Christmas Activities Video Bundle: Holiday Mystery, Escape Room, & Toy Making

Keep your students focused, engaged, and learning during the busy month of December with these three exciting Christmas activities! This festive bundle combines ELA skill practice, creative thinking, and problem-solving with hands-on challenges your students will love. Each activity is designed to boost collaboration, critical thinking, and engagement—making it perfect for those high-energy days before winter break.

The best part? Each of the Christmas activities includes a custom, hand-drawn video created by the talented John Spencer that introduces the storyline and hooks students from the start. These videos instantly draw students into the experience and set the tone for each challenge. Be sure to watch the preview video above for a sneak peek, and download the preview to explore the included handouts, organizers, puzzles, and station materials.

 What's Included in the Christmas Activities Video Bundle?

➡️ The Reindeer Games Classroom Escape Room Challenge: In this Christmas escape room challenge, students compete in physical, problem-solving, and language-based tasks as part of Santa’s annual Reindeer Games. This isn’t just a competition—it’s also a job interview! The winning team earns the honor of becoming Santa’s next group of reindeer trainers. Since Santa is a bit of a grammar nerd, students must complete ELA-related challenges involving figurative language, parts of speech, spelling, and more. Teams solve puzzles, riddles, and skill-based tasks as they move through different stations around the room. Here is how it works:

• Students watch a video that introduces the Reindeer Games backstory. Then, students receive a letter inviting them to the annual Reindeer Games at the North Pole.
  
  
• They will compete in physical, problem-solving, and linguistic skill challenges. This is not just a competition; it is also a job interview. The winning group gets to be the next team of reindeer trainers! Because Santa is such a grammar nerd, students will also have to complete some ELA-related tasks to win. Students should have a basic understanding of parts of speech as well as figurative language (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, alliteration, pun, oxymoron, onomatopoeia, idiom).
  
  
• Students use a response booklet to record their answers to the puzzles and riddles as they circulate the room to different stations.

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➡️ Who Kidnapped Dasher? Christmas Mystery Activity: In this holiday mystery, students become detectives tasked with solving the case of Dasher’s disappearance. Working in teams, they circulate the room, uncover clues, and complete ELA challenges to identify the suspect, location, and method of the crime. This engaging Christmas activity reinforces key skills such as spelling, punctuation, homophones, figurative language, and parts of speech—while keeping students fully immersed in the mystery.

• Students watch a hand-drawn video that tells the backstory of Dasher's disappearance and goes through each of the possible suspects, locations, and motives. This video is highly engaging and will hook your students immediately. Watch the video preview on the product page to get a sneak peek.
  
  
• Students circulate the room in groups trying to find the hidden cards. When they find them, they must solve ELA-related tasks to reveal clues that help them solve the mystery.
  
  
• Students keep track of their work in their detective booklet! Once they feel they have figured out the suspect, location, and method, they yell out, “We have solved the mystery!” Was it Fred Frosty in the stable with a carrot and net? Or perhaps it was Gina Gingerbread at the cocoa station, trapping Dasher in Santa’s gift bag?

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➡️ Santa' Elf Toy-Making Challenge: This creative, Christmas team-building activity encourages collaboration, problem-solving, and imaginative thinking. Students step into the role of Santa’s elves after Christmas, when the magic dust is gone and the toy-making excitement has faded. To cure their boredom, the elves decide to invent a brand-new toy using leftover holiday supplies.

Students work in groups to design, build, and present their toy using materials like wrapping paper, cardboard tubes, bags, tissue paper, tape, and one mystery supply item of their choice.

• Students watch a hand-drawn video that introduces the activity. This video is highly engaging and will hook your students immediately. You can watch the video preview on the product page to get a sneak peek.
  
  
• Students use the instructions, graphic organizers, and templates to plan out what toy they want to create. Students will engage in a bit of nostalgia as they think back to their favorite childhood toys.
  
  
• Students work together to develop and make the toy! They can get into the holiday spirit while using teamwork and collaboration skills.
  
  
• Students write a narrative from the perspective of the elves playing with the toy. This gets their imaginations going, allows them to practice their writing skills, and gives them the chance to have fun and be creative.

 

What Teachers Are Saying About the Christmas Activities Video Bundle?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Loved, loved, loved, loved this!!!! Sneaky learning is the best - had a student ask what they really learned, because it was too fun to be school. You should have seen his face when we talked about all of the skills the students used.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My students loved these Christmas activities. I do as well! Everything I need is included and it keeps the kids engaged and allows them to review English skills. I look forward to using more of your activities!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was the perfect resource for a fun and engaging review before Christmas break! The students stayed on task and focused the entire time! They really enjoyed solving the clues and completing the activities! It was a lifesaver!

 

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If you like these Christmas activities, you'll love this resource:
→ Who Destroyed the Snowman? Mystery

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© Presto Plans © John Spencer

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