• 40 brain breaks

Christmas Brain Breaks for Kindergarten and First Grade

Forty December activities for kindergarten to grade 2, from paper snowball games to winter moves, 21 of them winter only.

Christmas Brain Breaks for Kindergarten and First Grade

Show all 40
  1. Slalom hops1 minute. Lay a pencil on the floor beside your feet. Keep your feet together and hop sideways over it and back, like a skier going around the flags. Do 10 hops, rest for a count of 5, then do 10 more.

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All 40 brain breaks

Winter moves 16

  • Candy cane bends 1 minute. Stand tall and straight with your arms stretched over your head and your hands together. Bend slowly over to one side to make the hook of a candy cane. Hold for a count of 5, stand tall again and bend to the other side. Make 3 canes each way.
  • Decorate the tall tree 1 minute. Your tree goes all the way up to the ceiling. Pick a pretend ornament out of the box on the floor and hang it as high as you can reach, up on your tiptoes. Hang 10, with one hand and then the other. The star goes on last, with a jump.
  • Footprints in the snow 2 minutes. The class lines up behind a leader, who walks slowly around the room. Everyone steps only where the child in front has stepped, as if the snow were deep. The leader may take giant steps, tiny steps or tiptoes. Change the leader each time the teacher claps.
  • Freeze like a snowman, melt slowly 1 minute. Stand as a snowman: feet together, arms out as sticks, a big frozen smile. When the teacher says the sun is out, melt as slowly as you can, from your hat down to your boots, until you are a puddle on the floor. It should take a slow count of 15. Freeze again and melt a second time.
  • Jack-in-the-box 1 minute. The teacher tells the class a secret number up to 10. Crouch down small inside your box while the teacher turns the handle and counts slowly. On the secret number, pop up with your arms wide. A pop before the number shuts every lid, and the count starts again.
  • Reindeer gallop 1 minute. Hold two fingers up on your head as antlers and gallop on your spot. When the teacher says roof, land on your tiptoes and hold still so that nobody in the house wakes up. When the teacher says fly, gallop again with the highest knees you can.
  • Shovel the path 1 minute. The snow is deep and the path has to be cleared. Bend your knees, scoop with a pretend shovel and toss the snow over your shoulder. Do 5 scoops to one side and 5 to the other. Finish by stamping the snow off your boots.
  • Skater glides 1 minute. Put your hands behind your back like a speed skater. Take a big step to the right and let your left foot tap the floor behind you, then a big step to the left. Glide 10 times each way. When the teacher calls twirl, turn around once on your spot and keep skating.
  • Slalom hops 1 minute. Lay a pencil on the floor beside your feet. Keep your feet together and hop sideways over it and back, like a skier going around the flags. Do 10 hops, rest for a count of 5, then do 10 more.
  • Sled team 2 minutes. Find a partner. One of you is the sled dog in front, and the other is the sled behind, with hands resting on the dog's shoulders. Walk one lap of the room in step, with the dog steering and nobody running. Swap places for the second lap.
  • Sleigh ride 1 minute. Sit on the front of your chair, or bend your knees, and hold the reins. The teacher calls the road ahead: a bend to the left, a bend to the right, a low branch, a bump over the hill, then pull back on the reins to slow down. The last call is whoa, and everyone stops without a sound.
  • Standing snow angels 1 minute. Stand with your feet together and your arms by your sides. Slide both arms up over your head while you step your feet wide, as slowly as you can, then slide everything back in. That is one snow angel. Make 10 and whisper the count together.
  • Toy shop at midnight 2 minutes. The toys wake up when the shop is shut. Move on your spot like the toy the teacher calls: a stiff wooden soldier, a bouncing ball, a floppy rag doll, a spinning top, a wind-up robot. When the teacher says the shopkeeper is coming, freeze like a toy on a shelf.
  • What comes next? 2 minutes. Make a pattern with your body. Tree is arms up with your hands together, and star is a jump with arms and legs wide. The teacher leads tree, star, tree, star and then stops, and the class shows what comes next. Then try tree, tree, star, or let a child make up the pattern.
  • Winter clothes on, winter clothes off 2 minutes. Get dressed for the snow in the air, one thing at a time as the teacher calls it: boots, snow pants, coat, zipper, hat, scarf, mittens. Now the room is too hot. Take it all off in the opposite order, mittens first, and let the class tell you what comes next.
  • Wrap a present in mime 2 minutes. A big pretend box is in front of you. Roll out the paper with long arms, cut it with scissor fingers, and fold it up and over the box. Stick it down with 4 pieces of tape, tie a bow and pull it tight. It is heavy, so bend your knees to pick it up and hand it to a neighbor.

Paper snowball games 9

  • Balance the snowball 1 minute. Balance your paper snowball on the back of your hand and count to 5. Then try your elbow, your shoulder, your knee and the top of your head. For the last one, sit down and stand up again with the snowball still on your head.
  • Pass the present 3 minutes. Before you start, scrunch a small paper ball and wrap it in 5 loose sheets of scrap paper, one over the other. Sit in a circle and pass the present around while the teacher claps a beat. When the clapping stops, whoever is holding it takes off one layer. Whoever takes off the last layer chooses tomorrow's game.
  • Penguin egg shuffle 2 minutes. A father emperor penguin balances his egg on top of his feet for more than two months. Put your paper snowball on top of your shoes and shuffle to the other side of the room without dropping it. If it rolls off, put it back on and keep going.
  • Roll it to a friend 2 minutes. Sit on the floor facing a partner, with your legs out wide and your feet almost touching theirs. Roll one paper snowball back and forth and count each roll together, up to 20. Then both scoot back a little and count to 20 again.
  • Snowball toss into the bin 3 minutes. Put the recycling bin at the front and mark a line 3 big steps away. Children line up with one paper snowball each and take turns to throw underarm. Count the ones that land in the bin together, out loud. For the second round, move the line back one step and try to beat the class score.
  • Snowballs over the line 3 minutes. Every child scrunches one sheet of scrap paper into a snowball. Split the class into two sides with a line down the middle of the room. For 30 seconds everyone throws snowballs underarm over the line, one at a time. On the word freeze, each side counts what is on its floor, and the side with fewer wins the round.
  • Ten hidden snowballs 3 minutes. While the class has eyes closed, the teacher puts 10 paper snowballs around the room in plain sight: on a shelf, under a chair, by the door. Children walk around with their hands behind their backs and count the ones they see, without touching or pointing. Sit down when you have counted 10.
  • Toss, clap, catch 1 minute. Toss your paper snowball up as high as your nose, clap once and catch it. Do that 5 times. Then try 2 claps before the catch, then 3. A dropped snowball is fine: pick it up and go again.
  • Who has the bell? 3 minutes. Sit in a circle with your hands cupped together like a closed shell. One child walks around with a tiny scrunched paper bell and pretends to drop it into every pair of hands, but lets go of it only once. The class gets 3 guesses at who has the bell. That child goes next.

Circle games 6

  • Find the lost mitten 3 minutes. Draw a mitten on scrap paper. One child covers their eyes while the teacher puts the mitten somewhere in plain sight. The child goes looking, and the class helps without words: slow claps when the seeker is far away, faster claps as they get close. Whoever finds it picks the next seeker.
  • Guess the gift 3 minutes. One child unwraps a pretend present and then uses it, without a sound: riding a bike, bouncing a ball, reading a book, banging a drum, hugging a teddy. Guessing waits until the child takes a bow. Whoever guesses it unwraps the next one.
  • Hot or cold? 1 minute. The teacher names something: a snowman, soup, an icicle, a campfire, ice cream, a warm bath, a frozen pond, toast. If it is cold, hug yourself and shiver. If it is hot, fan your face with both hands. Let children name the last few.
  • Pass a kind word 3 minutes. Sit in a circle. This is a present that costs nothing. The first child turns to the next and says one kind thing, such as I like playing with you, or you are good at puzzles. That child says thank you and turns to the next, and the teacher goes last.
  • Reindeer, reindeer, sleigh 5 minutes. Sit in a circle. One child walks around the outside and taps each head gently, saying reindeer every time. On the word sleigh, the child who was tapped stands up and chases them once around the circle, and the first child tries to sit in the empty space. The chaser goes next, and in a small room it is fast walking only.
  • What is in the sack? 3 minutes. The teacher thinks of a toy in a pretend sack and gives 3 clues, such as: it is round, it bounces, you can kick it. Children put a thumb up when they think they know, and nobody calls out before the third clue. Whoever is chosen and gets it right whispers the next toy to the teacher and helps with the clues.

Draw and make 9

  • A card for a helper 5 minutes. Fold a sheet of paper in half to make a card. On the front, draw something warm for a grown-up who helps at school: the bus driver, the cook, the custodian, the crossing guard. Inside, write your name or make your mark. The teacher collects the cards and hands them out.
  • A gift for someone else 3 minutes. Think of one person at home. Draw the present you would give them if you could give anything at all: a rocket, a puppy, a day at the beach. Nothing in the picture is for you. Tell a neighbor who it is for and why they would like it.
  • Hand-trace reindeer 3 minutes. Spread your fingers wide on the paper and trace around your hand. The fingers are the antlers. Draw the reindeer's face on the palm: two eyes, a big nose and a smile. Reindeer are the only deer whose females can grow antlers, so yours can be a girl or a boy.
  • Icicle row 2 minutes. Draw a straight roof line across the top of your paper. Hang 10 icicles from it, each one a tall pointed V: long ones, short ones, fat ones, thin ones. Circle the longest icicle and put a cross on the shortest.
  • The present with a funny shape 3 minutes. Some presents are hard to hide. Draw a wrapped present whose shape gives it away: a bike, a guitar, a giraffe, an umbrella. Add a bow. Show a neighbor, who guesses what is under the paper.
  • Snow globe 3 minutes. Draw a big circle with a flat stand under it. Inside, draw one small winter scene: a house, a hill, a snowman or yourself in a warm hat. Now shake it: fill the circle with dots of snow, and count them as you go.
  • Ten ornaments 3 minutes. Draw a tall triangle for a tree, with a short trunk under it. Add ornaments one at a time while the class counts together, slowly, from 1 to 10, and put a star on the top. Then check your work: touch each ornament with your pencil and count again.
  • Torn paper snowflake 5 minutes. No scissors needed. Fold a sheet of scrap paper in half, then in half again, and tear small bites out of the folded edges: triangles, half circles, a corner. Open it slowly. A real snowflake usually has 6 arms and yours will have 4 corners, and that is fine.
  • What fits in a stocking? 3 minutes. Draw one long sock. Inside it, draw 3 things small enough to fit: an orange, a crayon, a toy car. Next to it, draw one thing that would never fit, such as a horse. Show a neighbor and see whether they agree.

How it works

These Christmas brain breaks for kindergarten are 40 activities of 1 to 5 minutes for the weeks before winter break. None needs reading, and scrap paper and a pencil are the only supplies. Pick another brain break brings the next.

Read the full guide

Winter only, for a room where not everyone keeps Christmas

The menu that reads All brain breaks sorts the 40. Winter only, nothing Christmas marks 21 about snow, ice, mittens and penguins, for a room where some families do not keep Christmas. No space needed marks 27 that work on the spot in a crowded room.

Start the clock before the snowballs fly

The timer button over the result is already set to that activity's length: 1, 2, 3 or 5 minutes. Press it as the game begins. It stops at zero, and the same activity stays on the board.

  • Make the snowballs once. A box of scrunched sheets by the door lasts all of December.
  • Snowballs over the line and Reindeer, reindeer, sleigh are the loud ones. Follow either with Snow globe or Icicle row.
  • Need a table job after a loud one? Print Christmas tracing worksheets.

Questions and answers

Are these Christmas brain breaks religious?

No. They are about the season children see around them: snow, presents, reindeer, a decorated tree. None mentions a church service or the nativity, and no carol is named. If some families do not keep Christmas, choose Winter only: those 21 never mention it.

Do Christmas brain breaks for kids work above kindergarten?

Up to about grade 2. Snowballs over the line, Penguin egg shuffle, Who has the bell? and Torn paper snowflake suit a class of seven-year-olds. By grade 3 the mimes may feel young; the fun list or the grades 2 to 5 list suits better.

Will paper snowballs turn into chaos?

Only 2 of the 9 send a snowball across the room: Snowballs over the line and Snowball toss into the bin. In both, throws are underarm. In the other 7 the snowball is balanced, rolled, passed, hidden or tossed no higher than a nose.

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