Welcome to Our Cozy Countdown!

Who’s counting the days?  With just a week or two to go before winter break, it’s a whirlwind of excitement!  Between squeezing in standards, crafting thoughtful gifts with the kids, and maybe even hosting a parent program, it’s safe to say we’ve all got our hands full. That’s why I like to keep things meaningful yet manageable during this busy season.  

This year, instead of the traditional Gingerbread Man theme, I found inspiration in the charming book  A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman. This delightful story sparked the idea of focusing on Homes and Families, which feels just right for December. After all, a home isn’t just a place—it’s a feeling of belonging, connection, and comfort, especially during the holidays.  

The concept of home is deeply personal and meaningful. For me, it’s especially poignant because of my own experience teaching far away from my roots. Many of our students share similar stories. With relocation and mobility being such common parts of their lives, our kids often find themselves adapting to new homes, new friends, and new cultures. Exploring the idea of home helps children reflect on their own experiences while building empathy and understanding for others.  

Throughout the week, your learning can center around homes and families. Here are a few ways to bring the theme of homes to life:  

- Reading & Writing: Read *A House is a House for Me* and brainstorm all the creative homes in the world. Students then can write about what makes their own homes special. 

- Arts & Crafts: Each child can create a “dream home” using craft supplies. In past projects, we saw everything from castles to cozy igloos!  

- Math: They can explore patterns by designing wallpapers for homes and use counting activities to "build" houses brick by brick.  

- Social Studies: You can discuss homes around the world, learning about how different cultures create spaces to live, work, and celebrate.  

  

At its heart, this theme is about connection—to our homes, our families, and each other. It’s a chance to celebrate the diversity in our classroom while reminding kids (and ourselves!) of the shared warmth and love that make a house truly a home.  

So if you're looking for something fresh to wrap up the semester, why not try a "Home" theme? It’s a cozy, meaningful way to engage kids while reinforcing important skills—and best of all, it reminds us of the magic of this season.  

Here’s to homes, families, and a countdown filled with love and learning! 

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Seasonal Fun for All: Creative Classroom Ideas When Christmas Isn’t the Focus

Many schools do not celebrate Christmas, but there are other engaging topics to keep your students learning and, perhaps most importantly, having fun during this time of the year. Remember to always be mindful and teach your students to respect all students’ beliefs and traditions. 



Winter-themes activities related to snowmen, hot chocolate, and animals in snow are perfect topics during this time of the year that students who do not celebrate Christmas will enjoy.  Gingerbread is traditionally a holiday treat, but several stories are not holiday-related. Use gingerbread as a theme for creative writing, math problems involving baking and measuring ingredients, and an engaging design activity where students build a gingerbread house. Furthermore, you can add themes such as the Nutcracker, candy canes and poinsettias to your December classroom. 



Nutcracker dolls are often shaped like toy soldiers. In Germany, nutcrackers are believed to bring good luck, and they are often placed around the home during winter to protect the home from evil spirits. Today, these decorations are common, especially at traditional Christmas markets.  Traditionally, nutcrackers were often used to help with cracking nuts, such as hazelnut and pecans!

People began to collect the wooden toy soldiers, and makers began designing nutcrackers that could be used solely as decoration. You can also link the Nutcracker to a project about the popular Nutcracker ballet, which is a wonderful opportunity to explore music, dance and the story behind the ballet. 



Poinsettias are plants that originated in Mexico and Guatemala. This is a great way to add some interesting books and stories about the origins of this stunning plant and its link to the Christmas season. The Aztecs and Mayans valued the poinsettia for the red bracts, which were used to make a dye for clothing and cosmetics. The milky white sap wax was used to make medicine for fevers. This is a great opportunity to add geography, botanical significance, history, cultural significance, and medicine to your poinsettia theme.

If you have used Fact Booklets during Fall, your students will be familiar with the concept. Short paragraphs, pages for filling in their own research about the topic, space  for drawing and decorating, and last but not least fun craftivities. Reindeers are amazing creatures and this topic can be paired with holiday activities. But you can also use the booklets without focusing on the Christmas and the holiday season.

Candy canes with iconic red and white stripes are a loved Christmas tradition,  often used to decorate Christmas trees and cards. But beyond their festive appeal lies a fascinating history of the candy's interesting shape. Is it a shepherd staff or not, and why would someone shape a candy so strangely?  The story behind the candy is fascinating and can ignite interesting conversations about the sweet treats families enjoy during the holiday, making it a perfect topic for the December classroom.  

Several themes are available for your students who do not celebrate Christmas, and they are also great for students who do. Get ready for an amazing December in the Classroom! 

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December 2024 Products

Make December in your classroom special and memorable for every child by including various learning activities.  This is the most wonderful time of the year, but it can be a trying time in the classroom.  Students can be distracted from learning, so it is important to provide interesting activities. If you only know about Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year's Eve, there are other special days that you can introduce your students to, from Rosa Parks Day and Cheetah Day to Poinsettia Day and Candy Cane Day. 



Striking a balance between fun and learning is important, and hands-on learning activities are a great opportunity to keep your students engaged. Start the month by celebrating Rosa Parks Day. This remarkable and brave women have two special days. The first is to celebrate her birth on February 4th, and the second is to observe the anniversary of her quiet rebellion and arrest. On the first of December, Rosa Parks boarded a bus in Montogomery, Alabama, on the way back from her work as a seamstress. She took her seat in the colored section, and as the bus began to full, the bus driver asked Rosa to give up her seat. She refused, and the police arrested her. My Fact Booklet about Rosa Parks is a great way to start learning in December. 

On the 4th of December, your animal lovers will enjoy learning about nature’s sprinters.  Counting the number of spots on photos of cheetahs is a great activity to start Cheetah Day. These members of the cat family can accelerate faster than a Ferrari and are the fastest land animals. International Cheetah Day aims to highlight the superpowers of these stunning creatures while raising awareness about Africa’s most endangered feline. Climate change, hunting, and loss of their natural environment make them vulnerable in the wild.



The Poinsettia plant has been linked to the Christmas season since the 16th century in Mexico. According to legend, a poor girl wanted to celebrate Jesus’s birthday, and an angel told her to give a gift with love. So she picked what she thought were weeds, and they bloomed with beautiful red bracts. Today, poinsettias are given around Christmas to represent community spirit and goodwill. They are a great topic for discussion about kindness and the art of gift-giving.



Celebrate the beauty of horses on National Horse Day on December 13th. This is a great way to raise awareness about horses' impact on history, culture, and the economy. Horses help to plough fields, move food into rural areas, and provide equine therapy to promote physical and emotional well-being.

Candy canes have a special day - the 26th of December. These red and white striped canes are often added to hot cocoa and used to decorate trees and stockings. The story behind the tradition of bending a stick is somewhat unclear. One popular story is that a choirmaster in Cologne, Germany, gave children sugar sticks bent into the shape of a shepherd's staff to keep them quiet during the long Christmas service. Plenty of interesting facts exist about the origins of its first celebration and the tradition of hanging candy canes on Christmas trees, which started as early as 1882. December is the perfect time to spend extra time on the arts, and candy canes are amazing inspirations for art and craft projects.



Have a wonderfilled December! Products are found in my store:   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/thebeezyteacher