As the hype of the holidays begins, it’s difficult to keep students’ attention. Finding fun and exciting ways to practice math skills is a great way to hold their focus, give them something fun to work on, and make sure they are improving their skills. Use some of these fun Christmas Math Worksheets and Activities to bring some holiday magic to the classroom this year.
Differentiated Christmas Subtraction – Spin & Subtract!
Students absolutely love learning by playing games! They love partner games and games that can be played independently. These Christmas math worksheets have students spinning handmade spinners to create subtraction problems.
Once they spin their spinner, they record the numbers on the lines and solve their math equations. It’s a simple and fun way to practice subtraction around the holidays.
Place these Christmas math worksheets in math centers or assign them at the start of the day for extra practice. There are three versions for differentiation.
- Version 1 includes 1-digit numbers.
- Version 2 includes 2-digit numbers.
- Version 3 includes 2 and 3-digit numbers WITH zeros.
Roll & Subtract
Play Christmas Jeopardy with Your Class
Create your own Jeopardy board with math equations students are working on. Use red and green notecards or stationary to make your board festive. It’s a fun way to solve math problems and improve those skills while using a little bit of classroom rivalry and competition.
Students will love collaborating with peers to solve the equations and get the correct responses for their team. Bonus: You’re building classroom community!
Differentiated Christmas Addition – Spin & Add!
If your kids love the subtraction worksheets mentioned above, they will love the Christmas Math Worksheets for Addition just as much. Students will work independently or with a partner to create and solve new math problems. All you need are the worksheets and some paperclips and brads.
Place these activities in your math centers for students to work on as fast finisher activities or to fill their center work time.
There are two versions for differentiation as well:
- Version 1 includes single-digit numbers. This will be a more straightforward activity.
- Version 2 includes 2-digit numbers. These could possibly require students to regroup.
Roll and Add
12 Days of Christmas Math Edition
Create your own 12 Days of Christmas Activity for kids to enjoy by purchasing green and red envelopes and paper. Fill the envelopes with math equations that relate to your current standards. Solve the math equations as a class over the last 12 days of school as a fun morning meeting opener!
Polar Express Math Adventure! No Prep Fun for 3rd & 4th Grades
Do you watch The Polar Express (or read the book) with your students each year? If so, be sure to add this fun Math Adventure game to your lesson plans for even more excitement.
You have been given a golden ticket to catch a ride on the Polar Express. To have a successful trip, you have some tasks to complete before, during, and after your trip. Are you up for the challenge?
In this fun math challenge, students will be introduced to various “characters” along their journey to the north pole. They will participate in challenges throughout their journey. Finally, they will meet Santa, who gives them a “secret code” to crack.
Polar Express Math Worksheets
What’s Included?
- Given a budget, students use basic math problems to choose new PJs for their trip on the Polar Express.
- The conductor needs help with the schedule! Students must look at the Polar Express itinerary and work with time to help him out!
- Snack time! It is the student’s job to create an appropriate snack menu for the students on board the train. They will practice multiplying while creating their menu.
- Who knew elves couldn’t round? Well, these elves can’t, and they need help! Santa wants an estimate of the number of toys he needs. Students must round the exact numbers to the nearest place value given.
- Santa’s secret message — students crack Santa’s secret code by solving word problems.
- Also included — editable golden tickets (3 versions)
The math problems used vary based on grade level and are all written out in my product link above!
Polar Express Math Worksheets
Christmas Themed Trashketball
Kids LOVE trashketball! What is trashketball you may ask? It’s a simple game using crumpled up paper and a trash can. Students take turns answering math (or literacy questions). If they get it right, they get to shoot their paper into the trashcan. One point is earned for a correct response and another if they make the shot.
This is a fun brain break activity to get kids moving a little and to practice their math skills. Just ask them questions that apply to your current standards!
Candy Cane STEM
Use a little science and STEM experiment to make predictions about how fast different candy canes will dissolve in different solutions. Grab a variety of candy canes (Jolly Rancher brand, regular, minis, peppermint circles, chewy peppermints, etc). Then, come up with a list of solutions to dissolve them in (hot water, cold water, saltwater, sugar water, vinegar, lemonade, etc).
Make hypotheses about the process and then observe what happens. If you have one, use a stopwatch to time how long each takes to dissolve in the plastic cups. Kids will enjoy tracking the progress of each peppermint throughout the day!
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