What’s Christmas break without baking lots of goodies!? To expand our enjoyment of baked goodies, I’m excited to include this mini unit of Christmas cookie Preschool activities! If you want to embrace all the sweet treats WITHOUT the extra sugar, this theme is for you!
Table of Contents – JUMP to click ahead!
Christmas Theme Sensory Bin
One of the easiest ways to add excitement and hands-on learning to your preschool week is with a themed sensory bin. So many of the activities in our Christmas Cookie Preschool pack incorporate a sensory bin, so it’s best to knock out the preparation early on! Our Christmas sensory bin is always a hit—it’s simple to put together and offers tons of playful learning opportunities! Here’s how I like to set ours up!
FIRST, gather your materials. I like to use a plastic storage bin with a lid so I can cover and store the bin once it’s prepared. Choose your filler, like the dry black beans we use in ours. Something about the black beans really makes all the Christmas colors in our cookie theme POP and gives children a very unique texture to experience. Once you’ve chosen your filler, fill your storage bin as much as you feel comfortable with (knowing each individual child can handle working with different amounts of materials).
NEXT, grab some extra Christmas themed items like plastic trees and ornaments, little gingerbread men, gumdrop puffy stickers, colorful pompoms, etc. These items make the perfect backdrop for the printable items in our preschool Christmas packs! Scatter them throughout your sensory bin filler and watch the theme really come to life!
FINALLY, choose a space that you feel comfortable using the sensory bin with your child. I tuck ours away in our homeschool room with the rest of our Preschool manipulatives, and keep our sensory bin blanket nearby for when it’s time to get to work. The rule with our bins – everything stays on the blanket! This makes clean up SO much easier.
READY, SET, PLAY!!! When your sensory bin is not being used for the printable activities in our Christmas Cookie Preschool theme, allow children to explore freely! Watch them scoop, pour, dig, and more! I love taking our bin our when I need a little extra quiet time for homeschooling an older child, or honestly if I just need an extra minute to sip my hot coffee!
Christmas Cookie Theme Overview
This Christmas Cookie Preschool theme is sure to give your little learners TONS of fun practice! Children will have 6 center-style activities to choose from – 2 Math, 2 Literacy and 2 Fine Motor centers. In addition, I’ve included book recommendations for 5 cookie theme picture books and links to their read aloud videos on YouTube!
We love using a Preschool mini theme like this when we have some extra time in our learning time or are looking for an extra special addition to our regular themes! They’re perfect for fitting in as you can.
PS See how we use this theme in our Preschool scope and sequence by grabbing our FREE Preschool Curriculum Map below!
Counting Clip Cards
Clip cards are SO much fun, especially if they include Christmas cookies! To use this set of clip cards, children first count the Christmas cookies on the tray. Then they’ll find the corresponding number on the right side of the clip card and clip it with a clothespin! If their little fingers struggle with the clothespins, that’s okay! Lay the cards flat and just use manipulatives from the sensory bin to cover the answers!
Shape Puzzles
These cookie shape puzzles are just so bright and cheery! To use, children complete the shape puzzles by building the cheerful cookies! To make this activity even more fun, try laminating the pieces and adding this make-your-own magnet strip tape. Then have kiddos build magnet puzzles!
Alphabet Find & Trace
Ready to take your Christmas sensory bin to the next level? Toss in your Christmas cookie alphabet cards in your bin and go for a letter hunt! Children choose alphabet cards from the bin, identify the letters, and find/trace them on the tracing mat!
Upper/Lowercase Clip Cards
I told y’all we love clip cards, didn’t I?? To use this set of cards, children identify the uppercase letter on the left side of the card. Then they’ll find and clip the matching lowercase letter on the right side of the card. And just like the previous cards – if needed, feel free to lay these cards flat and just cover the answers with manipulatives instead!
Christmas Cookie Puzzles
We love puzzles, and these Christmas cookie puzzles don’t disappoint! I especially love the level of work these puzzles involve – just 3 pieces for each cookie! This makes them perfect for your littlest learners to use without causing any overwhelm.
Christmas Cookie Matching
Matching mats are some of our favorite sensory bin activities! To use this mat, children choose adorable Christmas cookie cards from their sensory bin and place them on top of the matching pictures on the matching mat. My little one LOVES telling me all about the cheerful cookies she finds!
Ready to learn with your toddlers or Preschoolers ALL MONTH LONG?! You can save TONS when you grab this set of centers in our December Preschool Curriculum! The bundle includes 3 engaging December themes (like gingerbread, Christmas, and more!), complete with a week of lesson plans for each! You’ll also get 25 NO PREP Christmas theme fine motor skills worksheets and crafts, and 38 NO PREP Math and Literacy worksheets for extended practice!
Let’s hang out!
I hope this post helped you get a better look at our Christmas Cookie Preschool activities! Got questions? Let me know! I’d love to chat and get to know you better! You can find us below in some of our favorite places to hang out. Can’t wait to chat with you about your Preschooler’s learning journey!
SAVE THIS POST FOR LATER!
Was this post about our Christmas Cookie Preschool theme helpful? Make sure you can come back to this post as much as you need by saving it for later on Pinterest! Click the image below to save this pin to your Christmas Preschool Activities board! Then, CLICK HERE to read about more of our favorite Preschool Christmas activities!
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