Looking for easy ways to incorporate Christmas into your homeschool plans? You’re in luck! We’ve got a fun selection of books and activities to help you sprinkle Christmas learning into your homeschool day a little at a time.
Even better, these resources can all be enjoyed individually, but they make the perfect Christmas Morning Basket when combined!
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So, why turn to a morning basket for your Christmas homeschool plans? Well, it provides an opportunity to incorporate Christmas at the beginning of the homeschool day and before jumping into the core subjects that need to roll along as usual during December.
A Christmas Morning Basket is also a good way to bring students together if you’re homeschooling more than one child. In doing so, you can enjoy the togetherness associated with the holiday season before your students need to separate to focus on individual work. With my kids being five years apart, this has always been our family’s best solution for homeschooling during Christmastime.
Christmas Morning Basket Ideas
Enough about us, though. Here are some suggestions for what to include in your Christmas Morning Basket.
1. A World of Cookies for Santa
This is a great book to tackle a little at a time over the course of your holiday homeschooling. Since A World of Cookies for Santa spotlights the Christmas goodies usually offered for Santa in various countries, you can keep it in your morning basket to read through the countries’ celebrations on and off each week. Then, if you wish, you can make cookies using one of the recipes as well.
Even better, you can take this morning basket idea to the next level with this unit study from The Waldock Way. It uses A World of Cookies for Santa as its primary source and includes writing prompts, a map for tracking your study, YouTube links, and more.
2. Christmas Around the World
Speaking of Christmas celebrations in various countries, Christmas Around the World resources also make a great addition to a Christmas Morning Basket. You can use this book list for book recommendations to snag from your local library or simply borrow this Christmas Around the World title.
You can also choose one country and include resources about its Christmas celebrations in your morning basket if a global overview doesn’t sound appealing this year.
Related: Christmas Around the World Flag Ornaments
3. Advent Read Aloud
Advent storybooks like Jotham’s Journey and Bartholomew’s Passage also work nicely in a morning basket lineup. These stories take a historical fiction approach to the birth of Christ and make for a memorable read aloud experience.
Looking for something different than the Storybooks for Advent series? Consider Ann Voskamp’s Unwrapping the Greatest Gift. It’s got shorter daily readings and incorporates Jesse Tree ornaments for a hands-on element.
4. Christmas Poetry
Add some poetry to your Christmas morning basket with help from collections like 100 Best Christmas Poems for Children. You can also add some short stories with collections like A Classic Christmas or A Vintage Christmas.
5. Other Read Alouds
Along with poetry, books are a great way to add variety to your Christmas Morning Basket. Even better, you can choose a few books or read a new one each day.
- Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree – How would you handle it if your Christmas tree was too tall for your home? This fun story explains how Mr. Willowby deals with this challenge, making it a favorite Christmas book for many.
- The Friendly Beasts – There’s no shortage of lovely Christmas books from Tomie dePaola, but this one pairs a cherished English Christmas hymn with dePaola’s beloved illustrations. It’s a short yet lovely read aloud selection.
- Cranberry Christmas – If you’ve enjoyed Cranberry Thanksgiving with your kiddos, you can catch up with Mr. Whiskers and enjoy a cranberry cookie recipe with this classic picture book.
- The Christmas Owl – Based on a real owl named Rocky, The Christmas Owl tells the story of an owl found in the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree in 2020.
- The Nutcracker – This picture book version is a wonderful way to enjoy the beloved Nutcracker story with younger kiddos.
- Christmas Tapestry – This book from Patricia Polacco is one of our favorite Christmas read alouds. It’s a heartwarming story about a Christmas Eve service that’s saved by a special friend.
Some other fun Christmas reads include Kate DiCamillo’s Great Joy, Pearl Buck’s Christmas Day in the Morning, Patricia Toht’s Pick a Pine Tree, Matt Tavares’ Dasher, The Legend of the Candy Cane, and The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.
With that said, Christmas-themed chapter books also fit nicely into morning time. Here are some options to consider:
- The Family Under the Bridge – This award-winning story is a fairly short read about a family in Paris experiencing Christmas alongside a rather-grumpy man who wasn’t looking for family of his own.
- The Christmas Pig – If you’re a fan of the Harry Potter series and The Ickabog, The Christmas Pig is sure to be a new favorite read aloud.
- A Boy Called Christmas – This fun story reimagines the origins of Father Christmas, AKA Santa Claus, through an adventurous story about an 11-year-old boy named Nikolas.
- The Girl Who Saved Christmas – A companion to A Boy Called Christmas, this one continues the story of Father Christmas and even includes a cameo from Charles Dickens.
- A Christmas Carol – Speaking of Charles Dickens, I’d be remiss if I didn’t include this as a recommendation for a Christmas Morning Basket. It’s the book that makes almost yearly appearances in our family and is probably the book we’ve re-read the most in our years of homeschooling.
6. Christmas Origami
Origami projects like these make a fun Christmas Morning Basket addition. Consider keeping some patterned origami sheets along with your solid origami paper on hand to mix it up a bit. You can also search YouTube or Google for more kid-friendly ideas so that you don’t run out of inspiration. We’re personally fans of the Art for Kids Hub projects. :)
If origami seems a little intimidating, consider these LEGO Christmas ornament projects. This way, kiddos can build the ornaments while listening to Christmas music or while listening to a read aloud.
7. Music of Christmas
Our final Christmas Morning Basket suggestion doesn’t necessarily live in a basket. Even so, music courses bring holiday fun and joy to morning time.
In particular, we recommend Music in Our Homeschool’s Music of Christmas online course. It contains three years of Christmas music lessons and covers pop culture Christmas music, Christmas music enjoyed around the world, and traditional Christmas songs and hymns.
In closing, we hope these morning basket ideas help you bring something special to your holiday homeschooling plans. At the very least, they serve as a reminder that it doesn’t take much to include and even celebrate Christmas while you’re learning together.