50 Fun Classroom Holiday Party Ideas, Games & Activities
If you’re looking for some classroom holiday party ideas you’ve come to the right place. I’ll show you some fun and easy Christmas party ideas including holiday games, party activities, ideas for stations, treats and easy craft ideas too!
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Classroom Christmas Party Ideas on a Budget
Planning a fun classroom Christmas party doesn’t have to cost a fortune! I’ve rounded up tons of creative and budget-friendly holiday party ideas that use supplies you probably already have in your classroom or can pick up for just a few dollars. From easy Christmas games using plastic cups and cotton balls to simple holiday crafts with construction paper and markers, there are so many ways to make your classroom celebration special without spending a lot of money.
Whether you’re planning a few quick activities or a full classroom Christmas party, you’ll find plenty of inexpensive ideas that your students will love!
Christmas Classroom Party Prep & Planning
First, decide on the day and time for the party. The day before winter break is the perfect time to throw your winter holiday party!
While you are making plans for all of the activities and fun here are a few ideas to make your classroom party go so much smoother.
1 | Holiday Party Letter to Parents
Send a letter home to the parents to let them know about your Holiday party. This could also be a chance to ask for parent volunteers and ask for items that you need for the party.
2 | Planning the Christmas Party
After you have decided on the time you want to dedicate to the party, it’s a great idea to create a schedule to help the party go smoother. Here’s an example of a schedule for a 60-minute Christmas classroom party.
3 | Wrapping the Table
Here’s a great idea to help prep for your classroom holiday party. Use Christmas wrapping paper to wrap the tables and desks before the party. This will not only give your party a festive feel, but it will also be so much easier when it’s time for cleanup.
4 | Classroom Holiday Party Decorations
Add holiday décor with matching tableware in a fun holiday theme like Grinch or snowmen.
- You can find a Grinch Christmas balloon arch on Amazon Here.
- Here is a tableware and party pack with everything you need for a Grinch theme party!
5 | Christmas Music
To get students in the holiday spirit during your class party be sure to play some Christmas songs.
Fun Activities at Stations
Stations are a great option to organize your holiday party. You can have a few students working on a holiday craft or activity at each station and then have them switch after a certain amount of time. Check out some of the best station ideas that you can copy for your holiday party below.
6 | Station Setup Idea
Here’s an easy idea for your station setup. Create index cards for each station, then cut slits in the top of plastic cups and slide the station card in the cup and place on each station table.
7 | Cookie Decorating Station
Cookie decorating is a great activity that students love! Provide plain sugar or gingerbread cookies along with icing, sprinkles, and small candies for decorating. Kids can create festive designs to eat or take home.
8 | Ornament Making Craft Station
Offer supplies like clear plastic ornaments, paint, glitter, and ribbon so students can create their own holiday ornaments. Another option is making paper snowflakes or holiday cards.
Read on to see some more Christmas craft ideas that I have at the end of this post.
9 | Gift Wrapping Station
Here’s a fun way to have students work on those fine motor skills. Place this station after the ornament making station. Provide boxes, wrapping paper, and ribbons, and let students wrap the ornaments that they made for a family member or a friend as part of the celebration.
10 | STEM Gum Drop Tree Engineering
Provide students with Christmas colored gumdrops and toothpicks. Students can engineer their very own Christmas tree by connecting the toothpicks with the candy.
11 | Holiday Photo Booth
Set up a corner with props like Santa hats, elf ears, reindeer antlers, and a festive backdrop. Kids can pose for fun holiday photos. You can get a photo booth prop set like this 32-piece one from Amazon to make it so much easier.
12 | Hot Cocoa Bar
Set up a hot chocolate station where students can customize their drinks with marshmallows, whipped cream, candy canes, and sprinkles. You can even have the students decorate their hot cocoa cups as little snowmen first!
13 | Holiday Story Corner
Create a cozy reading nook with holiday-themed books. A parent or teacher can read aloud while students relax and listen. The perfect way to set this up is after the hot chocolate bar so students can enjoy cocoa while listening to Christmas stories!
14 | Would You Rather Station
A fun way to include a writing activity is to add a Would You Rather station. Here students will write about whether they would rather be a reindeer or an elf and why. Have them draw a picture to go along with their writing.
15 | Marshmallow Snowflake STEM Challenge
Challenge students to build snowflakes using mini marshmallows and toothpicks. They can experiment with shapes, patterns, and symmetry while having fun.
16 | Elf Obstacle Course
A fun idea to get students moving is to create a simple indoor obstacle course where kids have to hop, crawl, or balance like “elves on a mission.” Use candy canes or holiday decorations as part of the course.
17 | Christmas Kindness Chain
Have each student write a kind act or compliment on a strip of colorful paper. Connect the strips to create a classroom kindness chain that celebrates the holiday spirit.
18 | Letter to Santa Station
Provide holiday-themed stationery where kids can write letters to Santa, expressing their holiday wishes or even sending thank-you notes.
19 | Christmas Mystery Bag Station
Fill bags with holiday-themed objects such as ornaments, pinecones, bows, and bells. Students reach inside without looking and try to guess what’s in each bag by touch.
20 | Snowflake Decorating Station
Give students paper snowflakes to decorate with markers, stickers, and sequins. Hang them around the classroom for an instant winter wonderland.
21 | Holiday Puzzle Station
Provide holiday-themed puzzles, word searches, or crosswords to engage students who enjoy quiet, focused activities. You can find this cute Penguin holiday puzzle on Amazon here.
22 | Build a Gingerbread House Station
Kids can decorate small gingerbread houses or create holiday scenes using graham crackers, frosting, and candy.
23 | Cardboard Gingerbread House Station
Have students create their own adorable gingerbread houses using a paper gingerbread house kit or small brown paper lunch bags. Let them get creative decorating their houses with markers, stickers, cotton balls, and colorful construction paper for a fun and festive classroom Christmas craft!
24 | Elf Application
A fun writing activity to add to your classroom party is to have students apply to be one of Santa’s elves. They’ll fill out an elf application in a persuasive writing format to convince Santa why they are perfect for the job!
Fun Christmas Crafts for Classroom Holiday Parties
You may want to add some Christmas crafts to your stations too. Here are some of my favorite simple crafts that students can create with everyday materials like toilet paper rolls, pinecones and popsicle sticks.
25 | Popsicle Stick Santas
Provide students with glue, popsicle sticks, cotton balls, red construction paper and buttons. They can create their own little Santa Claus. Here are some other ideas that students can create with popsicle sticks:
- Christmas Trees
- Penguins
- Reindeer
- Santa Hats
- Gingerbread Men
- Candy Canes
26 | Candy Cane Reindeer
Here’s an easy craft idea for younger students. Have students tape two candy canes together for the antlers. Then they’ll cover the candy canes with brown construction paper. Students will add googly eyes and draw a nose to create adorable reindeer!
27 | Toilet Paper Roll Santas
Here are the supplies you’ll need for these simple TP roll Santas:
- Empty toilet paper rolls
- White and red construction paper
- Googly eyes
- Red markers and crayons
28 | Pinecone Rudolph
These adorable Rudolphs would make great Christmas ornaments.
Here are the supplies you’ll need:
- Pinecones
- Red pom poms
- Googly eyes
- Twigs for the antlers
- Brown construction paper for the ears.
- Glue
29 | Make Your Own Ugly Sweater Craft
Let students get creative with a Make Your Own Ugly Christmas Sweater craft! I love this easy holiday sweater ornament kit from Amazon that includes everything students need to design their own festive sweaters, including foam stickers, pom-poms, glittery snowflakes, and gems.
Each kit comes individually packaged, making it perfect for classroom Christmas party stations. Students can take their adorable creations home to hang on their Christmas trees!
30 | Paper Plate Snow Globe Craft
Set up a Paper Plate Snow Globe Craft Station where students can create their own adorable winter wonderlands! Give students paper plates, cotton balls, winter-themed stickers, and paint or markers to design their own snowy scenes. This easy and inexpensive Christmas party craft is perfect for letting kids get creative, and they’ll love taking their little snow globes home to show their families!
Classroom Holiday Party Games
Now let’s check out some fun games to add to your holiday classroom party.
31 | Christmas Saran Wrap Ball Game
Wrap small prizes, stickers, erasers, and candy inside layers of plastic wrap. Students take turns unwrapping the ball while the next student rolls dice. When doubles are rolled, the ball passes to the next person. This is a fun whole-class activity.
32 | Holiday Bingo
Create holiday-themed bingo cards with images of Santa, snowmen, gifts, reindeer, etc. This could be played for small prizes or just for fun. You can get this set of printable Bingo cards on Etsy here.
33 | Educational Holiday Bingo
To make Bingo educational you can adjust the classic party game to review a skill that the class is working on. For example, you could use numbers, letters, sounds, sight words, rhyming words, addition or subtraction.
Add a holiday twist by giving students festive markers, it can even be Christmas candy!
34 | Candy Cane Fishing Game
Students use a candy cane as a hook to pick up as many other candy canes as possible in one minute. This makes a super simple holiday party game with very little prep.
35 | Pin the Nose on the Reindeer (or Snowman)
A holiday twist on “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.” Blindfolded students try to place a nose (like Rudolph’s red nose) on a large reindeer or snowman poster. The pin the nose on Rudolph pictured can be found on Amazon here!
36 | Snowball Toss Game
Here’s a fun holiday game that students will have a lot of fun with. Create a winter-themed target (like a snowman) and use soft “snowballs” (cotton balls or white foam balls) for kids to toss into the snowman’s mouth and stomach!
37 | Roll a Snowman
Roll a snowman is a fun game that the entire class can play. Break students into small groups and give each group a set of dice. Each student starts with a blank piece of paper. Have students take turns rolling the dice and following the prompts.
For example, if they roll a 2, they draw a left arm for the snowman. The first person to complete their entire snowman wins! You can get this printable Roll a Snowman game on Etsy here.
38 | Christmas Classroom Scavenger Hunt
Hide Christmas-themed pictures around the classroom. Give students a checklist of items to find, such as Santa hats, gingerbread men, reindeer, and snowflakes.
39 | Snowman Knockdown
Here’s a fun activity that your students will love! Students will each get four chances to knock down as many snowmen as they can. All you need for this easy game is 6 snowmen cups and large white pom poms that look like snowballs!
You could also do a slight variation to this game and do snowman bowling, where students roll a ball to try to knock down the snowmen cups!
40 | Reindeer Ring Toss Game
Reindeer Ring Toss is a fun classroom Christmas party game that doubles as a cute holiday craft! Have students create their own reindeer using paper cups, googly eyes, red pom-pom noses, and pipe cleaners for antlers. Once their reindeer are ready, students can take turns tossing rings onto the antlers to see who can score the most points!
Holiday Minute to Win it Games
Kids always have a lot of fun with minute to win it games. All of these games will take one minute or less to complete. Get your timer ready and check out these fun minute to win it games to add to your Christmas party this year.
41 | Present Race
- Materials-Wrapped boxes or you could use an actual gift for students and oven mitts.
- How to Play- Students will wear oven mitts and race to see who can open their present first.
42 | Christmas Card Stack Up
- Materials- 10 Christmas cards per team
- How to Play-Teams will race to see who can build the tallest house of Christmas cards in one minute. Whichever team has the tallest card house wins!
43 | Cookie Face
- Materials-One gingerbread cookie per student
- How to Play-Students will place the cookie on their forehead and will race to wiggle it into their mouths using only their faces. Whoever gets the cookie in their mouth first wins.
44 | Jingle Bell Transfer
Students use a spoon to transfer jingle bells from one bowl to another in 60 seconds. The student who transfers the most wins!
45 | Christmas Tree Cup Stack
Give students green plastic cups and challenge them to build a Christmas tree pyramid and take it down in under one minute.
46 | Snowball Scoop Challenge
Students race to move cotton balls from one bowl to another using a spoon while wearing mittens. The mittens make this simple game extra challenging!
47 | Ornament Balance Challenge
Have students balance a shatterproof ornament on a spoon and walk across the classroom without dropping it. Turn it into a relay race for even more fun.
Sweet Treats for Your Classroom Holiday Party
What’s a holiday party without some sweet treats? I’ll show you some ideas of treats that students can help you make during their winter party!
48 | Santa Cookies
Students can help make adorable Santa Cookies. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Vanilla cookies
- Red and white frosting
- Chocolate chips for the eyes
- Red M&Ms for Santa’s nose
- A marshmallow for the pom on Santa’s hat
Have students dip the cookie in the white frosting to make Santa’s beard. Then they’ll dip the other side in red frosting for Santa’s hat. Candy and marshmallows can be added with frosting to make his eyes, nose and the pom on his hat.
49 | Holiday Party Mix
Holiday party mix would be a great sweet and salty addition to your Christmas party. Here are some goodies to add to create an easy trail mix for your classroom Christmas party.
- Christmas M&Ms
- Vanilla Pretzels
- Popcorn
- Chex Mix
- Butterscotch chips
- Peanuts will depend on the food allergies in your class.
50 | Sweet Christmas Tree Activity
Have student make their own Christmas trees. Here is what you’ll need:
- Ice cream cones
- Green icing
- Candies to decorate the trees
- Clear plastic cups with lids
- Ribbon
The plastic cups to hold the trees will be upside down. Have student build their tree on the inside of the lid of the cup. Put two holes in the bottom of the cup, which will become the top. Tie the ribbon through the holes.
More Christmas Classroom Treat Ideas
If you want some more fun treat ideas for your party, then check out this post…
31 Easy and Fun Classroom Christmas Treat Ideas
I hope you found some new Classroom Holiday Party Ideas that you are going to use in your class this year. I also hope you have so much fun with your students celebrating the winter holidays! Feel free to save your favorite ideas to your Pinterest boards. To do this just click on the picture then the P and choose your board.
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