12 Days of Festive Activities

December is a busy month with many religious holidays, including Christmas and Hanukkah. This year, the creative KFOT therapists wanted to share their 12 favourite festive activities with our wonderful families. These are fun activities you can do as a family, and perhaps even gift to relatives as a special handmade treasure. 

We have shared 6 Christmas activities, and 6 Hanukkah activities to keep your little ones busy (and hopefully not creating extra mess!).

All activities use household items so hopefully minimal additional purchases are required. Adult supervision may be required for some children. 

6 Days of Christmas Activities

Hole Punch Christmas Counting

You will need:

• Coloured cardboard (we used green and brown)

• Scissors & glue

• Pen/marker

• Hole punch

Activity benefits:

• Hand strength and proprioceptive input when hole punching

• Number identification and matching

• Counting

• Scissor skills

• Bilateral integration and bilateral hand coordination

• Cognitive skills: following instructions and problem solving

 

Christmas Playdough Kit

You will need:

• Cream of tartar

• Flour

• Salt

• Water

• Vegetable oil

• Peppermint extract

• Food colouring

• Cookie cutters

• Beads to decorate

Activity benefits: 

• Fine motor skills, including hand strength

• Following instructions

• Sensory processing: olfactory, tactile, proprioceptive

 

Pipe cleaner Christmas Tree Ornament

You will need:

• Pop stick

• Pipe cleaner 

• Beads 

• String for attaching to Christmas tree

• Sticky tape

Activity benefits:

• Fine motor skills, particularly threading and twisting

• Attention and focus

• Creativity, including forming

 

Air Dried Clay Ornaments

You will need:

• Baking paper

• Air dry clay (available at Kmart)

• Rolling pin

• Cookie cutters

• String (to hang the decoration)

• Straw (to make hole for string)

• Paint or glitter to decorate

Activity benefits:

• Hand strength and manual dexterity

• Following instructions and sequencing of steps

• Creativity and decoration

• Creating something as a gift for someone else

 

Christmas Card Puzzle

Image courtesy of Your Kids OT

You will need: 

• Old Christmas cards, with the front page (with image) detached from inside 

• Scissors

• Pencil/marker and ruler

What to do:

• On the back of the card image rule 3-8 horizontal or vertical lines (more lines = more challenging)

• Cut along the ruled lines. It doesn’t matter if you go off the line as the activity is matching the lines

• Mix up the card pieces and place them image side up

• Organise the pieces to recreate the original image

Activity benefits:

• Fine motor control and accuracy when ruling the lines

• Scissor skills

• Visual perceptual skills: spatial awareness, visual discrimination, visual closure

• Problem solving skills

 

Santa Emotion I Spy

You will need:

• Printer to print the worksheet

• Pencil or marker to locate the Santa’s

Activity benefits:

• Visual perceptual skills: visual discrimination, scanning

• Facial expression recognition and discrimination

• Focus and attention

If you enjoyed this activity, why not try the Elf I Spy too.

6 Days of Hanukkah Activities

Paper Plate Menorah

You will need:

• Candle printable, or drawn and cut out yourself

• Paper plate

• Paint: yellow/gold, blue, orange

• Scissors

• Glue or sticky tape

• Ribbon 

Activity benefits: 

• Following instructions

• Fine motor: cutting and painting

Star of David Suncatcher

You will need: 

• 6 blue popsicle sticks

• Gold glitter

• Blue cellophane (or tissue paper)

• Yellow paper plate

• Gold ribbon

• Glue and sticky tape

• scissors

Activity benefits:

• Following instructions

• Fine motor: cutting, gluing

• Shape recognition

 

Hanukkah Decoration from Pop Sticks

You will need: 

• Pop sticks: either wooden and you can diy colour, or purchase coloured popsticks

• White cardboard OR plastic spoons

• Scissors

• Glue or sticky tape

Activity benefits:

• Fine motor skills, including cutting, accurate pasting, and squeezing for glue to secure

• Following instructions and sequencing of steps

• Creativity and self-expression

 

Toilet Roll and Peg Menorah

You will need:

• 8 toilet paper rolls (or sturdy cardboard in cylinder shape)

• Blue paint

• 8 pegs (or you can use pop sticks glued to inside of the toilet rolls)

• Yellow paint and glitter

• Cardboard cut into flame shape

Activity benefits: 

• Fine motor skills: cutting, assembling, gluing, painting

• Patience and engagement endurance, particularly for painting 

• Following instructions

• Working as a team if multiple people creating it together

 

Felt Dreidel Banner

You will need:

• Assorted colours of felt

• Pen

•  Scissors

• Craft glue or stapler

• String

• Sticky tape

Activity benefits:

• Fine motor manipulation and dexterity, particularly when securing pieces of felt and creating the loop for string to go through

• Shape drawing and cutting

• Patience and team work if creating with friend's

 

Washi Tape Menorah

You will need:

• Wash tape in different colours and patterns

• Yellow marker

Activity benefits:

• Fine motor skills, including manual dexterity and hand strength

• Bilateral integration (using both hands at once)

• Creativity and self-expression

 

Have fun and Happy Holidays Everyone!