It's Thanksgiving.
The calendar is already packed, and somehow you have to fit homeschooling into the next three weeks.
You need something that will check all the boxes:
That's it. Just three tiny HUGE things to check off your to-do list this holiday season.
But, don't worry. I've got you covered. Here are 12 Days of Christmas Picture Book Activities for All Ages to get you through another homeschooling holiday season.

Featured Download: Picture Book Reading List and Copywork
Sign up to get your free picture book reading list with copywork printables sent straight to your inbox.
Let me start off by saying that picture books are not just for early elementary kids. Picture books have great value even into adulthood. When you read a picture book as an adult, you are taken back to those sweet moments as a child when you first read the story. Times were simpler and not as busy.
When an older child reads a picture book, they see different meanings in the book than they did when they were young. They can parse out some of the deeper themes and see issues in a different light.
In other words, picture books aren't just for young children.
So instead of trying to spend the holidays with complex topics, read a picture book a day and turn each day into an educational, magical moment that is completely doable!
Here are 12 Picture Books and Activities For All Your Kids (and You) To Enjoy Over the Holidays!
Day 1: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Themes to Discuss:
- Over-commercialization of Christmas
- Finding the true meaning of the holiday
- Dealing with depression
Activities:
- Listen to the famous "Christmas Time is Here" by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.
- Go ice skating like the "gang" in the book.
- Perform a Christmas play. Find one to put on or write your own.
- Paint Charlie Brown, his tree, and Snoopy.
- Send Christmas cards.
Questions to Ponder:
- What is the true meaning of Christmas to you?
- Why was Charlie Brown depressed and frustrated?
- Did Charlie Brown find the joy in the holidays?
Copywork:
Snowflakes floated in the crisp, pine-scented air. The wind carried the joyful sounds of jingling bells, Christmas carols, and people wishing one another happy holidays.
The greatest time of the year was finally here!
Themes to Discuss:
- Traditions
- Military life and the role of the military spouse
- Living in poverty
- Community life and Appalachian culture
Activities:
- Create a stocking doll like Ruthies.
- Investigate balsam trees and head outside to identify evergreen trees.
- Learn one of the songs mentioned in the book like "I Saw Three Ships."
Questions to Ponder:
- Why do you think the village had the custom of a different family giving the Christmas tree each year?
- What do you think it was like for Ruthie's mom to have her husband at war?
- How are your Christmas traditions the same and different from Ruthie's traditions?
Copywork:
"This will be our perfect Christmas tree," said Papa. "And as is the custom, the selfsame year you shall be the heavenly angel in the village Christmas play. It is fitting that you should mark the Christmas tree."
Day 3: Turkey Claus
Themes to Discuss:
- Problem-solving
- Humor in serious situations
- Animals as food sources
Activities:
- Order pizza takeout and enjoy with cookies.
- Play hide and seek like Turkey.
- Create Christmas costumes for yourself or for Turkey.
- Go sledding (but don't use a turkey reindeer!)
Questions to Ponder:
- Should Turkey be concerned about Christmas? How are animals on farms treated differently than animals that are pets?
- Which disguise do you think was Turkey's best disguise? Why?
- Is the food you eat on Christmas different than other days? Why is that?
Copywork:
"Oh, gobble, gobble, gobble." Turkey sighed. "I'm almost out of time. I'll never get to ask Santa for my wish."
Day 4: The Christmas Wish
Themes to Discuss:
- Generosity
- Dreams and wishes
- Going on an adventure
Activities:
- Using a map, try to decide where Anja lives.
- Learn about the Northern Lights.
- Discover the tundra.
- Do research on the animals that Anja meets on her journey.
Questions to Ponder:
- Anja lives somewhere in the far north. How is it similar to where you live? How is it different?
- Why do you think Anja wants to be a Christmas elf?
- Why do you think the author ended the book with a question?
Copywork:
One year, as the days grew shorter and the snow had fallen for weeks without a rest, Anja decided it was time to look for Santa Claus.
Featured Download: Picture Book Reading List and Copywork
Sign up to get your free picture book reading list with copywork printables sent straight to your inbox.
Day 5: Santa Mouse
Themes to Discuss:
- Loneliness
- Imagination and Imaginary Friends
- Generosity
Activities:
- Make a miniature tree for Santa Mouse.
- Make a miniature garland for miniature tree.
- Have a snack of strawberry mice and cheese.
- Learn about mice.
- Do research on the Inuit people.
Questions to Ponder:
- Have you ever been lonely? How did you deal with the loneliness?
- Did you have imaginary friends? Why do you think people (and mice) create people in their minds?
- What are your bedtime routines? Are they similar to Santa Mouse, or are they different?
Copywork:
He used to play a game. He'd daydream he had playmates who were friendly as could be.
Day 6: The Polar Express
Themes to Discuss:
- The innocence of childhood
- The magic of Christmas
- Believing in something you cannot see or prove
Activities:
- Research the polar ice caps and what it is like living there.
- Wear your pajamas all day and watch the movie after reading the book.
- Make a Polar Express train costume out of a cardboard box.
- Make hot chocolate and candies with nougat centers.
Questions to Ponder:
- The major theme of the book is believing in Christmas, even when others do not. When have you ever believed in something that your friends did not?
- Why does the bell still ring for the boy as an adult?
- The children ride on a train for a long time. Have you ever gone on a long journey?
Copywork:
I breathed slowly and silently. I was listening for a sound -- a sound a friend had told me I'd never hear -- the ringing bells of Santa's sleigh.
Day 7: A New Improved Santa
Themes to Discuss:
- Being true to yourself
- Learning that you are loved for who you are, not what you look like
Activities:
- Get in a Santa workout with jumping jacks, jogging, situps, stretches, to touches, and weight lifting.
- Make a Christmas list by using the computer. You can learn to create lists in a spreadsheet.
- Design a new suit for santa.
Questions to Ponder:
- Why do you think Santa wants to become a "new, improved Santa?" Do you ever feel disappointed in the way you look and want to change it?
- Does changing your appearance or your style change who you are? Why or why not?
- What does Santa realize is most important at the end of the year of changes?
Copywork:
A rejected, dejected Santa returned to the North Pole. "The children don't like the new, improved me," he said.
Day 8: Pick A Pine Tree
Themes to Discuss:
- Family togetherness at the holidays
- Family traditions
Activities:
- Head to your local tree farm and pick a live Christmas tree.
- Decorate your Christmas tree.
- Host a decorating day.
Questions to Ponder:
- Does your family pick a pine tree for Christmas?
- How do you decorate your tree? Is there anything significant about the decorations?
- Does your family have Christmas tree decorating traditions?
Copywork:
Gather round the tree to sing; let your joyful voices ring.
Celebrate as nighttime falls...Merry Christmas one and all.
Featured Download: Picture Book Reading List and Copywork
Sign up to get your free picture book reading list with copywork printables sent straight to your inbox.
Day 9: Mooseltoe
Themes to Discuss:
- Learning to deal with disappointment
- Handling emotions when things do not turn out the way you thought
- Perfectionism
Activities:
- Make a list of everything you would like to do to get ready for Christmas
- Learn about the namesake of the book, mistletoe.
- Listen to the song Moose sings, The First Noel.
Questions to Ponder:
- What does a "perfectly perfect" Christmas look like to you?
- Think of a time when you forgot something important. How did you handle the situation?
- Do the holidays seem really busy to you?
Copywork:
Getting ready for Christmas was an absolute snap. And so simple. So easy. And if he did say so himself, Moose thought, totally, utterly, completely perfectly perfect.
Day 10: The Biggest Christmas Tree Ever
Themes to Discuss:
- Teamwork
- Working together for your community
Activities:
- Try building the biggest Christmas cup tree ever.
- Measure the Christmas trees in your house to find the biggest one.
- Learn about the tallest Christmas tree ever recorded.
Questions to Ponder:
- Think of a time when you worked on a team. Did you accomplish more with more team members helping?
- Think of some ways you can help people in your neighborhood or community celebrate Christmas.
- Who puts up the Christmas tree each year? Does one person or multiple people help?
Copywork:
There they decorated it with the most wondrous ornaments and colored lights and on Christmas Eve, with all of Mouseville celebrating around it, the biggest Christmas tree ever lit up the entire hillside.
Themes to Discuss:
- Ridiculous activities
- Fantasy versus reality in fiction
Activities:
- Learn about reindeer.
- Find out how candy canes are made.
- Try to remember what the lady swallows in order.
Questions to Ponder:
- Why does the lady keep swallowing items?
- The old lady appears to be a sweet grandmotherly type. Do you have a grandmother or other relative like the old lady?
- Have you ever swallowed anything unusual? What was it?
Copywork:
There was an old lady who swallowed a bell. How it jingled and jangled and tickled, as well!
Day 12: Twas The Night Before Christmas
Themes to Discuss:
- Magical Realism
- The mythology of St. Nicholas/Santa Claus
Activities:
- Make sugar plums.
- Using the description in the book only, draw how Santa and his reindeer appear to the author.
- Read this poem on the night before Christmas as a family read-aloud. For fun, you could act it out.
Questions to Ponder:
- This poem changed the way people thought about Christmas. Before, the holiday had been celebrated as a religious holiday or as a time to party all night long. How does this poem differ from those types of celebrations?
- In this poem, Santa and his reindeer are the size of elves. Why do you think Santa now appears with human proportions?
- What part of Saint Nicholas' description would now be considered as harmful to children?
Copywork:
"Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen!”
The Easy Way to Teach Christmas Picture Book Activities for All Ages
Picture It:
A Christmas Picture Book Study for all Ages
Are you looking for easy? Then let us teach your kids this holiday season!
Go on a Christmas adventure with us based on these 12 books. During this online unit, we will go on rabbit trails of discovery about everything Christmas. We will find ways to learn by experiencing parts of the book through arts and crafts.
The Picture It: A Christmas Picture Book Study course is 12 days of Christmas picture book activities for all ages and includes:
- Literature
- Language Arts
- Science
- Nature Study
- Art
- Music, and
- Christmas fun!
With over 12 days of lessons, this is the perfect curriculum for those crazy days between the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Give all your students a fun curriculum for the holidays!
Take a Sneak Peek into our Picture It: A Christmas Picture Book Study for all Ages:
A Letter to Teachers on How to Use This Course
This unit study is focused on learning about some of the most popular Christmas picture books. Each lesson starts with a reading selection from a picture book. After the read-aloud, the student can learn new vocabulary words from the book. We also include a grammar section with copywork provided. Then we follow the learning part of the lesson with rabbit trails into parallel parts of the story and an experienced-based, hands-on activity called magic dust. This part of the lesson helps the child make connections, develop a deeper understanding, and put the new knowledge into action.
Hi, I’m Dachelle. I’m a homeschooling mom of 3 in the South. I love chocolate and have been known to hide it from my children. I can often be found reading a good book (or even sometimes just an okay book) and enjoying a jar of Nutella — don’t judge. I blog, here, at HideTheChocolate.com when I’m not creating book clubs and making lists…lots and lots of lists (it’s an addiction). Learn more…
Leave a Reply