Engaging students on the day before winter break or welcoming them back with after winter break activities can be challenging. This print and digital resource includes everything you need to keep 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders focused and having fun as they learn about the Winter Solstice and share memories about December holidays. Print various reading, writing, math, and fun pages from the PDF or share the slides in Google Classroom. This resource is great for upper elementary teachers who are looking for December-themed activities for before or after the school break.
 
Check out the contents of these Before and After Winter Break Activities:
✏️ PDF and Google Slides Link - Save paper by presenting the digital slides instead.
✏️ Activities to Use Any Time in November or Early December:
Reading Article & Questions - Read the theme-related article and answer the questions.
Story Time - Write a creative story about one of the three prompts.
Roll and Write - Roll a die and write a silly story using details from the table.
Acrostic Poem - Write a line that begins with each letter to create a themed poem.
Fun Facts - Solve each math problem, find the answers and solve the fun fact.
Would You Rather - Mark your preferred choice by writing a check mark.
Extra Words - See how many words you can write using the given letters.
What’s the Word - Unscramble the letters to spell themed words.
Winter Fun - Draw pictures, solve a sudoku puzzle, and complete the maze.
Word Search - Create your own word search! Make a list of words that relate to your break. Then, write a letter inside every square.
✏️ Activities to Use Before Christmas Break:
I’m Excited For - Look forward to your upcoming break from school.
Countdown Chain - Cut apart the strips and create a countdown chain.
Reading Challenge - Take home and color a section for every 20 minutes you read.
✏️ Activities to Use After the New Year:
Find Someone Who - Ask questions and write a name in each box.
Chatterbox - Cut out the square. Fold the chatterbox and play the game with a partner.
School Break Puzzle - Draw a picture showing something you did during the break. Then, cut apart the pieces and try putting it together.
 
Hear about these Winter Break Activities from educators like you!
⭐️ “These activities are great for welcoming kids back after a break. I love the huge variety of academic and fun pages. I also appreciated the structured way in which students were able to share about their time away from school with their peers through the Find Someone Who bingo board and the writing prompts.”
⭐️ “This resource is amazing! It has everything you need for both before and after a break. It even includes a reading challenge for students to complete at home while they’re away from school. I highly recommend it!”
⭐️ “My students loved these activities. They were easy to use and saved me time. I didn’t have to prep anything during my break. I didn’t even make copies - I just presented the digital slides on the day we returned!”
 
Use these Winter Break Writing Activities in so many ways!
✅ Quickly print or present activities for the day before or after your school break.
✅ Invite students to share about their break in meaningful and fun ways with acrostic poems, creative writing prompts, and fun fact math puzzles.
✅ Engage early finishers and get students talking about their break during class discussions.
 
Find answers to your questions about these Before and After Winter Break Activities:
✋ Can I edit the slides?
The Google slides have been saved as image files, but you can add text, shapes, and boxes on top to customize for your class.
✋ What materials will students need?
Most activities require only a pencil. Some include coloring and cutting, but no glue!
✋ What academic content is included?
Students can practice reading comprehension by reading a text and responding to questions. They can choose between three creative writing prompts and create an acrostic poem. Finally, they can learn fun facts about Winter by solving multiplication math problems. One page includes basic multiplication facts and another page has 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication problems. A variety of fun activity pages are also included for early finishers and winter fun!
 
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