Christmas activities for kindergarten and after-school: colour and play your way through December
December in a kindergarten or after-school club often has to hold many small activities that can take place at the table, on the floor or in a corner of the room. Here are six ideas where the children colour and play with a wooden town and dollhouse, and a plan so you can spread them over four weeks. They suit Crateit Town and Crateit Roomies, but the ideas can also be used with paper and ordinary colours.
The sets are recommended for ages 5-9 and may be used from age 3. Children up to age 5 assemble them together with an adult, so the adults can build in advance, and the children can go straight to colouring and play.
The Fire Station
The Bubble NestSix Christmas activities
1. Colour the town in winter colours
The wood comes uncoloured. Let the children choose a colour palette for the town: Playful 3 mm includes white and blue, which can become snow and winter sky, and Pastel 3 mm has mint, pink and lilac. See all Crateit markers. The markers go on layer by layer, so the town can change colours again later.
2. The elves move into the dollhouse
The Bubble Nest is a wooden dollhouse with a bathroom and a bedroom on two floors. Let the elves move in: who sleeps where, and what is going to happen in the house tonight? You will find more elf ideas in elf pranks.
3. Christmas cards from the town
The children draw the station, garage or house on paper and write or draw a greeting. The cards can be hung on the wall as a calendar or taken home.
4. A Christmas story in the town
Tell a story where something has to arrive before Christmas: a parcel that has to go out on the lorry, or a visitor who has to be guided home. The children carry on the story with vehicles and figures. Use The Fire Station or The Police Station as a starting point if you want to play call-outs.
5. The town calendar
Give each day in December a small job in the town: build a road, colour a car, make a sign, think up a name for the street. You will find many more ideas for an activity calendar in the activity advent calendar.
6. Colour quietly
When it is time for a quiet moment at the table, the children can colour a single part of the town, for example the roof of a garage. Vista Villa and Crossroad Cottage are small garages with 10 and 11 pieces and measure 20 × 18 cm assembled.
A suggestion for four weeks
- Week 1: colour the town in winter colours (activity 1) and draw cards from the town (3).
- Week 2: the elves move in (2), and the town calendar starts (5).
- Week 3: a Christmas story in the town (4) and quiet colouring at the table (6).
- Week 4: repeat the game the children asked for most, and leave the town out on display.
What does Crateit say about the value?
Crateit's product pages say that colouring trains fine motor skills, and the Bubble Nest page says that stacking trains spatial understanding. That is Crateit's own description of the products, not a study. How the activities fit into your work with the children is for you to judge professionally.
For your institution
Do you want to use Crateit in a kindergarten, after-school club or early primary school? Read about Wooden toys for kindergartens, and write to sales@crateit.toys about what you need, and we will get back to you.
If you are a retailer with an account, log in at Crateit B2B. If you want to sell Crateit, you can apply to become a retailer.
More December ideas (blog posts in Danish): Christmas activities for children at home and homemade Christmas decorations.
Frequently asked questions
What age are the sets for?
Crateit Town and Crateit Roomies are recommended for ages 5-9. The product pages say the sets may be used from age 3, and that children up to age 5 assemble them together with an adult. The age is shown on each product page.
Do we need markers?
The sets come in uncoloured wood. Crateit markers come with a 1 mm and a 3 mm tip and colour with acrylic paint. They go on layer by layer, so the children can colour over them again when the play changes.
Can the sets be used together?
Yes. The Crateit Town sets fit together across sets, and Roomies can be combined with Crateit Town, so the dollhouse becomes part of the town.
How do we assemble the sets, and can we get the guide again?
The parts click together without glue or tools, and an assembly guide is included. If the guide is lost, all Crateit assembly guides can be downloaded as PDF on the page Assembly guides.
How does our institution order?
Write to sales@crateit.toys about what you need, and we will get back to you. Read more on the page Wooden toys for kindergartens.
