It is Monday morning, the last week before winter break. The hallway smells faintly of cinnamon from the classroom next door, someone has already hung a paper chain across the ceiling, and your students arrive talking over each other about presents, travel plans and how many sleeps until the holiday. The schedule for the week is a patchwork: an assembly on Tuesday, an early dismissal on Friday, a class party wedged in somewhere in the middle, and three different families asking what time the party starts. You need activities that run themselves, that children can start without a long explanation, and that still teach something worth the hour. This guide collects last week before winter break activities that do exactly that: puzzles and early finishers, coloring and activity books, drawing, and a look ahead to the New Year, with a three-day plan you can stretch to five. Every idea works on its own, and where one of our printable resources fits a step, we point to it.
Why the Last Week Still Counts
It is tempting to write the last week off as a party with lessons attached, but children notice when the learning stops, and the week feels longer, not shorter, when there is nothing to do. The last week before winter break is still a school week, and it teaches best when the work is calm, short and self-contained. A child who finishes a word search has practiced spelling and attention. A child who draws a snowman step by step has followed directions in order. A child who writes a New Year goal has planned and written a real sentence. None of that needs a new unit or a big project. It needs activities with a clear start, a clear finish and no waiting for the teacher.
The trick is to lower the prep, not the standard. Choose work children can do in ten to twenty minutes, that you can explain in two sentences, and that has an answer they can check themselves. Keep the routine visible on the board so a child who finishes early knows what to do next without asking. And keep one quiet activity ready at all times, because the schedule will change at least once, and the quiet activity is what saves the hour.
Puzzles and Early Finishers
The single most useful thing in the last week is a puzzle a child can pick up and finish alone. Word searches work because the words are the vocabulary children already know: winter, snowman, reindeer, candle, gift. Crosswords work because the clues make children think about meaning, not just spelling. Mazes, codes, logic puzzles and sudoku work because they are pure problem-solving, and a child who finishes one wants another.
Start the week by putting a puzzle on the board for the first ten minutes of the day. Write a winter word search grid on the whiteboard, or a simple code where each number stands for a letter, and let children work on it as they settle in. It is a calm start, it uses no copies, and it sets the tone for the day. When the assembly runs over or a lesson ends early, the same kind of puzzle fills the gap without a scramble.
For older children, the Christmas Word Search & December Puzzles is the packet built for exactly this week: a December early-finishers packet for grades 3-6 with 12 winter word searches, crosswords, codes, mazes, logic puzzles, sudoku, symmetry and directed drawing. Keep a copy on the early-finisher shelf and the fast finishers take care of themselves all week. The range matters here: a word search suits a child who needs something gentle, a logic puzzle suits a child who wants a challenge, and the packet covers both without you having to sort it.
A few free puzzle ideas that need no printing at all: a class crossword on the board where children suggest the clues, a "guess the word" game where you give the definition and the class guesses the winter word, and a symmetry drawing where you draw half a snowflake and children complete the other half. Each one takes five minutes, each one practices something real, and each one works when the copier is busy.
Coloring and Activity Books
Coloring has a bad reputation in some classrooms, as if it were the opposite of learning. In the last week before break, it is the opposite of chaos. A child coloring a Christmas page is practicing fine motor control, staying with a task and making choices about color and pattern. An activity book adds to that: a word search practices spelling, a spot-the-difference practices attention to detail, a maze practices planning a route, and a write-and-draw prompt practices putting an idea into words.
Set up a coloring and activity station and leave it open all week. Children go to it when they finish their work, when they need a break, or when the schedule leaves a hole. The rule is simple: one page at a time, finished before starting another. That rule alone teaches more about work habits than a lecture about finishing things.
The Christmas Activity Book & Coloring Pages fits this station for kindergarten through 4th grade: 10 coloring pages, word searches, spot-the-difference, mazes, I Spy and write-and-draw prompts. The mix is the point: a kindergartener colors while a 4th grader works the word search, and both are at the same table doing real work. The write-and-draw prompts are the hidden gem here, because a child who draws a picture and writes a sentence about it has done a complete writing task without noticing it was writing.
Free ideas for the same station: a class coloring page where each child colors one square of a larger winter picture, a "design your own ornament" sheet on plain paper, and a read-aloud with coloring, where children color quietly while you read a winter story. The read-aloud plus coloring combination is the calmest twenty minutes of the week, and it costs nothing but a book you already own.
Drawing That Follows Steps
Directed drawing is the quiet hero of the last week. A child who follows steps in order to draw a reindeer, a snowman or a Christmas tree is practicing sequencing, spatial thinking and patience, and the result is something they are proud to take home. It works for the whole class at once, which matters when you have twenty-five children and one teacher: you draw one step on the board, they copy it, and the room is silent except for pencils.
Run a directed drawing as a whole-class activity once a day, ten minutes, right after lunch when the energy is highest and the focus is lowest. Start with something simple on Monday and build to something harder by Thursday. Let children add their own details at the end: a scarf on the snowman, a pattern on the tree, a background of falling snow. The steps teach the skill; the details make it theirs.
The Directed Drawing Calendar 2027 & 2028 takes this further and turns it into the parent gift: 26 step-by-step drawings, two years of calendar pages and gift tags, so each child draws through December and assembles a calendar to take home for Christmas. It is the rare craft that is also a gift, and it solves the "what do we make for parents" problem for the whole month. For the last week, use the December drawings as the daily ten-minute activity, and let children finish their calendars on the party day.
Free drawing challenges for the same slot: draw a snowman using only circles, draw a winter scene in three minutes, draw your classroom as it would look covered in snow. Put a timer on the board and the challenge feels like a game. Keep the drawings up on the wall and the room looks like December, which is half the point.
Looking Ahead to the New Year
The last week before break is also the right time to look forward, because children are already thinking about what comes next. A New Year activity works best on the last day or two, when the holiday is close and the idea of a fresh start makes sense. Keep it simple: one goal, one sentence, one drawing. A child writes "In the new year I want to learn ___" and draws a picture of it. The goal should be small and real: learn to read a chapter book, get better at multiplication, be kinder to a classmate. A small goal a child chose is worth more than a big goal a teacher assigned.
A class resolution chart is the free version: each child adds one resolution on a paper star or snowflake, and the chart goes on the wall for the first week back. When children return in January, they see their own star and remember what they promised themselves. That is the whole point of the activity, and it takes twenty minutes.
The New Year Activities 2027 carries this into the first week back, with math, reading passages, goal setting and coloring for grades 2-5. Send the goal-setting page home as the break assignment, or keep it for the first morning back, when children arrive full of holiday stories and need something calm to settle into. The math and reading pages give the first week back a structure, so January starts with work instead of a scramble.
A 3-Day Plan for the Last Week
Use this plan as it is, or stretch it to five days by splitting the puzzle day and the drawing day in two. Each day has one whole-class activity, one station and one quiet task, so the day holds together even when the schedule does not.
Day 1 — Puzzles. Start the morning with a puzzle on the board for the first ten minutes. Open the early-finisher shelf with the Christmas Word Search & December Puzzles and let children choose a word search, a maze or a logic puzzle. In the afternoon, run a class crossword on the board with clues children suggest. Quiet task: a word search to finish and take home.
Day 2 — Coloring and activity books. Open the coloring and activity station and leave it open all day. Whole-class activity: a read-aloud with coloring, twenty minutes, right after lunch. Quiet task: a spot-the-difference or a maze from the activity book, finished before starting another page.
Day 3 — Drawing and the New Year. Morning directed drawing, ten minutes, one step at a time on the board. Children finish their drawings and add their own details. In the afternoon, write New Year goals: one sentence and one drawing each, then add them to the class resolution chart. Quiet task: a symmetry drawing or a draw-your-classroom-in-snow challenge.
If you have a fourth and fifth day, repeat the shape with new content: a new puzzle on the board, a new drawing, and the calendar pages for children finishing their parent gifts. The shape is the plan; the content can change every day without the day falling apart.
Practical Tips for the Holiday Week
Assemblies will run over. Plan for it. Keep the early-finisher puzzles and the coloring station ready, so a lost twenty minutes becomes quiet work instead of lost time. The Christmas Word Search & December Puzzles earns its place here: when the assembly ends late and the next lesson has ten minutes left, a word search or a logic puzzle fills it without a scramble.
Early dismissals change everything. On the short day, do one thing well instead of three things badly. A directed drawing plus a read-aloud is a complete day. Do not try to fit the party, the craft and the lesson into a half day; choose the party and the craft, and let the lesson wait.
Party day needs a plan, not just food. Give the party a shape: thirty minutes of a game, thirty minutes of a craft, thirty minutes of a read-aloud or a film, and then clean-up. The clean-up game is the secret: who can tidy their table fastest, who can stack the chairs, who can find the missing pencil. Children who clean up well get the next game, and the room is ready for the next day.
Keep the room calm with a visible routine. Write the day's plan on the board in three steps and cross each one off as you finish it. Excited children do better when they can see what is happening next, and the crossed-off steps show them the day is moving. A quiet activity ready at all times is the backup for every surprise the week brings.
Send home work families will actually do. A calendar, a drawing and a New Year goal are three things families keep. A packet of worksheets is not. Choose the take-home that fits your families, and keep it to one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best activities for the last week before winter break?
Short, self-contained activities children can start without a long explanation: word searches, coloring pages, directed drawing and simple puzzles. The best activities have a clear start and a clear finish, so a child knows when they are done, and they work when the schedule changes, which it will.
How do you keep elementary students focused the week before Christmas?
Keep the routine visible and the activities short. Write the day's plan on the board in three steps, cross each one off as you finish, and use ten- to twenty-minute activities instead of long lessons. A quiet activity ready at all times helps, because the week always brings a surprise assembly or an early dismissal.
What are good early finisher activities for December?
Winter word searches, crosswords, mazes, logic puzzles, sudoku and symmetry drawings. The Christmas Activity Book & Coloring Pages covers the younger grades with coloring, word searches, spot-the-difference and I Spy, and the Christmas Word Search & December Puzzles covers grades 3-6 with 12 winter word searches, crosswords, codes, mazes, logic puzzles, sudoku, symmetry and directed drawing.
What can students make for parents at Christmas?
A directed drawing calendar is the classic answer, because it is a gift and a craft at once. The Directed Drawing Calendar 2027 & 2028 gives each child 26 step-by-step drawings, two years of calendar pages and gift tags to assemble into a calendar to take home. A hand-drawn card with a New Year goal inside is a simpler version that works just as well.
What New Year activities work for elementary students?
One goal, one sentence, one drawing. A child writes "In the new year I want to learn ___" and draws a picture of it, and the goals go on a class resolution chart for the first week back. The New Year Activities 2027 adds math, reading passages, goal setting and coloring for grades 2-5, so the first week back has a structure too.
How do you plan the last week before winter break?
Plan three days, not five: a puzzle day, a coloring and activity book day, and a drawing and New Year day, each with one whole-class activity, one station and one quiet task. Stretch it to five days by splitting the puzzle and drawing days in two. Keep a quiet activity ready for assemblies and early dismissals, and let the party day have its own shape with a game, a craft and a clean-up.
