One of the best ways to help celebrate Christmas and get young children ready for the holiday season is to play some amazing Christmas games that will get everyone involved.
The only problem is, when you are dealing with a classroom of 1st grader kids, you need to make sure to pick the right games so as not to overwhelm the children.
You might, thus, be finding yourself feeling quite overwhelmed yourself, trying to pick the perfect games to play with the children to help them to celebrate the Christmas period in style.
Luckily, you’ve come to the perfect place, because we are here to help you! Today, we’ve collected a list of the very best Christmas games that can be played in the classroom amongst 1st graders!
Read on down below to get started now!
1. Christmas Trivia
Trivia is one of the very best games to implement into a party if you are totally stuck for ideas, or you simply just need one more activity to help keep the children engaged at a party.
You can create a unique and Christmas-themed twist on the trivia format by formulating some questions that are specifically oriented around Christmas things.
For example, you could do a series of questions about some of the most popular Christmas movies that the kids might have seen.
Perhaps play some Christmas movies for the kids a few days ahead of the Christmas party so that they can develop the knowledge needed for the trivia.
You could also even ask them trivia questions about the classic Nativity story, to help add a slightly educational twist to the game that can make it perfect for closing off the semester and teaching the children about the true meaning of Christmas, and why we celebrate it!
To make the game extra fun, we recommend dividing the children up into small teams and then giving them some paper to write out their answers on.
This allows the children to confer with one another about their answers, which helps them to develop some strong bonds.
The great thing about grouping the children up into teams is that it also encourages them to be quiet and speak using their ‘indoor voices’.
Teaching 1st graders to speak quietly and not shout can be very difficult and time-consuming, but this game creates an incentive for the children to control their volume so that they don’t risk giving away any answers, and so that they can get a little closer to victory!
2. Snowman Slam
Ordinarily we wouldn’t encourage 1st graders to throw things around for risk of damaging property in the school, but this amazing game allows them to work on their hand-eye coordination and their fine motor skills, while also being a great competitive game to play together that has a simple Christmas theme.
This game allows the kids to express themselves and let go of some pent-up energy. In order to play the game, all you need are some paper cups, a little bit of creativity, and some soft fake ‘snowballs’.
Start by grabbing around six paper cups (ten if you want to make the game a little harder), and decorating them to look like snowmen. Make sure to give them their iconic carrot noses!
From there, stack the cups atop one another in a triangle formation, and then give the children a chance to throw one of the fake snowballs at the cups.
Have the children take turns to make a throw, so that they can compete to see who can knock down the most snowmen with each throw.
It’s a great competitive game that allows the children to work on their fine motor skills while also allowing them to get a little bit messy!
3. Christmas Pinatas
Pinatas are one of the most popular party games in the world, but they aren’t just perfect for Summer parties, because they are also great for implementing into Christmas-themed parties.
Head to a local party store to buy a Christmas-themed pinata, such as a snowman shape or a gingerbread man shape, or even create your own and base it around a Christmas icon.
Grab some Christmas-themed candies and prizes, and stuff them into the pinata.
Hang the pinata up somewhere in the classroom with plenty of space, and then give one of the children a small plastic bat that they can use to hit the pinata.
Line the children up and give them each one swing at the pinata, so that no one has to feel like they are missing out.
This can be a great game to help the children to use up excess energy, making it a great game to close up a Christmas celebration with.
It’s also a great way to encourage children to develop their fine motor skills, as they will have to carefully maneuver the bat to make the most of their swing.
The prizes earned for destroying the pinata also make the whole game even more rewarding, making this a great game for 1st graders to play.
4. Poke-A-Tree
If you want the 1st graders to walk away from the Christmas celebrations feeling rewarded and in the giving mood, then this is a great and simple game to play.
This game requires a little bit of set-up, but when you see the sheer delight on the kids’ faces when they finally get around to playing it, it makes all of that effort so worth it!
To set the game up, you need to grab some plastic cups, and then place a small prize in each of them, before then topping the opening of the cup with a small layer of tissue paper.
Fill enough cups to create a Christmas Tree shape, and enough cups to give each child a chance to grab a prize. Once you have done this, stick the cups to the wall in a Christmas tree formation.
Line the children up, and one by one, allow them to head up to the Christmas tree and poke a hole into the paper of one cup and receive the prize inside!
This is a great game for children because the sensation of ripping the paper is incredibly satisfying, which helps to make the game all the more memorable for the children.
The prizes contained within each of the cups can also help to make the game rewarding.
The children will also like the element of choice that the game presents.
5. Christmas Card Making
Making Christmas cards is one of the best ways to teach 1st graders to celebrate Christmas, because it reminds them that it is a season of giving.
To start this activity out, ask the children to consider who they want to give their cards to, and what kind of message they want to write inside.
They may want to make a card for their mom, granny, or even their best friend. Either way, choosing who the card is for, ahead of time, allows the children to cater their designs accordingly.
Once the children have chosen their recipient, give them some card, and plenty of crafting materials, and allow them to let loose creating the perfect Christmas card.
Encourage them to create Christmas-themed imagery, such as Christmas trees, presents, and snowmen, and encourage them to think about what images their chosen recipient might most want to see.
This activity is great because it allows the children to express themselves and use their imaginations, and also allows them to get a little bit messy with glue, glitter, and plenty of pieces of paper!
6. Christmas Dance Freeze
This game is simple to play and is sure to elicit giggles from all of the children in the class!
Gather the children into a room with plenty of space, and play some popular Christmas music for them to dance along to.
Allow the kids to dance for some time, before quickly pausing the music. When the music is paused, the children must hold their final pose, without moving.
This fun game has an element of competition because the last child to stop dancing within each round is ‘eliminated’, creating a ‘last-man-standing’ competition.
Encourage the children to look around between each round as they are holding their poses. Some of the poses are bound to get the kids laughing.
Even the children that are eliminated from the game won’t be able to help but laugh along!
To Wrap Up
There we have it! These are just a few of the amazing Christmas-themed games that you can implement in the classroom to help children to celebrate the season and really get in the Christmas mood.
Each of these games offers a different experience, but each of them allows the children to compete against one another, which helps to keep them engaged.
Regardless of which of the games you play, they’re bound to keep 1st graders entertained!
Hi, my name is Helena Waters and I was a teacher for 40 years before retiring last year.
During my time as a teacher I dedicated the majority of it to making classrooms as fun as possible, with educational parties, fun activities, and low cost entertainment that made the children excited about learning.
I taught children of all ages, from preschoolers to high school students. Now, with the pandemic having uprooted everything that children once knew about school and learning, I think that the need for my ideas is bigger than ever.
That is why I created School Sparks, a place in which I can write down and share all of my ideas on how to get students excited about going to school again. I hope that you’ll find some useful within a school setting, even at home too!
