December Themes for Preschool: Activities, Books, and Printables

December is one of my favorite months in preschool, but it can also feel like one of the busiest! Between the holidays, classroom celebrations, winter break, and all the extra excitement, planning activities can feel a little harder than usual.

Choosing a few simple December themes for preschool can give your month enough structure without adding more to your plate. Seasonal books, easy sensory activities, printables, and materials you already have can keep preschoolers learning while still making room for all the excitement that comes with December.

Below you’ll find four of my favorite themes, plus easy literacy and math ideas, sensory and science activities, a December book list, and my best tips for managing holiday energy. Here’s how I keep December simple and fun!

Why December Themes for Preschool Make Planning Easier

Preschoolers do well with predictable routines, especially during a month that can feel anything but predictable. Using a weekly theme helps you organize your December classroom activities without having to reinvent your plans every day.

One theme can easily include:

A read aloud
A simple literacy activity
A counting or sorting activity
A sensory bin
A craft or fine motor activity
A short science activity

You do not need to fill every part of the day with a themed activity. Keep your regular routine and add one or two seasonal activities where they make sense. That’s how you balance fun and learning: the routine stays steady, and the theme adds the sparkle.

Teaching Mama Tip: If you’re planning at home, a simple home preschool schedule makes it easy to see where one themed activity fits each day.

Our Favorite December Themes for Preschool

The best December themes for preschool are Winter Wonderland, Gingerbread, Arctic Animals, and Holidays Around the World. Each works well for ages 3 to 5 because it builds on things preschoolers already love, like snow, cookies, and animals. One theme per week gives you a ready-made plan for read-alouds, counting games, sensory bins, and crafts using materials you already have.

There are so many directions you can take your December plans, but these four are some of my favorites because they’re easy to plan around, with plenty of books, activities, and simple learning ideas to choose from.

Winter Wonderland

A winter theme is one of the easiest places to start because it can be as simple as snowflakes, mittens, snowmen, and ice.

Try:

Writing letters in shaving cream “snow”
Counting cotton ball snowballs
Sorting mittens by color or size
Making paper snowflakes
Building snowmen with play dough
Painting snow with watercolors

Winter is also a great theme if you want preschool winter activities without focusing heavily on holidays. You can pair these ideas with a set of my snow activities for preschoolers.

Gingerbread

Gingerbread is one of those December themes that preschoolers instantly recognize and get excited about. It is easy to build a full week around, and there are plenty of simple ways to carry the theme through your learning activities.

Try:

Retelling The Gingerbread Man
Counting buttons on gingerbread people
Decorating paper gingerbread cutouts
Making gingerbread scented play dough
Building gingerbread houses with blocks
Practicing positional words with a hidden gingerbread person

One year we did a “where is the gingerbread man” hunt and had parents send in postcards and letters so we could try to track him down! It was an instant hit, and my preschoolers were talking about it for months. This theme really gives you endless opportunities!

Arctic Animals

Polar bears, seals, walruses, arctic foxes, and other cold weather animals are always fascinating to preschoolers. An Arctic animal theme works especially well because you can combine science, vocabulary, early math, and pretend play.

Try:

Sorting animals by habitat
Counting plastic animals
Building icy habitats with blocks
Talking about how animals stay warm
Painting an Arctic scene
Matching animal figures to picture cards

This theme also works well with winter sensory bins and small world play! If you’re looking for more activities and worksheets on arctic animals, take a look at this polar animals preschool packet.

Holidays Around the World

December is a great time to talk about the different ways families celebrate. Keep this theme simple for preschoolers. Focus on families, traditions, and the ways people spend time together rather than trying to teach every detail of every holiday.

You might talk about:

Family traditions
Special foods
Music
Decorations and lights
Ways families spend time and celebrate together

Read books about different celebrations and invite children to share traditions from their own families when appropriate. At this age, simple conversations about how families celebrate in different ways are plenty. If your group loves this one, it pairs nicely with these preschool family theme activities.

Teaching Mama Tip: Choose themes that fit your group. If your preschoolers are especially interested in snow, animals, or gingerbread, spend more time there. You do not need to cover every December theme. Most of these ideas also work as holiday themes for toddlers; just use bigger materials and keep activities shorter.

Literacy and Math for December

December is a great time to give the literacy and math skills you’re already working on a seasonal spin. You don’t need to introduce anything brand new. A few simple swaps, like snowflakes for counting pieces or gingerbread letters for matching, can make familiar skills feel new again.

December Literacy Activities

A few easy ideas include:

Form letters in shaving cream snow
Match alphabet cards to snowflakes
Build names with letter tiles
Retell a gingerbread story with picture cards
Find letters hidden in a sensory bin with fake snow

You can also use seasonal printables when you need something quick to pull out during centers. The Five Beautiful Christmas Trees booklet is an easy one to print and read together.

December Math Activities

December math can stay very hands on. Here are some of my favorites that are easy to add to the rotation:

Counting pom pom ornaments
Matching numerals to groups of snowballs
Making red and green patterns
Sorting bows by color or size
Rolling a die and adding that many buttons to a snowman
Counting marshmallows into pretend cups of cocoa

These types of activities keep preschool math concrete and easy to understand. If you are looking for printable winter math activities or other print-and-go pages, use them as a support instead of making them the entire lesson.

Teaching Mama Tip: Let preschoolers touch and move real objects before asking them to complete a paper activity. Count pom poms first, then move to a printable if you want extra practice.

Seasonal Sensory and Science Activities

Winter is one of my favorite times to switch up our sensory bin and add in a few simple science experiments. There are so many easy ways to bring snow, ice, and hands-on winter learning into your day, and my kids always love the change of pace.

Melting Snowman Experiment

For a simple winter science activity, make a small snowman using real snow or crushed ice and place it in a shallow tray. Before it starts to melt, ask preschoolers what they think will happen and encourage them to make a few predictions.

You can ask questions like:

What do you think the snowman will look like later?
Where do you think the water will come from?
Do you think it will melt faster in a warm spot or a cold spot?

Check on the snowman throughout the day and talk about the changes you notice together. If you do not have snow, ice works just as well.

Winter Sensory Bottles

Fill a clear bottle with water and a few winter materials such as:

Glitter
Snowflake confetti
Pom poms
Small beads
Sequins

Seal the lid securely (a line of hot glue or strong tape inside the cap helps keep curious hands out) and let children shake and watch the materials move. Sensory bottles are especially helpful when preschoolers need a quieter activity during a busy month.

Small beads, pom poms, and sequins can be choking hazards, so keep a close eye on younger children during sensory play.

Teaching Mama Tip: Before buying anything for a sensory activity, check what you already have. Cotton balls, dry rice, cups, spoons, pom poms, and plastic animals can be used again and again.

December Books to Read Aloud

Some of my favorite preschool books are winter books! There are so many great stories to pull out this time of year, and they fit perfectly with the themes and activities we are already doing.

Cozy Winter Read-Alouds

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
The Mitten by Jan Brett
The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth

Books About Holiday Traditions

Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson
Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht
Red and Green and Blue and White by Lee Wind

I like to have a mix of winter stories, holiday favorites, and books that show different family traditions.

Teaching Mama Tip: If your preschoolers ask for the same book over and over, read it again. Repetition is so good for this age, and you will be surprised how much more they notice each time.

Tips for Managing Holiday Energy

If you have ever taught preschool in December, you know the energy can be a lot. The excitement is high, routines are a little off, and even your most focused preschoolers can suddenly seem extra wiggly.

This is usually the time when I remind myself to simplify instead of adding more.

Keep the routine steady. Keep your normal routine as steady as you can, even if you are squeezing in parties, special projects, or holiday activities. Preschoolers do so much better when they still know what is coming next.
Shorten activities and add movement. I like to keep activities shorter this time of year and build in more movement when I can. A quick dance break, pretending to skate around the room, or acting out a winter story can go a long way when everyone needs to reset. These Christmas songs with actions are perfect for a quick wiggle break.
Offer quiet choices. Books, play dough, puzzles, coloring, and simple fine motor activities are great for those moments when the room starts to feel a little too busy.

Teaching Mama Tip: If you planned five adorable December activities and only get to two of them, that is completely fine. You do not have to do it all for the month to still feel fun and memorable.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best low-prep December themes for preschoolers?

Winter Wonderland and Gingerbread are the lowest prep because almost everything comes from paper, markers, cotton balls, play dough, and blocks you likely already own. A basic supply bin of white paper, brown cardstock, cotton balls, pom poms, and a sensory bin filler like dry rice covers most of the activities in this post. Arctic Animals takes a little more setup only if you need to gather plastic animal figures.

How do you keep preschoolers engaged in December?

Keep each activity short, hands-on, and tied to something they can touch or move. Give children a choice between two activities when you can, since having a say helps excited preschoolers settle in. Ending each day with a predictable calm-down routine, like a favorite read-aloud, also helps them hold it together on the busiest days.

Are there free printable lesson plans for December?

Yes. Our sister site Stay At Home Educator offers free winter lesson plans for preschool that pair well with the themes in this post. Teaching Mama’s print-and-go packets, like the winter math and polar animals packets, are designed for quick setup when you need something ready to go.

How long should each December theme last?

One week per theme works well for most preschool classrooms and homeschools. That gives children time to revisit the same ideas in different ways without getting bored. With winter break, many families and classrooms only have two or three weeks in December, so pick your favorites rather than trying to fit in all four.

Do December themes have to include Christmas?

No. Winter Wonderland, Gingerbread, and Arctic Animals are all non-holiday themes, which makes them a good fit for classrooms with children from many different backgrounds. Holidays Around the World is an easy way to include a variety of celebrations while keeping the focus on family traditions rather than any single holiday.

Conclusion

Simple, intentional activities can carry you through December without adding more stress to an already busy season. Pick a theme or two, pull out a few books, and let your preschoolers’ excitement lead the way.

Which December theme are you trying first this year? Let me know in the comments!

December Themes for Preschool: Activities, Books, and Printables

Table of Contents

Why December Themes for Preschool Make Planning Easier