Ahhh, the week before Christmas. Everywhere we go, things are buzzing with activity as people prepare to celebrate the holiday. Our schedules are full with parties, Christmas programs, shopping, decorating, wrapping gifts, baking, and what feels like a thousand other things.

Many families are taking a break from school, but when kids are accustomed to a structured day, there are moments when all that free time is a bit overwhelming. Boredom sets in — although, as my children have discovered, that’s a word you do not want say in our house — and as more time passes, the back-and-forth between siblings descends into something less good-natured. Tempers get short. Squabbles break out. And their self-directed diversions become less productive and more destructive. Next thing you know, the youngest child is sporting an interesting new haircut. Mom is examining a big, red welt caused by an Airsoft pellet — shot INSIDE the house. Names are mysteriously written in lighter fluid and burned into the neighbor’s lawn. (All true stories, and you know who you are.)

At some point, we inevitably realize all the free time just isn’t working out … and are reminded again that kids need to be occupied.

For much of the year, I’d just declare, “GO PLAY OUTSIDE, and don’t light anything on fire!” (because moms are always learning, too) and let the troops wear themselves out. But sometimes, when the weather is too cold for outdoor activities, it demands a different solution. Something that engages their minds — since burning off serious mental energy can be the next best thing to a brisk three-mile excursion on the walking trail. It’s Brain Boot Camp. Ooh-rah.

Today we’re excited to share a collection of games, puzzles, and creative activities that will keep kids busy and thinking this holiday season; quite a few of them are suitable for adults to join in, if you’d like. There are seven unique sets of printables here (and for the sake of those whose internet connection is less than blazing fast, we’re offering them separately rather than bundling them all together in a single, huge file).

If you’re hosting holiday get-togethers at your home, many of these ideas would be great for keeping the young ones occupied before and after a meal is served. You can’t go wrong when you set aside a special table stocked with puzzles, games, and enough crayons and markers to go around. Also for the kids table, you’ll find a good selection of nativity-themed coloring pages at sites like Bible-Printables.com and BibleStoryPrintables.com.

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Download #1:Our version of this classic game features a Christmas theme. The rules are simple: cards are placed face-down on the table. Players take turns flipping over 2 cards. If the cards match, the player removes them from the table and picks 2 more, until he chooses 2 non-matching cards. Those cards are turned back over in the same spot, and the next player takes her turn. When all the cards are gone, the person with the most sets is the winner.

This is fun for every age. With younger players, you can remove some of the sets — perhaps play with 6 or 12 sets, instead of 24 — but I am always surprised at how well even the smallest kids can remember the location of cards on the table.

This game should be printed on card stock if possible. For best results, be sure your printer is set to “print to fit” (this is often the default setting, but you’ll want to double-check). Page 5 of this download is a simple green background that can be printed on the back side of pages 1-4, preventing players from seeing the image on the other side.

Get yours here:  Printable Christmas-Themed Memory Game

Download #2:

We’ve created two crossword puzzles for kids. One is very simple, with only 8 clues, while the other is more difficult, with twice that number. Answers are included on a separate page.

Get yours here:  Christmas Crossword Puzzles (with Solutions)

Download #3:

Whether your family still has a few last-minute plates of cookies to deliver to neighbors, or you want your kids to get a jump start on the after-Christmas thank you notes, these printable cards are a good way to foster creative expression while teaching your children to be gracious to others. These designs feature artwork from A Reason For Handwriting®, and three of the four cards have blank lines for a personal message. The four, with “Thank you!” printed prominently on the front, is great for younger kids who may not be able to write a message, but would enjoy coloring their own card. (Tracing the large letters helps develop hand strength, too!)

If your children would like to write longer notes to friends and family, these same four designs are available in Christmas-themed Border Sheets that our sponsor, A Reason For, generously allowed us to share earlier in the season. To download Border Sheets, visit our Resource page or Laura’s November 27th ‘Write The Word: The Christmas Story’ post.

For best results, use card stock and be sure your printer is set to “print to fit” for this download.

If you are hosting holiday get-togethers at your good selection of nativity-themed coloring pages can be found at sites like Bible-Printables.com and BibleStoryPrintables.com.

Get yours here:  Printable Christmas Thank-You Cards

Download #4:

Here is our take on the classic word search puzzle. All of the words are taken from the story of Christ’s birth. One of the puzzles is fairly easy, with only 10 words hidden in a 10×10 grid. The other is challenging enough for the serious puzzle-workers among us, and includes 26 words in a much larger field of letters. An answer key for each puzzle is included on a separate piece of paper.

For a competitive element, consider a timed contest: give each person a copy of the word search, and start a timer for 2, 3 or 5 minutes. The one who finds the most words is the winner.

Get yours here:  Christmas Word Search Puzzles (with Solutions)

Download #5:

Because we definitely don’t want to leave out the littlest ones, this download is intended for those who may not be old enough for some of the other puzzles and activities here. We’ve created four designs to be printed and cut apart into simple, 12-piece puzzles for little ones to assemble. Two of the puzzles are beautiful, classic paintings depicting the nativity. The others are scripture verses. Encourage your pre-readers to piece together the “secret message” in the puzzle, then read the verse and help them memorize Luke 2:11 and II Corinthians 9:15.

Get yours here:  Printable Christmas Puzzles for Young Ones

Download #6:

You know that feeling when you’re watching your child do school, and you can practically see his brain growing? No kidding, folks … I find myself looking for any opportunity to share this next idea. The puzzle is inspired by one of my most-loved activities in the 1st-6th grade A Reason For Spelling® curriculum. It is my youngest daughter’s absolute favorite part of the lessons. She’d do this all day if she could, and never consider it school work.

The idea is simple: using a list of words in one column, kids match the shape of each letter to a second column of corresponding square and rectangular boxes. Sounds easy, right? But the exercise is based on some pretty impressive science, and I truly believe it’s a miracle for teaching kids to spell. They have to pay attention to the visual pattern — not only the letter shapes, but their sequence within a group of letters — as they match up each word to the correct boxes.

Even if your child doesn’t normally enjoy word puzzles, may I encourage you to please download this Christmas-themed shape matching activity? I honestly think you and your kids will love it.

Get yours here:  Letter Shape-Matching Puzzle (inspired by A Reason For Spelling®)

Download #7:

We’re calling this game “Memory Master.” The object is to remember how many of each object appears on the large card, after looking at it for 1 minute. There are four levels of difficulty in this set. The easiest has only four different objects, with just a few of each. This is appropriate for younger kids. From there, levels 2-4 gradually become harder until the card has many smaller objects, some of similar color. Along with the game card, which has a removable section at the bottom with the correct item counts, there is a printable answer page. This is cut into quarters, giving each player a place to record his best recollection of the number of items.

An instruction sheet is also included with the download. We suggest that for younger players, you may want to ask them to find only one or two objects at a time. And for older kids and adults, there’s a “challenge” option that makes the game more difficult.

Once again, please be sure your printer is set to “print to fit” for the best results with this file.

Get yours here:  Printable "Memory Master" Game (4 versions + instructions)

We hope you and your family will enjoy these games and puzzles this holiday season. Leave a comment to let us know your favorites!

 

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