Christmas: A Four-Week Unit for Children Age 3

Big-Picture Goals

• Learn and use Christmas words such as tree, star, bell, gift, light, snow, and card.
• Practice counting, sorting, matching, colors, shapes, and simple patterns through Christmas activities.
• Develop fine-motor skills through drawing, gluing, painting, tearing, and decorating.
• Explore kindness, sharing, helping, family traditions, music, and celebration.
• Build language skills by listening to stories, answering questions, singing songs, and retelling events.

Materials for the Unit

• Paper, crayons, washable markers, child-safe scissors, glue, and tape
• Red, green, white, gold, and silver paper or craft materials
• Cotton balls, yarn, stickers, paper plates, cardboard, and empty boxes
• Christmas tree or a paper tree, if available
• Unbreakable decorations, large buttons, pom-poms, or large beads for supervised activities
• Books about Christmas, winter, kindness, family, or giving
• Bell or other safe musical instrument
• Blocks, toy animals, dolls, or figures
• Play dough or homemade dough
• Child-safe flashlight or battery-operated candles
• Plain gift bags or boxes, ribbon, and recycled wrapping paper
• Paper plates, cups, and safe snack ingredients for a simple Christmas snack

Week 1: Christmas Colors, Shapes, and Decorations

Day 1: What Is Christmas?

Show Children a small Christmas object, such as a bell or ornament, and ask, “What do you notice?” Explain that Christmas is a special time when many people decorate, spend time with family and friends, listen to music, and show kindness. Read a short Christmas or winter story, then invite Children to draw something they think of when they hear “Christmas.”

Day 2: Christmas Colors

Place red, green, white, gold, and silver objects on the table. Name each color and ask Children to sort the objects into color groups. Make a simple red-and-green collage by tearing paper and gluing the pieces onto a large sheet.

Day 3: Christmas Shapes

Cut out or draw circles, triangles, squares, rectangles, and stars. Let Children match each shape to a similar shape on a Christmas picture, such as a circle ornament, a triangle tree, or a star. Finish by making a paper ornament from a circle and decorating it with crayons or stickers.

Day 4: Decorating a Tree

Look at a Christmas tree or make a large paper tree on the wall. Talk about safe ways to decorate, then let Children place paper ornaments on the tree. Practice position words by saying, “Put the star on top,” “Put the red ornament beside the green one,” and “Put one ornament under the star.”

Day 5: Patterns with Decorations

Make simple patterns with large objects, such as red-green-red-green or star-circle-star-circle. Say the pattern aloud and pause for Children to add the next object. Children can then create their own two-part pattern with stickers or paper shapes.

Simple Check for Understanding

Ask Children to name two Christmas colors, find a star or circle, and continue the pattern red-green-red-green-__. Praise effort and accept pointing or showing as an answer.

Week 2: Christmas Stories, Songs, and Counting

Day 1: Listening to a Christmas Story

Read a short Christmas story and pause to ask, “Who is in the story?” and “What happened first?” Give Children toy figures or blocks to use while retelling one part of the story. Encourage them to use simple words such as “first,” “then,” and “happy.”

Day 2: Counting Gifts

Wrap or use empty boxes as pretend gifts. Count one to five gifts slowly, touching each box once. Ask Children to give one gift to each toy or family member, then count how many gifts are left.

Day 3: Christmas Music

Sing a familiar Christmas song or a simple song about bells, stars, or snow. Let Children shake a bell or tap a safe instrument when they hear a repeated word. Practice loud and quiet, fast and slow, and stopping when the music stops.

Day 4: Story Sequence

Draw three simple pictures: a person prepares, a celebration happens, and people clean up or say goodbye. Talk about what happens first, next, and last. Children can place the pictures in order and tell the story using their own words.

Day 5: Christmas Number Hunt

Place paper numbers 1 through 5 around the room with matching groups of stars or ornaments. Invite Children to find a number and match it to the correct group. Finish by counting five claps, five jumps, or five bell shakes.

Simple Check for Understanding

Ask Children to count three gifts, name what happened first in the story, and show whether a sound is loud or quiet. Children may answer by speaking, pointing, moving, or demonstrating.

Week 3: Kindness, Giving, and Family Traditions

Day 1: What Is Kindness?

Ask, “How can we help someone feel happy?” Give examples such as sharing, helping, giving a hug when someone wants one, or saying “thank you.” Use dolls or stuffed animals to act out a kind action and let Children practice being the helper.

Day 2: Making a Christmas Card

Fold paper to make a card and help Children decorate it with drawings, stickers, or fingerprints. Say the message, “I am thinking of you,” and write it inside if Children want to dictate it. Talk about how a card can help someone feel remembered.

Day 3: Helping at Home

Choose one safe Christmas job, such as placing napkins on a table, putting toys in a basket, or carrying light paper decorations. Do the job together first, then let Children try independently. Celebrate the effort by saying, “You helped our family.”

Day 4: Giving Pretend Gifts

Wrap small safe objects or empty boxes. Children can choose a pretend gift for a toy, sibling, or adult and explain, “This is for __.” Practice polite words such as “please,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome.”

Day 5: Family Traditions

Talk about things families might do at Christmas, such as eat a special meal, visit relatives, decorate, sing, exchange gifts, or rest together. Draw a simple picture of one family activity. Explain that families may celebrate in different ways, and every family can have meaningful traditions.

Simple Check for Understanding

Ask Children to show one kind action with a toy and name or demonstrate one way to help at home. Ask, “What can you say when someone gives you a gift?” Look for the response “thank you,” a wave, a smile, or another polite response.

Week 4: Christmas Lights, Nature, and Celebration

Day 1: Light and Dark

Dim the room slightly and use a child-safe flashlight or battery-operated candle. Talk about how lights can make a dark place bright and how people use lights as decorations. Children can make “twinkling lights” by drawing dots and lines with yellow, white, and gold crayons.

Day 2: Winter Weather

Talk about winter weather where you live, such as cold air, rain, frost, or snow. Make pretend snow by tearing white paper or using cotton balls, and create a winter picture. Practice describing words such as cold, soft, white, wet, and bright.

Day 3: Christmas Shapes with Play Dough

Use play dough to make balls for ornaments, a triangle tree, a star, and a long snake for a garland. Count the shapes as Children make them. Invite Children to describe their creations by color, size, and shape.

Day 4: Preparing a Celebration

Work together to choose a safe snack, song, decoration, or story for the end-of-unit celebration. Children can help decorate the room with their artwork and make a simple paper chain by linking strips with tape or glue. Practice welcoming guests or family members by saying, “Welcome!”

Day 5: Christmas Celebration Review

Review the unit by looking at Children’s artwork and asking them to name colors, shapes, numbers, and kind actions. Sing a favorite song, read a favorite story, and let Children choose one activity to repeat. Finish by sharing the snack and thanking everyone who took part.

Simple Check for Understanding

Ask Children to show a light or star, count up to five, name one Christmas color, and demonstrate one kind action. Ask, “What was your favorite Christmas activity?” Accept words, gestures, drawings, or actions as responses.

End-of-Unit Project: Children’s Christmas Celebration Book and Display

Create a small book and display using one page from each week. Page 1 can show Christmas colors and shapes. Page 2 can show a favorite story, song, or counting activity. Page 3 can show a kind action or family tradition. Page 4 can show lights, winter, or a favorite Christmas decoration.

Let Children decorate the pages with drawings, stickers, torn paper, paint, or safe collage materials. Write down Children’s words underneath each picture, keeping their wording as much as possible. Bind the pages with tape, yarn, or staples handled by the adult.

End with a small celebration in which Children show the book, sing a favorite song, display their artwork, and demonstrate one kind action. Ask Children to choose one thing they learned and one way they can help or show kindness during Christmas.