December Fun Learning Holidays
Looking for ways to supplement your homeschool curriculum? How about short unit studies to explore a variety of topics? These fun holidays are a great way to celebrate and provide engaging learning opportunities for your kids. Here’s my list of December homeschool mini-unit study ideas using fun holidays.
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What to Celebrate in the Month of December
Every month has designated awareness holidays. Take advantage of these holidays to introduce your kids to a new experience or get them to try something new. Also, if your child wants to dig in, use these holidays to spend additional time focused on a particular area of interest.
Let’s look at some of the monthly awareness themes for the month of December that you can use to supplement your homeschool curriculum.
I’ve compiled a YouTube playlist containing most of the video links included in this article. Bookmark this page to come back and find the unit study, activity, and article links, and visit the Must Love Lists YouTube playlist for monthly video links.
Learn a Foreign Language Month
Take advantage of this awareness theme to expose your kids to a variety of foreign languages.
- watch a foreign language movie with subtitles
- commit to daily language practice with a language learning app like Duolingo
- sign up for a foreign language class on outschool.com
- learn to say a few key phrases in several different languages
Merry Christmas in 10 Different Languages
Language of Earth YouTube Channel has a variety of language comparison videos
Comparison: Hardest Languages to Learn
National Write a Business Plan Month
If you’ve got an entrepreneurial kid, they’ll need to know how to write a business plan.
Check out these 7 business plan templates for kids or this sample business plan plus lots more resources from Biz Kids.
Writing a Business Plan (animated YouTube video using dog washing business as example)
Read: Simple Project Planning Template for Kids
World Food Service Safety Month
Learn about food safety this month with important lesson about safe food handling preparation, and storage.
The Partnership for Food Safety Education has downloadable guides and activities for all grade levels to learn about food safety.
USDA Food Safety Education YouTube Playlist
Food Safety hands-on lab experiments from Agriculture in the Classroom provides detailed experiments for middle school students to illustrate the presence of bacteria and germs, the growth of mold, and best handwashing practices.
National Week Holidays for December
Next up are the national awareness weeks to use as homeschool learning opportunities during the month of December.
Computer Science Education Week: 2nd week of December
The highlight of celebrating this week is participation in the “hour of code” events–one hour coding lessons, tutorials, and challenges. You’ll find hour of code activities at any of the following websites:
Additionally, Google offers many resources under the category, Code with Google.
Another fun option is to try a coding subscription service, like Bitsbox or Creation Crate.
Read: Christmas Websites and Online Games for Learning
National Day Holidays for December
Now we’re on to the individual day holidays for the month of December. Choose a few to incorporate into your homeschool for a variety of learning and fun.
Rosa Parks Day: December 1
Rosa Parks unit study to go along with the book, Who Was Rosa Parks?
Free Rosa Parks unit study from Rabbit Trails Homeschool
The National Archives teaching resources about Rosa Parks including source documents, student questions and activities geared for middle or high school students.
The Life of Rosa Parks (YouTube – Now You Know About)
Bet You Didn’t Know: Rosa Parks (YouTube – History)
Brief clip of Rosa Parks interview on Larry King Live in 1995
St. Nicholas Day: December 6
St. Nicholas unit study from Whole Child Homeschool, with resources appropriate for elementary through high school.
Find lesson plans, along with everything you could want to know about St. Nicholas at st.nicholascenter.org.
St. Nicholas: The Real Story (YouTube – Vision Video): full 55-minute movie
Our St. Nicholas Day Traditions (YouTube – A Common Life): ideas to use for celebrating St. Nicholas day with your kids
Read: Christmas Activity Printables Pack
Pearl Harbor Day: December 7
All About Pearl Harbor unit study from Faith & Good Works.
You’ll find hundreds of Pearl Harbor teaching resources (some of the free!) on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Pearl Harbor worksheets from Easy Teacher Worksheets
Writing prompts, art, and The Roosevelt Rap are among the fun ideas included in this Pearl Harbor unit study from Pocketful of Treasures.
Dewey Decimal System Day: December 10
Read The Great Dewey Hunt by Toni Buzzeo
Dewey Decimal worksheets for kids to practice learning the classification system
The Dewey Decimal System Intro (YouTube)
The Dewey Decimal Classification System (YouTube)
Nobel Prize Day: December 10
Play a variety of games based on Nobel Prize winning achievements.
Watch the Nobel Prize award ceremonies
40 Nobel Prize Winners Kids Should Know
Articles written by Nobel laureates specifically for students, describing their contributions and achievements in understandable terms.
National Violin Day: December 13
Why Stradivarius violins are worth millions (YouTube – Vox)
Enter Cremona, the Italian City of Violins (YouTube – Great Big Story)
Symphony 101: How do strings make their sound? (YouTube – Symphony Nova Scotia)
Bill of Rights Day: December 15
Download a PDF copy of the Bill of Rights from constitutionus.com.
Bill of Rights worksheets from Easy Teacher Worksheets.
A 3-minute guide to the Bill of Rights (YouTube – TedEd)
The United States Constitution and Bill of Rights (YouTube – Ryan Hill)
Play “Do I Have a Right?” online game from iCivics.org or Annenberg’s classroom “That’s Your Right” online game.
Wright Brothers Day: December 17
Discover a great book list to inspire your Wright Brothers unit study, along with additional resources from Cheryl Bastian.
NASA’s printable unit study about the Wright Brothers includes specific instructions to build a variety of gliders.
Wright Brothers, First Successful Airplane (YouTube – Simple History)
How Two Uneducated Brothers Achieved the Impossible (YouTube – Newsthink)
Crossword Puzzle Day: December 21
Will Shortz on How a Crossword is Made (YouTube – The New York Times)
How to Create a Crossword Puzzle (YouTube – Wired): This fun video lays out the technical aspects of creating a well-made crossword puzzle. Also included are a few fun visual memory tricks for your kids to interact with.
Pick a theme and make your own crossword puzzle
- My Crossword Maker
- Crossword Labs
- Discovery Education Puzzlemaker
- The Teacher’s Corner (allows images to be added to crossword puzzle page)
- Puzzle Maker
Visit my homeschool resources page for monthly unit study ideas, projects, and homeschool planning help!
How to Use Fun Holidays for Unit Studies in December
The key to using fun holiday lists like this in your homeschool is to keep it simple. Don’t try to celebrate every single holiday or awareness theme. You and your kids will be overwhelmed.
This is especially important to remember in December when life is busy with Christmas activities.
One way to implement these supplemental learning activities is to keep a list of fun holidays. Then, note down the ones you celebrate with the year and what you did. Next year, come back to the list and pick another one or two to celebrate.
There are a lot more “national days” you could choose to celebrate that are not included in this list, many of them focused on food. It’s fun to choose a few of these as well to add in treats here and there or as a way to have your kids try new foods.
Find additional November fun holidays that aren’t necessarily learning-related in these two articles.
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December Unit Study Ideas for Homeschool Learning
