Christmas Holiday Pack | Week 1 | Ages 7-11

Week 1

Want some fun things to do at home this Christmas? Our holiday packs are full of awesome activities like games, challenges, Christmas crafts, and quizzes for you to enjoy!

This week you can:

Make an advent calendar
Sew a Christmas stocking
Bake gingerbread people

Create - Christmas crafts

Make an Advent calendar

Advent is the period which leads up to Christmas. It starts on the Sunday nearest to Saint Andrew's Day (30 November).

Many Advent customs involve counting the days until Christmas begins. Children will often be given Advent calendars to mark the days that have passed.

Some churches have an Advent wreath with four candles, one for each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day. Some wreaths will have another candle in the centre to mark Christmas Day itself.

Create your own Advent calendar. Use the example below to help you.

More Christmas crafts

Make a Christmas bauble

Follow the instructions in the worksheet below to turn a jar lid into a sparkly Christmas bauble.

Stay active

Join Dr Ranj on this whacky workout to help increase your heart rate and boost your mood.

Brain workout

Give your brain a work out with these Christmaths times tables quizzes.

Christmaths times tables quiz level 1

Christmaths times tables quiz level 2

Go explore

In the Christmas story, the three wise men were guided by a new star in the night sky. They followed it to the stable where Jesus was born and gave him the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrhh.

In winter it gets dark much earlier than in summer so it can be a good time to try stargazing with your family.

BBC Parent's Toolkit show you how to spot constellations and catch a meteor shower.

Remember to wrap up in lots of warm clothes when going outside in winter.

Snow activities

In winter it is more likely to snow. Snow is a type of precipitation.
We get snow instead of rain when the air temperature is below 0°C (freezing).
In the UK, the air is cold enough for snow when the wind is blowing from extremely cold places like the Arctic regions to the north or from Siberia to the east.

Skip image gallery

Image caption,
Wind direction
It is only cold enough for snow in the UK when the wind is blowing from extremely cold places like Siberia (left) or the Arctic regions to the north (right).
Image caption,
Altitude
The higher up you go, the colder the air gets and the more likely you are to get snow than rain. That's why mountain peaks are often covered in snow, like this mountain pass near Aviemore. (Philip Mugridge / Alamy Stock Photo)
Image caption,
Urban heat
All the people, traffic and buildings in busy cities heat up the air around them. This heat can reduce the chances of snow and is known as urban heat. (Iain Masterton / Alamy Stock Photo)

If we do have a White Christmas, it's a good time to go outdoors and try some wintery activities such as:

building a snowperson
making snow sculptures
making a snow angel
sledging

Remember to dress for the weather and ask an adult to accompany you or ask them for permission to explore. Make sure you stay safe when sledging and never walk on frozen water.

Christmas colouring

It's time to get arty! Grab your crayons, felt tips, or colouring pencils and get ready to do some Christmas colouring.

You can print off this colouring sheet or draw your own festive scene.

Creative writing challenge

Writing a story

The Christmas Carrolls is a very Christmassy story as the Carroll family are obsessed with Christmas!

Find out more about the book and how the author, Mel Taylor-Bessent, uses these made-up Christmas words.

Discover how Mel uses simile and parenthesis to bring her writing to life.

Can you write a recount of a special day you have had this holiday? It could be Christmas day or it could be another day.

Myths and storytelling: Creating a myth or mythical creature

As the weather is colder and wetter In winter, we're more likely to spend time indoors watching television and Christmas films. In the past people would sit together and tell each other stories instead.

Early civilisations created myths to make sense of the world around them and explain things like the seasons. There's an old story about the Holly King and the Oak King who have a Midwinter battle for the seasons.

There is a long tradition of folklore and storytelling around the world so we have amazing characters like Hansel and Gretel and Snow White and creatures like the Abominable Snowman.

Have a go at creating your own mythical creature and tell their tale. You could write it down or tell it to a friend or family member out loud.

Discover more

Play

Choose a character, then add, subtract, divide and multiply numbers to battle your way to victory in this fun maths game.

Challenge yourself across 11 KS2 maths topics from the Mysterious Mountains of Multiplication to the Deadly Sea of Shapes!

Try the new winter-themed version and go on a wintery maths adventure.

Where next?