The twinkling lights, the carols, the fires, the family. A warm feeling envelops us when Christmas rolls around. It’s full of memories, love, and cheer. Even as adults, the magic of Santa never goes away, which is why I get so excited to share that warm feeling with my kiddos, even during school. Bring festive cheer into learning! Engage your students—and have fun yourself—with these Christmas math activities for preschoolers.
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Christmas Lesson Plans
Stuff Santa
Christmas Math Preschool Activities
There is an obsession with pompoms in our house. I constantly find pompoms scattered about. They’re in my pockets. Pompoms in jars. Just…everywhere. This is why a Christmas math preschool activity centered around a sensory bin full of pompoms is absolutely perfect.
Just tape the Santa printout onto a clear container and Stuff Santa with pompoms! Follow the numbers on the cards and then dump them back out! Easy to set up, and lots of counting involved!
Materials:
- Stuff Santa Counting Activity
- sensory bin
- red, white, black, and yllow pompoms
- clear container (cup, food container, etc.)
Santa's Sleigh Counting Activity
Fine Motor Christmas Math Activity
Yet another exciting manipulative to add to a counting activity: linking chains! Not only do they make the perfect reigns for Santa’s sleigh, but they add in those fine motor skills!
First, count the stars on Santa’s sleigh. Tip: Use a dry-erase marker to dot each star as your students count the higher numbers. Then, find the reindeer with the matching numeral and hook it on with the same number of linking chains. Finally, if you have kiddos anything like my children, fly the sleigh around the room saying, “Ho, ho, ho!”
Ha! There was a ton of laughter and joy with this Christmas math preschool activity!
Materials:
Gift Measure
Non-Standard Measurement Activity
It’s always fun to guess what is inside each present under the tree. But sometimes, it’s fun to trick the kids by wrapping a tiny gift in a large box. (Cue the evil laughter.) Or you can go in the completely opposite direction and just wrap a shovel straight up. My dad sure had fun guessing that one!
But anyway, back to this next Christmas math activity.
First, pick a toy and match it to the same size gift box. It was more difficult than I thought for them, meaning adding visual skills is muy bueno.
Next, measure the width of each gift box using the bow ruler. Tip: Use a blank piece of paper or your hand to cover up the unused portion of the ruler so little ones know when to stop counting.
Finally, we found the tag with the matching width and used Velcro dots to attach them to each gift.
This non-standard Gift Measure is filled with counting, non-standard measurement, numeral identification, and even number formation (if students trace the number on the tag)! Such a great one to add to your Christmas math preschool activities!
Materials:
Missing Lights
Missing Numbers Christmas Activity
My all-time favorite Christmas activity is seeing the dazzling lights. They’re beautiful and magical, and they just make me so incredibly happy. So our calendar is filled with drive-thru light shows, viewing blinged-out houses, lights at the botanic gardens, and seeing the ice castles.
Set it out on a table with twinkling Christmas lights to add even more excitement to this next activity. That will surely draw any toddler (or light-crazed adult like me) in.
This was our first time trying a missing number activity with these missing Christmas lights. Since my little one hasn’t begun working on number formation, we modified this for her using magnetic numbers on a cookie sheet. We even used the included number line to help with counting.
Students working on number formation can use a dry-erase marker on the laminated Christmas lights to fill in the missing numbers. This includes cards with 1, 2, 3, or 4 missing lights to differentiate with your class easily.
It’s time to build that number sense with this low-prep Christmas math center!
Materials:
- Missing Lights Missing Numbers Activity
- lamination
- dry erase markers
- magnetic numbers
Gingerbread Cookie Flip
Christmas Counting Activity
Gobble up these adorable gingerbread men with this delicious math activity! Count the gumdrop buttons on the gingerbread man and flip it over using a spatula to check the answer!
This definitely worked some practical gross motor skills with that spatula flip! Easy to set up and fun for the kiddos! Get your freebie here!
Materials:
- FREE Gingerbread Cookie Counting Activity
- Optional: cookie sheet (Dollar Tree)
- Optional: spatula
Gingerbread Counting Sensory Bin
Christmas Math Preschool Activities
Run, run as fast as you can… to this exciting Christmas math activity!
These counting sensory bins are always a hit with preschoolers; this one is no exception. Your little learners will race over to practice counting, follow visual recipe cards, and strengthen their fine motor skills as they ‘bake’ gingerbread cookies.
Simply follow the counting recipe cards: scoop the dough (lentils or beans), add the gumdrop buttons, squiggle on the icing, and finish with peppermint eyes and a smile.
This hands-on activity is perfect for mixing holiday fun with early math skills—your preschoolers won’t want to stop!
Materials:
- Gingerbread Cookies Counting Sensory Bin
- sensory bin filled with brown lentils or chickpeas
- plastic gumdrops (cheaper at Hobby Lobby)
- peppermints
- squiggly ribbons
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MORE Christmas Activities for Preschoolers
I hope some of these Christmas math preschool activities can help you instill Christmas cheer in your students while reinforcing key math concepts in a fun and engaging way. These math activities are designed to spark curiosity, creativity, and excitement, making learning a joyful part of the holiday season. Wishing you and your students a wonderful, festive time filled with laughter and learning!
