What follows is the result of hours of work scouring the web for ideas or finding examples of what I already had in mind. Often there are more ideas for each book than most of us will want to tackle. The idea was to offer you a range of ideas so you could choose one or more for your own family. I haven't included every book in our Christmas book collection (maybe I will add them later), but have focused on those that are most popular. Have fun!
Secular/Mainstream Books
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens:
* Make a gift basket and deliver it to someone in need.
* Print out and make a Christmas Carol diorama and carriage.
* Make Christmas pudding (or try the recipe here).
* Dress Victorian: Long skirts and blouses for the girls (with
hair up on the head) and long pants and dress shirts for boys. Make top hats for the boys and simple mob caps for the girls (or see the versions here and here).
Frosty the Snowman by Annie North Bedford
(Or other snowman-themed books):
* Learn some snowman jokes.
* Build a snowman online (designed for beginning readers).
* Make melting snowman cookies.
* Make donut snowmen.
* Make snowman cupcakes.
* Drink Frosty! Serve hot cocoa with whipped cream covering
the entire top. Add chocolate chips to form a mouth, a candy corn for a nose,
and two chocolate chips for eyes.
* Eat a fruit snowmen on a stick.
* Make a simple snowman scarf. (Use fabric glue instead of embroidery floss for a no-sew version.)
* Make a cotton ball snowman.
* Make a snowman toilet paper roll craft - or use an egg carton.
* Turn a bottle into Frosty.
* Make snowman cocoa gift sets. (See also.)
Gift of the Magi by O. Henry:
* Make some wassail (or try this recipe).
* Decorate a hair comb. Some ideas here and here.
* Think about what you could sacrifice in order to give someone else something they will really like. Now do it!
* Think about what you could sacrifice in order to give someone else something they will really like. Now do it!
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett
(Many of these ideas would work for the classic Gingerbread Boy story, too.):
* Print and make masks of characters from the book.
* Make a Gingerbread Baby gingerbread house – or a pretend one. There’s even a virtual way to do it.
* Color some Gingerbread Baby pages.
* Bake gingerbread men. (Here's my favorite recipe.)
* Print out and paste together your own gingerbread baby.
* Make a gingerbread baby paper chain.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss:
* Cook up some Who Pudding.
* Play "Pin the Heart on the Grinch."
* Print and color a Grinch mask.
* Do a Grinch dot to dot.
* Play Seussville, a free online game.
* Print and color Grinch doorknob hangers.
* Make a Grinch ornament from an old light bulb. Or try this version.
* Make Grinch cookies. These simple green crinkle cookies work, or how about these spiral cookies?
My favorites, though, are these green cookies with a heart in the center.
* Make a healthy Grinch kiwi snack.
* Turn guacamole into the Grinch and serve with chips or veggies.
A Merry Little Christmas by Mary Engelbreit:
* Make pom-pom wreath and candy cane.
* Make a glittery star ornament.
* Create popsicle stick Christmas trees.
* Make a simple plastic snowglobe.
* Make a doily angel.
* Make a handprint wreath.
* Make mouse ears headband.
* Make a paper snowflake.
* Make a nutcracker popsicle stick ornament.
* Do a nutcracker toilet paper roll craft - or use this one, designed for a Pringles can.
* Make a clothespin Clara and Nutcracker.
* Make a miniature dancing ballerina.
* Do some Nutcracker coloring pages.
* Do the Wonder Pets (preschool) Nutcracker activity book.
* Make a printable Nutcracker stage and characters - not free, but adorable!
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg:
* Spend the day in your pjs and have hot cocoa "as thick
and rich as melted chocolate bars" and candy with nougat centers "as
white as snow."
* Play “The Conductor Says” (instead of Simon Says).
* Play Polar Bowling: Spray
paint 10 two-liter soda bottles white. With a black Sharpie, draw a
polar bear or snowman face on each. Paint a cheap ball from the Dollar Tree
white. Now bowl!
* Make and eat a graham cracker train snack.
* Make a bell necklace by stringing “jingle bells” onto a
string. (Find bells here.)
* Make elf hats.
* Do a Mad-Libs version of the poem.
* Make a cotton ball Santa.
* Make a handprint Santa.
* Make a hand- and footprint reindeer craft - or try this handprint reindeer.
* Make sugarplums.
* Make reindeer peanut butter cookies.
Christian Books
* Decide what you can do for those in need – then do it!
* Decorate a jar and begin saving money to give to the poor.
The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg (or any book that compares the candy cane to Christ's story):
* Make a fingerprint candy cane.
* Make a "J is for Jesus" candy cane.
* Make a “candy cane” snack from apples or from other fruit.
* Make chocolate dipped candy canes to give as gifts. Attach a condensed version of the legend of the candy cane with a free
printable like this or this.
* Make candy cane cookies.
* Make a paper stocking.
* Buy an inexpensive felt stocking and decorate it with fabric
glue, felt cutouts, ribbons, etc.
* Make a no sew felt stocking with fabric glue.
* Make stockings to hold utensils for Christmas or the month
of December.
The Legend of the Christmas Tree by Rick Osborne:
* Make and eat crispy cheese stars.
* Make a glittery star ornament.
* Make a star Christmas tree topper like this or this or this.
See also, The Pine Tree Parable, below.
See also, The Pine Tree Parable, below.
* Make a Santa Claus cotton ball craft.
* Make a Santa paper strip craft.
* Make Santa going down the chimney.
* Create a handprint Santa.
* Make Santa hat decorations.
* Take a Santa “mask” photo.
* Make and eat Santa crackers.
* Make simple Santa hat cupcakes.
* Create Santa napkin rings.
* Make Santa cups.
* Host a treasure hunt to look for St. Nicholas’ gold coins.
* Print a puppet theatre nativity.
* Make a popsicle stick Jesus in the manger.
* Create nativity popsicle stick puppets.
* Make a nativity popsicle stick scene.
* Print and use a nativity advent calendar.
* Make and eat a graham cracker nativity scene.
* Make angel cookies.
* Make an angel cake.
* Make a handprint angel.
* Make a Christmas star garland.
* Make a glittery star ornament.
* Create handprint nativity animals.
The Pine Tree Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs:
* Make paper plate Christmas trees.
* Make a “stained glass” Christmas trees.
* Decorate ice cream cones into Christmas trees.
* Make popsicle stick Christmas trees.
* Make edible “Christmas trees" - from fruit, brownies, vegetables, and more.
* Make a “Charlie Brown” style Christmas tree from a branch.
* Create a paper strip Christmas Tree.
* Create and eat a healthy vegetable and cheese Christmas tree snack.
* Donate a gift to a charity for children.
* Plant a Christmas tree for next year.
See also, The Legend of the Christmas Tree, above.
See also, The Legend of the Christmas Tree, above.
The Three Trees by Elena Pasquali:
* Make a walnut shell ship - or use a single cup from an egg carton instead of the nut shell.
* Create a handprint ship.
* Turn a milk carton into a ship - see here also. (Or use coffee sleeves as the basis of the ship.)
* Make a paper boat.
* Make a cross from two popsicle sticks.
See also, "Nativity books," above.
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