The stretch from Thanksgiving to New Year is full of happy disruption. School days are shorter, routines loosen and there is often a cold afternoon or two when everyone is indoors. It is also the time when math facts and spelling learned in the fall can quietly slip. Seasonal holiday learning games solve both problems at once: they fit the festive mood children are already in, and they keep skills ticking over without feeling like homework.
Here is a simple calendar to carry learning from Thanksgiving week right through winter break, followed by a closer look at each game.
A Holiday Learning Calendar
| When | Game | What it practices |
|---|---|---|
| Week before Thanksgiving | Turkey Touchdown | Addition, subtraction, multiplication or division |
| Thanksgiving week | Gobble Squabble | All four operations, one at a time or mixed |
| Thanksgiving weekend | Thanksgiving Crossword Puzzle | Holiday vocabulary and spelling |
| Early December | Make a Gingerbread House | Design and creativity |
| Hanukkah | Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel | Taking turns and playing a traditional game |
| Winter break | 100 Snowballs! | Counting, shapes and patterns |
The Games Behind the Calendar
These Thanksgiving games for kids and winter favorites range from preschool to sixth grade, so siblings of different ages can each find something to play.
Turkey Touchdown
A football-themed math game for grades 1 to 6 and up. Children choose addition, subtraction, multiplication or division and one of three difficulty levels, and every correct answer unlocks a field goal kick. It pairs perfectly with the big games many families watch over the holiday.
Gobble Squabble
Players gobble up question marks to reveal a math problem, then chase down the correct answer while staying out of reach of a hungry chef. They can focus on one type of equation or practice all four operations. With a recommended range from grade 1 through grade 6 and up, it stretches comfortably across a whole family.
Thanksgiving Crossword Puzzle
A gentler, word-based change of pace for grades 3 to 6 and up. The clues and answers cover Thanksgiving vocabulary and facts, and the puzzle can be completed online or printed out, which makes it a handy activity for the kids’ table or a long car ride.
Make a Gingerbread House
Aimed at Pre-K to grade 3, this creative game lets children design their own gingerbread house from a wide selection of roofs, windows, doors and festive decorations. Finished houses can be saved or printed to share with friends and family, and they make sweet homemade cards for grandparents.
Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel
A celebration of the season of lights through the traditional Jewish game of dreidel. Up to four children can play together, or a single player can compete against the computer, and the last player with gelt coins wins. It is suitable from kindergarten upward.
100 Snowballs!
A calm, open-ended favorite for snowy afternoons. Children click and drag up to 100 snowballs to form shapes and structures, with no scoring or competition. It quietly practices counting, planning and pattern recognition, and younger children can use it to form numbers and letters.
Making Holiday Screen Time Count
- Match the game to the moment. Save the quick math races for restless mornings and the creative games like the gingerbread house for quiet evenings.
- Play together. Dreidel and the math races are more fun with a parent, grandparent or cousin joining in, and they turn screen time into family time.
- Print the results. Crosswords and gingerbread designs can be printed, which gives children something to show off or hang on the fridge.
- Keep sessions short. Fifteen or twenty minutes is plenty during the holidays, and ending while it is still fun makes the next session easier to start.
- Mix in real life. Ask children to count napkins for the table, measure ingredients or tally the days left until break, so the skills they practice on screen show up at home too.
Before the Break
Holiday learning does not need worksheets or a strict timetable. A few festive games a week keep math facts, vocabulary and creative thinking active while children enjoy the season, and they make for easy quiet time on busy days. Pick one game from the calendar to start this week and let children choose the next. A playful round of winter break activities for kids can be the highlight of a snowy day.
Every game on this calendar can be played on ABCya, with seasonal printables available too. Seasonal gift guides and holiday ideas for the whole family are waiting on TheVougeClub.
