December is a hectic time for most families making it even more difficult to spend quality time together. This 30 Days of Holiday Fun Project is a great project to help promote family bonding when schedules are busy and harried! Add diversity by incorporating many different holidays.  Read on to learn more…

Set

• First, decide if this will be an individual or small group or partner project.
• Second, decide if you will randomly assign holiday’s to students or if you will let students select or use their own. If you are assigning holidays, you may wish to include a diverse variety such as…
  • Bodhi Day (Buddhist)
    Saint Nicholas Day (Christian)
    Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexican)
    St. Lucia Day (Swedish)
    Hanukkah (Jewish)
    Pancha Ganapati (Hindu)
    Christmas Day (Christian)
    Boxing Day (Australian, Canadian, English, Irish)
    Kwanzaa (African)
    Omisoka (Japanese)

Materials

• iPad or Laptop
• Projector & Screen

Directions

• Once the holidays are assigned or selected, show students the template they will fill in and go over the criteria  and rubric of the project by displaying it on the screen.
• Students are to research various holiday traditions, activities, and games that foster family bonding and promote quality time, communication, and a sense of togetherness, counteracting the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.
• Students are to include one activity per day that can be done by family members of all ages. Activities can be food related, craft related, story related, game related, indoor or outdoor based, and should be free or minimal cost. Students are encouraged to include a lot of variety in their selections.
• Once students have decided on the activity, they are to type the name of the activity in the calendar space and link it to specific examples, directions, videos, recipes, etc. from the internet for reference.  For example, if you read a story together, then include the link to the book or YouTube video of the story being read.
• When calendars are completed, they can be shared with the class to learn more about specific holidays as well as see similarities and differences in the ways that families spend time together during this busy time of year.

Attachment

• 30 Days of Holiday Fun Template & Directions (please make a copy if you wish to edit)

Photo by James Wheeler on Unsplash