I'm a Tiny Evergreen
Tune: "I'm a Little Teapot"

I'm a tiny evergreen, can't you see,
All the other evergreens are taller than me.
But I'll keep on growing and one day I'll be
A great big Merry Christmas tree!

Christmas Candy

I took a lick of my peppermint stick
(Pretend to lick candy.)
And was it ever yummy!
(Lick lips.)
It used to be on my Christmas tree.
(Form tree shape with hands.)
Now, it's in my tummy!
(Rub stomach)

Five Little Bells

Five little bells hanging in a row,
(Hold up five fingers.)
The first one said,
"Ring me slow."
(Hold up one finger.)
The second one said,
"Ring me fast."
(Hold up two fingers.)
The third one said,
"Ring me last."
(Hold up three fingers.)
The fourth one said,
"I'm like a chime."
(Hold up four fingers.)
The fifth one said,
"Ring us all at Christmas time."
(Hold up five fingers.)

Reindeer Poky
Tune: "The Hokey Poky"

You put your antlers in.
You put your antlers out.
You put you antlers in and you shake them all about.
You do the Reindeer Poky and you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about!

You put your hooves in....
You put your red nose in....
You put your fluffy tail in...
You put your reindeer body in...
 

Let's All Do a Little Clapping
Tune:  We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Let's all do a little clapping,
let's all do a little clapping,
let's all do a
little clapping, & spread Christmas cheer.

Other Actions:
Jumping
Snapping
Twirling
Stomping
Stretching
Bending

Shy Santa

Isn't it the strangest thing,
That Santa is so shy?         
(hide face with hands)
We can never, never catch him, (make fingers run)
No matter how we try.
It isn't any use to watch,    
(hold hand to eyes and look)
Because my parents said,
"Santa Claus will only come
When children are in bed!"     (shake finger)

Old St. Nicholas Had a Tree
Tune: Old McDonald Had a Farm

Old St. Nicholas had a tree
(form tree with arms)
Ho, ho ho ho ho!
And on that tree he had some horns
Ho ho ho ho ho
With a toot toot here and a toot toot there
Here a toot There a toot
Every where a toot toot
Old St Nicholas had a tree
Ho, ho ho ho ho!

lights:  flash flash
candy canes:  yum yum
drums:  boom boom
bells:  ring ring
birds:  peep peep
stars:  twinkle twinkle
snowflakes:  flutter flutter

I've Been Waiting Here for Christmas
Tune:  I've Been Working on the Railroad

I've been waiting here for Christmas
And it's almost here.
I've been waiting here for Christmas
Santa's getting near.
Can't you hear the sleighbells ringing?
Reindeer up so high.
Can't you hear the children singing
As they watch the sky?

Santa hurry up, Santa hurry up, Santa hurry up today-ay-ay.
Santa hurry up, Santa hurry up, Santa hurry up today.

Toys in the sleigh with Santa.
Toys in the sleigh I know-oh-oh-oh.
Toys in the sleigh with Santa
Waiting's oh so slow!

  Carols we will sing,
  Carols we will sing.
  Heigh-ho, it's Christmastime,
  Carols we will sing.

Way Up in the Christmas Tree

Tune :  Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
 

Way up in the Christmas Tree

Two little candy canes

smiled at me!

 I shook that tree

just as hard as I could

Down came the candy canes

Mmm... they were good!

* Add other verses by substituting other

Christmas tree ornaments:

two pretty lights....twinkled at me!

two shiny bulbs ....glistened at me!

two tiny dolls....winked at me!

two yellow stars....sparkled at me!

S-A-N-T-A
  Tune:  Bingo

  There was a man in a big red suit and Santa was his name-o
  S - A - N - T -A    
S - A - N - T -A 
S - A - N - T -A 
  and Santa was his name-o!

Christmas!!
Tune: Jingle Bells

C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S is here
That's how we spell Christmas
It's the best time of the year!
 
C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S is here
Oh what fun we'll have today
With all our friends so near!

Christmas Colors
Tune: Three Blind Mice

Red, green, white; red, green, white,
Christmas colors, Christmas colors.
Red is the color on holly wreaths,
Green is the color of Christmas trees,
White is the color from stars so bright.
Red, green, white; red, green, white.

Ring the Bells It's Christmas Time
Tune: London Bridge

Ring the bells it's Christmas time,
Christmas time,
Christmas time.
Ring the bells it's Christmas time,
Merry Christmas time!

    *Play the drums it's Christmas time
    *Tap the sticks it's Christmas time
    *Clap your hands it's Christmas time.

Predictable Charts

Make a predictable chart with things your students:

I hope to find __________ under my Christmas tree.
All I want for Christmas is __________.
I love to give __________ to others.
I looked in my stocking and found __________.
If I went to the North Pole I would see __________.

Encourage children to illustrate their sentence.  Laminate, bind and place in the classroom library.

Christmas Words

I found some Christmas Clipart pictures and enlarged them.  I wrote each word on the computer using a dot-to-dot tracing font and printed it out with the pictures.  Color and laminate.  Have the children use tracing pens to trace each word.  The children love this activity because they love using those pens!

Letter Match

You can use any holiday symbols for this game.  I chose trees and ornaments.  Photocopy each symbol 26 times.  Program one set with uppercase letters and the other with lowercase letters.  Laminate.  To play the children match all the upper and lowercase letters.

Old Christmas Cards

Each year cut the front part of your Christmas cards off and save for the Writing Center.
Have a collection of cards in a box.
 Allow the children to choose one and write a story about it.

O Christmas Tree Book

Make books by copying a Christmas tree onto paper. 
Have the children add each item to the page as directed.

We see red bells.
We see green lights.
We see blue ornaments
We see purple presents
We see a yellow star.

Christmas Stocking Color Match

Photocopy Christmas stockings onto different colors of construction paper.
Photocopy the top part (the fluffy white part) onto white paper.
Write each color word onto the white part.  Laminate.
To play the game the children find a stocking and the matching word.

Christmas Tree Matching Game

Print out an instant Christmas Tree Matching Game from
Preschool Printables.

Each evening when goodnights are said,
Take off one link and hop into bed.
When only the star is left to shine,
Then you will know it's Christmastime! 

Christmas Erasers

I love using seasonal erasers from Oriental Trading. 
You can purchase some Christmas ones and use them for
sorting, patterning, adding and subtracting
(You can also dye Christmas pasta!!)!

Jingle Bell Sorting

Collect several types of bells.  
Have the children sort them according to size or color.
The children always love this center because they love ringing those bells!

Foam Shapes

Use foam shapes from a craft store to make patterns on a sentence strip,
then turn it into a Christmas hat!

Christmas Card Puzzles

Old Christmas cards are so useful! 
Each year instead of throwing them away save them to make puzzles. 
Simply cut them into 4, 5 and 6 piece puzzles for the children to put together. 
To make them more challenging I also place two puzzle cards in the same bag for children to put together (so they are sorting AND matching!)

Tree Topper Graph

Make the following class graph:


What do you like at the top of your tree?

Have each child write their name in the column of the item they like the best.

Holiday Wreath

Materials:
Large paper plate
Green scrap paper
Red scrap paper
Hole puncher
Bow

To make this holiday wreath cut out the center of a paper plate.  Keep the outside ring.  Have children tear or cut green scraps and glue them on the remaining part of the paper plate until no white is showing.  I photocopied a bow and had the children color, cut out, and glue on the wreath.  The children used a hole puncher and red paper scraps to make the berries.

Ornaments

Materials:
One clear round ornament
Acrylic paints (various colors)

Have the children squirt some paint into the top of the ornament.  Let them roll the ball around in their hands.  Make sure that they don't roll the opening upside down so the paint does not pour out.  When the ornament is completely colored, it is done.  Place it upside down to get all the extra paint out and to dry on some paper towels. 
Put the top back on the ornament.

Candy Cane Art Project

Materials:
Green construction paper
1 x 1 red squares
1 x 1 white square
glitter

This is a quick and easy art project that the children always love! 
Ahead of time cut some 1 x 1 inch squares of red and white paper. 
Cut green construction paper in half and draw a candy cane shape on it (I always draw one on each side).  The children put glue along the candy cane line and then stick on their red and white squares in a pattern.  When dry, hang from the ceiling.

Christmas Tree Marble Painting

Materials:
Green Construction Paper
Box Top
Various colors of paint
Beads
Glitter

Have children trace and cut out green Christmas trees.  Place in a box top. 
Dip marbles (or jingle bells!) into paint and drop into the box tops. 
Have the children roll the  marbles onto the tree by holding the box top and slowly moving it back and forth.  Have the children use various colors of paint. 
Allow to dry and then have the children glue on sequins and beads for more decorations.

Christmas Tree Bulletin Board

Materials:
Green Construction Paper
Beads
Glitter

This makes such a beautiful bulletin board! 
Trace each child's hands (left and right).  Cut out.
Have the children decorate each handprint with small bead and glitter glue.  Let Dry.
Use all of the handprints to arrange all into a Christmas tree shape. 
The hands will be upside down (fingers down).  Curl the fingers up a little to look like a
three-dimensional tree.  Add a star at the top and presents underneath!

Hand & Foot Reindeer

Materials:
Tan construction paper
Brown construction paper
 Wiggly eyes
Ribbon

Trace each child's foot on brown paper and their hands on tan.  Cut out.
Assemble the hands as antlers and the foot as the head (upside down).
Add eyes and embellish with ribbon.

Photo Ornaments

Materials:
Baby food jar lids (spray painted)
Photo of each child
Glitter or glitter glue
Ribbon

Prepare for this project ahead of time by cleaning and spray painting
the baby food jar lids.  You can spray them any color you like. 
I like to paint some red and some green.
Take a picture of each child. 
Cut it into a circle shape small enough to fit on the inside part of the lid and glue.
Have the children use glitter glue to decorate around their picture and on the back of the ornament.  Allow to dry.
Hot glue a looped ribbon to the back to create an ornament for the tree or
place a strip of magnetic tape to make a refrigerator magnet!

Ice Cream Cone Christmas Trees

Supplies:
Ice Cream Cones - Sugar Cones
Green Frosting
Candy Items

Take a sugar cone turn it upside down and spread green frosting all over it. Stick candy on to decorate it.

Reindeer Sandwich

 For 1 sandwich:
1/2 slice of bread that has been cut diagonally
 peanut butter
pretzel twists
2 brown M&Ms
1 red M&M

Spread the peanut butter on the bread.
Add 2 brown M&M eyes, a red M&M nose, and pretzel antlers.

Reindeer Pops

For 1 pop:
 1/2 banana
 popsicle stick
2  mini pretzels
chocolate chips
M & M's
(use the red ones for the nose and other colors for eyes)
 peanut butter

Melt the chocolate chips.  Cut the bananas in half. 
Push a popsicle stick into the bananas and dip in melted chocolate. 
Place on waxed paper and add candy eyes and nose while the chocolate is still warm.
 Then add pretzel antlers with peanut butter.  Freeze and Eat.

Sparkly Peppermint Playdough

2 cups water
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
4 tablespoons oil
4 tablespoons peppermint extract
glitter

Mix all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat,
stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and pulls away from the sides of
the pan. Form dough into a ball, sprinkle with glitter, place on waxed paper, and cool completely.  Store in Ziplock bags.

Dasher, Dancer . . . Rudolph!

This is a Christmas version on Duck, Duck, Goose.  We talk about all of the names of the reindeer so the children can say any reindeer name but when Rudolph is called the chase begins!

Pin the Nose on Rudolph

Draw a large picture of Rudolph's face onto a piece of posterboard. 
Cut out a red circle for each child. 
Each child will have a turn to be blindfolded and try to place the red circle in the right spot for Rudolph's red nose!