Online Schools: Holiday Zone

Ever wondered what other countries do around the holidays? Do you want to learn about how others celebrate? These resources provide activities and lessons for K-6 students. Learn about diverse customs through games, food and fun lesson plans.

 Math

• Merry Christmas Math: 10 Christmas math solutions created by The Franklin Institute.
• Hanukkah Puzzle: The Sidwell Friends School Hanukkah candle math puzzle.
• Kwanzaa Math Stories: Four sample Kwanzaa math word problems by edHelper.
• Ramadan Math: Seven Ramathan math word problems.
• Count by Dots: Make a star by counting by 10’s.
• Roll a Christmas Tree: Use dice to build yourself a Christmas tree.
• 12 Days of Christmas: This lesson combines money and the 12 days of Christmas,     
• Santa's Elf Spreadsheet: A fourth grade applied math Santa elf spreadsheet.
• The Koch Snowflake: Use fractals to create a Koch snowflake.

Language Arts

• Kwanzaa Mini-Unit: A language art draft based of the seven principle of Kwanzaa.
• Sally Saves Christmas: An illustrated story written by Alexander Cims about a young girl saving Christmas.
• Twas the Night Before Christmas: A second grade lesson that uses flow maps to retell the story.
• Diwali celebrations: A class discussion and writing activity.
• Celebrate Diwali: A listening comprehension lesson for first and second graders that has students compare and contrast Diwali celebrations.
• Hanukkah Word Search: A word search with Hanukkah terms with an answer key.
• Kwanzaa Crossword: Students fill in the crossword puzzle with terms related to Kwanzaa.
• Dickens: This upper level lesson puts students in the Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and tasks them with researching the life of Charles Dickens.

Science

• Minerals make Christmas: Learn about natural resources and Christmas trees.
• Fauna and Flora Of Africa: Take a tour of the fauna and flora of Africa.
• Christmas Chromatography: A Science lab where students create a string of lights.
• Candy Chromatography: A science experiment using colored candy for chromatographic separation.
• The Lessons of Chanukah: This document explores the relation between science and Judaism.
• Interplanetary Christmas: Students use the planets in the solar system to understand ho conditions could affect Santa on Christmas Eve.

History

• Ramadan: A 5^th grade through 7th grade history lesson using the Islamic holiday Ramadan.
• Ramadan in History: Dr. Abdullah Hakim provides insight of Ramadan over time.
• Diwali of India: Learn about he history of the Indian holiday Diwali.
• History of Kwanzaa: A short history of Kwanzaa by the Wentworth Institute of Technology.
• History of Christmas Trees: A lesson teaching the history of Christmas trees.
• Festivals of Lights: Festival of lights has been around for thousands over years. Learn the history behind the festival of lights for Hanukkah, Christmas and Ramadan.  
• The Gift of Holiday Traditions: Learn of the traditions behind Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and Christmas.
• History of Hanukkah: Discusses the concepts and laws that represent Hanukkah.

Arts

• Unity Within Community: A Kindergarten up to second grade lesson that has students use their artistic ability to demonstrate their knowledge of Kwanzaa.
• Hanukkah Crafts: Four simple Hanukkah crafts.
• Moon Over Mecca: Students create a portrait of the moon phases of Ramadan.
• Kwanzaa Playground: Take a look around the art of a Kwanzaa playground.
• Hanukkah: Hanukkah art lessons for kindergarten up to sixth grade. Children make an edible Menorah, milk carton Dreidel, a beaded bookmark and much more.
• Kwanzaa Placement: Younger children can make a Kwanzaa placement out of traditional colors.
• Ornaments: First grade acorn ornament craft.
• Christmas Crafts: Over 10 Christmas craft ideas.

Games

• Diwali: Learn all about Diwali with interactive games and stories.
• Kwanzaa with BillyBear: Play a tic toe game of Kwanzaa candles.
• Ramadan Concentration: Print out the Ramadan cards and laminate them to play a game of match.
• Dreidel Game: An interactive Dreidel game for two players.
• Elf Clubhouse: Play elf and Santa games with easy to hard levels.
• Christmas Games: The Sunday School Network provides directions for playing several Christmas related games.
• Run Santa Run: Make Santa run in the virtual game.
• Countdown: Count down the days of Christmas with this interactive find Santa game.
• Christmas Bingo: Print this out for a game of Christmas bingo.

Foods

• Hanukkah Food: The Jewish Outreach Institute provides recipes for popular Hanukkah foods.
• Ramadan Mubarek: Explains that Muslims actually fast during the Ramadan.
• Eid Recipes: Traditional Muslim recipes for the feast after Ramadan.
• Day four Christmas Recipe: A quick and easy recipe for peanut butter balls.
• Chanukah Coins: A Chocolate based recipe in the shape of coins.
• The Foods of Diwali: Taste Diwali with these two Diwali recipes.
• Christmas Recipes: Several fun and delicious Christmas recipes for all ages.    
• Kwanzaa: Recipe of African peanut soup.