount of time to decorate their cookies. Have a panel of judges or have the participants vote on the most impressive cookie. You can also serve hot cocoa or cider to create a festive atmosphere. 

The holiday season is a time for coming together, spreading joy, and making memories. These Christmas games for high schoolers are the perfect way to celebrate the season with friends and peers. Whether you’re participating in a Secret Santa gift exchange or competing in a gingerbread house decorating competition, these games are sure to bring a smile to your face and add some excitement to your holiday season. So gather your friends, get into the holiday spirit, and have some fun with these festive games.

Furthermore, kids can also enjoy some lunchtime activities in school during Christmas time to make it a memorable month for all. 

Let the laughter, joy, and good times roll, and have a very Merry Christmas!

Sananda Bhattacharya, Chief Editor of TheHighSchooler, is dedicated to enhancing operations and growth. With degrees in Literature and Asian Studies from Presidency University, Kolkata, she leverages her educational and innovative background to shape TheHighSchooler into a pivotal resource hub. Providing valuable insights, practical activities, and guidance on school life, graduation, scholarships, and more, Sananda’s leadership enriches the journey of high school students.

Explore a plethora of invaluable resources and insights tailored for high schoolers at TheHighSchooler, under the guidance of Sananda Bhattacharya’s expertise. You can follow her on Linkedin

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10 Christmas activities for students in high school

by mindroar | Oct 24, 2021 | blog | 0 comments

Are you looking for some Christmas activities for students in high school to liven up those last few classes before the holidays? Are you valiantly battling the holiday slide, when all your students can think about is presents, chocolate, and a break from school?

Whether you’re looking for Christmas computer activities for your middle school students or fun Christmas writing activities for your high school students, we’ve got you covered.

Today we have ten activities you can do with your students to keep them engaged until the last bell rings.

The first Christmas lesson for high school students are these digital activities. These Christmas computer activities are fun for middle school students too, although they will suit older students better.

They will work if you’re still doing online learning. They’re also perfect if your students are leaving early for the holidays and you need to prepare work for them.

Parts of speech escape room

This escape room by GameWise follows Santa’s elf as he tries to overcome Santa’s nemesis the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny has stolen Santa’s naughty-or-nice list. Students play as the elf to try and get the list back.

The escape room reviews some parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives) in a fun way. Students need to get correct answers to progress in the game.

These fun Christmas activities for middle school students are also a great way for older high school students to review parts of speech.

The great part? You can try the free demo version before you buy the full version.

Sentence structure escape room

The even better part? You can do the follow-on game which reviews sentence structure grammar here .

In this game, students must again rescue the naughty-or-nice list from the evil Easter Bunny. But this time they review sentence structure grammar.

During the game, students must answer questions about subject, object, phrases, and clauses. To progress in the game, students must answer questions correctly.

It also has a free demo version available here.

These fun Christmas activities for high school students are a great way to review grammar while still celebrating the holidays. They are also great middle school Christmas computer activities if students know their grammar.

Christmas reading, writing and grammar activities

If you’re looking for some Christmas classroom activities for high school students, try these reading, writing and grammar activities. Most of the Christmas activities and printables are suitable for middle school students and high school students.

Reading activities

The first Christmas activity for students in high school is this activity by EB Academics by Caitlin and Jessica, the activities cover common core topics and skills such as:

• characterization
• point of view
• identifying the main idea
• summarizing plot
• plot development
• comparison.

And it does it through twelve different holiday-themed activities such as a letter to Santa and a snowflake activity.

Christmas grammar activities

This activity by Juliet Faulkner encourages students to pay attention while reading. Students read real-world holiday messages and find grammar errors.

Fun and funny, the activity encourages students to connect grammar to their real lives. The activity has 36 real-life examples of grammar fails, an answer/correction key, and is provided in a few formats.

Christmas writing activities

The first Christmas writing activity for students in high school we have is this activity by The Classroom Sparrow. This massive bundle has nineteen activities including tasks such as:

• Christmas newspaper articles
• a Christmas writing prompt advent calendar
• an ugly Christmas sweater activity
• a North Pole career exploration activity
• a Christmas carol writing activity

If you are looking for fewer activities, this bundle by Education is Lit is an alternative. With both Christmas and New Year’s activities, it includes students in the fun if they don’t celebrate Christmas.

The first activity is a Christmas dinner menu writing activity. The second activity is a growth mindset New Year’s Resolutions activity. Both activities can be done in print or digital.

The third Christmas writing activity for students in high school is this essay activity by ELA Ninja. It is a great way to get in some essay-writing practice heading into the holidays.

The product has a PowerPoint to teach students how to write an argument and four articles about Thanksgiving and Christmas. It includes scaffolding to differentiate for struggling students, a pre-writing sheet, a peer editing sheet, and a marking rubric.

Christmas lessons using a movie

If you’re looking for something to do with a movie ( no judgment here – get that grading done!), these lessons may be better suited.

This activity by Julie Faulkner also uses a non-fiction text, which can be difficult to incorporate into your curriculum. The activity pairs an essay by Charles Dickens with the movie Christmas with the Kranks .

Included in the product are a teacher’s guide and instructions for a substitute teacher to take the lesson. (Then maybe you can chuck a sickie and get your Christmas shopping done!)

But this product is still rigorous. It also has the following available in PDF or digital form for Google:

• question and answer sheets
• an analysis sheet
• analysis task cards for the essay
• and an irony analysis for the movie.

The second Christmas movie lesson for high school we found was this activity for the movie Elf .

The activity by Danielle Knight would suit you better if you are wanting to watch short clips instead of a whole movie.

(But we encourage you to use your in-class time as well as you can. If you need some time to mark or plan a holiday menu show the whole movie). The product includes:

• links to shorter clips of the movie
• a presentation for a smartboard or projector
• background notes on the movie
• links to compilation scenes of the movie
• activities for inference, generalization, and characterization.

Christmas escape room

Last on our Christmas activities for students in high school list is this Christmas escape room by Language Arts Excellence. The escape room engages students in language arts skills through five main tasks, including:

• identifying figurative language in a popular Christmas song
• sequencing a Christmas poem
• identifying parts of speech in fun Christmas facts
• spotting commonly confused words in passages about how Christmas is celebrated throughout the world
• decoding a message to find out the song they need to sing to escape on Christmas holidays.

The product contains:

• instructions
• print checklist
• welcome sign
• materials for each of the five tasks
• student answer booklets
• teacher answer key
• reflection task to be completed either in-class or as homework.

Want more Christmas content?

See this blog post for more Christmas classroom activities for middle and high school students.

Feel guilty about putting on a Christmas movie?

See this blog post for 4 guilt-free reasons to watch a video.

Best Christmas Holiday

Lesson ideas & more that, your teens will love.

The excitement is in the air, the carols are playing, the trees are going up: It’s Christmas! What a wonderful time of year for celebrations. If you are like me, though, you want to be sure that you are still keeping your class contained and working on something skills-based through the Christmas Holiday season. Here are the best Christmas holiday lesson ideas, activities, and more for middle & high school teens for all subjects.

1.  TEACHING THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON

This is the time of year for giving, so I’m always looking for ways to inspire and warm my students’ hearts during the holiday season. It’s so easy for tweens and teens to get caught up in making their own lists and checking them twice that they quickly forget about others. My high school English students enjoy the activities in my  Surviving the Christmas Bundle.  These Christmas lessons and activities will inspire students to think  beyond the hustle and bustle  of receiving glittering gifts in order to  focus on the moments and meaning of the season ! Whether they are reading nonfiction about Toms shoes and analyzing poetry, watching the funny holiday film Skipping Christmas , or researching different symbols of the season from various holiday traditions around the world to present to their classmates, they will be focused and engaged. This pack includes various levels of texts with appropriate thematic pairings, so you can provide your students with the best materials for them.

Yearbook and journalism students can practice their headline writing skills and reach out to the student body with  my Christmas headline writing activity . Students will read news articles about the holiday and write the missing headlines. Then they will organize an in-school service project. Your journalism students will love the Christmas-themed activity and service-learning project, and you will love that they are brushing up on crucial journalism skills.

2. TEACHING CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD

Many classrooms are blessed with diversity, and having activities at-hand for all students to see themselves in the celebration is important. In other cases, you may be required to incorporate a lesson with various Christmas traditions during this time of year. Either way, there are some pretty awesome resources available that will allow you to teach Christmas traditions around the world creatively and easily. My bundle featured above includes my  Symbols of the Seasons research project , which would be perfect for English classes, advisory periods, technology classes, journalism/media, and more. A short research project like this is also perfect for sub plans. Middle school students (and even high school kids) enjoy coloring every now and then, too, and my  Coloring-by-Figurative Language sheets  offer a variety of images!

Escape games are all the rage right now, and you know how much I love them. This  Christmas Around the World Escape Room  by Think Tank will take your middle school students this holiday season in any subject on a secret mission around the classroom! This escape room has students decode fun and interesting facts about Christmas traditions around the world. Students will learn brief holiday traditions of Iceland, Japan, Philippines, Germany, England, Ukraine, Russia, Norway, Marshall Islands, Australia, Slovakia and Venezuela. Grades 4-8 in geography class can join the fun with  these latitude and longitude puzzles from Dr. Loftin’s Learning Emporium .  Students simply plot the given coordinates, connect their dots, and discover a hidden picture (Santa, Gingerbread Man, Stocking, Elf, Snowman, Reindeer, Snowflake, Christmas Tree, Star of David, and Christmas Star).

3. TEACHING WITH THE MAGIC OF MOVIES

I am a sucker for Christmas movies, and movie really does make the BEST Christmas Holiday lesson idea! This time of year, my TV recorder is already full of holiday movies, and I can’t wait to cuddle up and binge watch. My all-time favorite Christmas movie is Home Alone 2 . Old-school, I know, but I love the music, setting, and message. It’s no surprise, then, that I  developed a FREE lesson  for my high school English class, so I could show it at school. Plus, teach your students how to extend the holiday spirit with the real-world project included.

Another super-sweet movie this time of year is Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory . For this movie,  I’ve also created a movie guide  that has students practicing skills such as theme, conflict, characterization, mood, and setting. The human plot chart puzzle, symbolism worksheet, and constructed response prompts are excellent options to follow up the movie. Plus, there are several suggestions for service projects that are inspired by the film.

And let’s not forget the all-time favorite Christmas classic: Dickens’s A Christmas Carol . If you like to show this film during Christmas,  take a look at my movie guide . From reading charts and graphs, to reviewing plot with the interactive human plot puzzle, to analyzing symbolism, to writing, this movie guide is sure to add rigor to your movie-viewing experience. It works with any version of the movie you have on hand.

Go ahead… get cozy with some cocoa and a Christmas movie without sacrificing any learning.

4. DECORATING AND CELEBRATING IN THE CLASSROOM

If you are allowed to have a Christmas party or decorate in your classroom this time of year, here are a few ideas to make it fun, easy, and educational!

Who knew that those tacky Christmas and holiday sweaters from the 90s would actually become a party trend? Yet here we are… and they are actually super cute. I created  this school-wide Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Pack , and the students at my high school have an Ugly/Tacky Christmas dress-up day every year; even the teachers participate! It’s so easy to host a tacky Christmas sweater party, and if you need some ready-to-go materials to communicate with parents and students or to make it educational, check out  my Wacky Tacky Christmas Sweater Classroom Party Pack ! There are even awards and activities to do in class during the party.

Elly Thorsen has you covered (All my puns are intended!) with  her Physical and Chemical changes Ugly Holiday Sweater Coloring worksheets  if you teach secondary science. In the worksheets, students read about a change that occurs over the holidays and identify it as a physical or chemical change by coloring an ugly sweater accordingly. Then they explain in sentences how they knew what kind of change occurred.

If you are planning to deck the halls (or your classroom walls) for the holidays, there are so many posters that are educational. These   multilingual Christmas and Hanukkah posters from The ESL Nexus  represent different 35 countries, and include suggestions for 8 math, writing, and art activities that teach students about the countries! I like to hang  my Nativity posters  in my Sunday School classroom at church this time of year.  These are sized as 8×10 both in jpeg and pdf format! You can print anyway you want… on home printer, online, or at the local photo lab! 

If you teach a technology or computer classes,  I love this idea from Innovations in Technology . She has her high school students create her classroom’s Christmas decor using computer applications! Students certainly need to be skilled in Microsoft Excel and Google sheets to be successful in many college classes and the workforce. Students are challenged by creating the Christmas art, and they get to be a part of the decorating process.

Putting a Christmas tree up in your classroom may not be an option, but if you teach middle school math,  Wilcox’s Way has you covered with her Middle School Christmas Tree Math Activity . Her resource includes 10 different templates you can use to build your Sierpenski Christmas tree pyramid. Have each student complete a couple of pyramids, and then watch the magic unfold as you put them together and watch your tree grow! I am fascinated with this!

What’s a party without some Christmas cookies and hot cocoa? Given that I have older students, I can usually say that everyone brings something to the table, so to speak, in order to eat. It can be something as small as a 2-liter drink or pack of plates. I even allow them to team up. In the case where students can’t bring anything, I ask them to speak with me and we figure out a good solution; I just want them to realize that it’s important to contribute if at all possible. Another thing to keep in mind is food allergies and school policies on food. If all of that works in your favor, have ALL the cookies, candies, and cocoa. If not, don’t worry. There are still some really fun ways to treat your students.

Kerry Tracy’s Christmas and Winter STEM challenges  is a perfect Christmas Holiday lesson idea and offers so much variety. I think the Candy Cane Calamity would have your middle school students laughing all the way!

Erin Hanson created a fun  hot cocoa themed STEM activity . Middle school scientists will explore the effect of temperature (thermal energy) on marshmallows and candy canes in hot cocoa. Students will practice their science and engineering skills by making predictions, planning investigations, making observations, analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and they’ll love every minute of it!

In Amy Alvis’s middle school math class, students  explore ratio and proportion with holiday cookie-themed task cards.  Your middle school math students will love using manipulatives to discover how many marshmallows are hidden in each mug of hot chocolate in  Leaf and Stem Learning’s Christmas Math Holiday Algebra activity . The variables are represented by holiday cocoa mugs and the constants by marshmallows!

5.  STOCKING STUFFERS

This category is my catch-all for the short Christmas activities and lessons I love that are perfect for just your plug and play, last-minute fillers. From stations, literacy, math, or writing centers, to bell ringers, to time fillers at the end of class, to a short periods or odd schedule days, we always need something we can grab quickly and “stuff in”!

The   OCBeach teacher has her students writing at the beginning of the period using her poetry bell ringers  for the winter season. My  Christmas grammar worksheets  designed for high school students aren’t your typical Christmas grammar exercises! These are truly NO PREP, print and go, age-appropriate exercises to challenge and review your teens’ grammar skills during December. These grammar activities for Santa reflect a seasonally-inspired thematic concept of the page that coincides with key, standards-based grammar skills. For example, students will repair broken sentences (fragments and run-ons) in Santa’s Workshop. Or, they will help Santa double check his list by correcting apostrophe errors. I’ve also provided beautiful clip art to add layers and interest to the pages to grab your teens’ eyes! Plus, for those fast finishers, there’s plenty for them to color and style! Extension activities are also provided on several of the sheets, and the grammar notes are included as well. Your students will get all “wrapped up” with these grammar activities!!

Getting rave reviews from fellow middle school language teachers is the HappyEdugator’s   ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas homophone search . In this Christmas activity, middle school language arts students will be searching all over for homonyms and homophones in a wacky homophone version of the famous Christmas poem “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clark Moore.

I’m super impressed by the rigor and detail of  The Lab’s science coloring by number worksheets for Christmas . Middle and high school students review the human body, periodic table, and more in this coloring activities bundle!

High school Spanish classes can even have a little Christmas Holiday lesson fun with  La Profe Plotts’s Holiday Task Cards.  My  Christmas holiday real-world grammar fails task cards  make the perfect grab and go activity for stations, using in Kahoot, or as bell ringers.

Remember to check your school’s policy on celebrating this time of year, so you are in compliance with those guidelines. May your season be blessed with love, rest, joy, and peace.

From my home to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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5 Super Easy Holiday Activities for Any Classroom

Five simple things every teacher can do!

The holidays are busy! The decorating. Shopping. Planning trips. Getting ready for guests. The list goes on and on.

Plus, grades are due because it's the end of the trimester. Ahh...there's so much to do, that I barely have time to spread the holiday cheer to my students.

Well, I have great news, I'm not gonna have to be a bah humbug this year! That's right, I have a list of super-easy holiday activities for any classroom!

1. Gratitude Activity

This is absolutely my favorite activity. Which is why I keep sharing it!

Click here to read all about the Gratitude Activity !

2. Snowball Fight - Get to Know You Activity

I just did this with my kids and they LOVED it! This  get to know you activity is soooo easy. All you need is scrap pieces of paper and  writing utensils. Here's how it goes: 

• Give each student a few pieces of paper
• Ask students a question like "What's your favorite winter break activity?" and have them write down their answer.
• After writing their answer, they crumple the paper up into a snowball and throw it around the room, like a snowball fight.
• Let the kids throw the snowballs around for a bit and then ask each kid to pick up a paper snowball and return to their seat (I like my kids to sit in a big circle when doing activities like this).
• Then the kids take turns reading their classmates' answers and guessing who wrote the paper. I let the kids have three guesses before moving on to the next student.
• Repeat as many times as you'd like!

Here some possible questions you could ask:

• What's the best gift you've ever given someone?
• What's the best gift you've ever received?
• What's your favorite holiday food?
• If you could be Santa Claus, how would you use your gift-giving powers?
• What's your favorite holiday tradition?

3. Winter Holiday Skits

The last few years at school we've done a Winter Holiday Skit assembly. This is when each Advisory class takes a classic winter holiday song, poem, or story and rework it to fit our school . Then each class performs their masterpiece during a school-wide assembly.

For example, one year my students rewrote Twas the Night Before Christmas to fit their school experience. Then they performed it in front of the whole school by acting out the scenes as a student read the poem.

In the past, other classes have changed the lyrics to 12 Days of Christmas (my advice is to only let them sing one verse when they perform), rewritten How the Grinch Stole Christmas and created original performances .

4. Photo Booths

Kids loooove having their photo taken. Especially when they can be a little bit silly. Which is why I'm a big fan of photo booths as a holiday activity.

I did this a few years ago with a Kindergarten class and it was a huge success. I printed out a few props, took photos of the kids, and then made a little holiday card for the parents.

Here are a few photo booth freebies for you to download:

• Christmas-themed props
• Winter-themed props
• Frozen-themed props

5. Poem Exchange

Last but not least, a poem exchange. Having a gift exchange can be dicey as some kids won't be able to afford to buy a gift for a classmate. But poems are free!

Here's how it goes:

• Draw names or assign each student a classmate to write a poem about.
• Set time aside for students to write a holiday poem for their classmates.
• Read the poems in front of the class.

I've never actually done this with a class, but my family has been sharing poems at Christmas for a looong time. And I think it could be the perfect holiday activity for your classroom!

What about you? What's your favorite classroom holiday activity???

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Hello. I'm  Janelle!

A middle school health teacher turned curriculum developer (and #WAHM).  I'm on a mission to share the easiest-to-teach, most impactful health lesson plans on the Internet. Because your time and energy is better spent on teaching and connecting, not on planning and prep.

Coming into this family 20 years ago, I thought the poem idea at Christmas was one of the coolest things I had experienced during the holidays. I know it’s not a favorite of everybody in the family, but I think it’s good to spend a few minutes thinking about the person’s you’re getting ready to give a gift to, to write some personal words about the recipient. I wasn’t too wild about poetry when I was in elementary school. Actually chose to write dictionary for a week rather than do poetry when I was in fourth grade! But, I still think this is a great activity to introduce to Elementary students, or even high school students! Good post!

Copying the dictionary overwriting a poem! Too funny! Poems are such a fun way to connect and honor people:)

Thanks for taking the time to connect!

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DOWNLOAD FORM 1-2-3-4 HOLIDAY ASSIGNMENTS

DOWNLOAD FREE FORM 1-4 HOLIDAY ASSIGNMENTS ( HIGH SCHOOL)

Below are the Download Links to all the free Secondary School (High School) Holiday Assignments for Form 1, Form 2, Form 3, and Form 4. 

Click on a link to a specific assignment category., april 2021 form 1-4 holiday assignments, form one april 2021 holiday assignments, form two april 2021 holiday assignments, form three april 2021 holiday assignments, more resources to download, form 1-4 lesson notes, form 1-4 termly exams, form 1-4 syllabus, free online video lessons, form 1-4 schemes of work, 2020 form 1-4 schemes of work, form 1-4 topical questions and answers, form 1-4 powerpoint slides notes, k.c.s.e revision materials, form 1-4 lesson plans, k.c.s.e past papers from 1996 to 2019, mock k.c.s.e past examinations papers and marking schemes, university resources, pre-primary (pp1-pp2) school materials.

Remember: All our free high school form 1 to form 4 materials are completely free.

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