Videos for Teaching Educational Fall and Winter Holiday Stories in the Classroom

Holidays are a fun and festive time in the classroom, offering a valuable break from the usual routine and a creative opportunity to reinforce core classroom learning standards. This fall, as we dive into fall and winter holiday activities, we'll show you how to integrate video resources into your lessons—a technique that can be applied to spring and summer holidays, too!

Science & Sensory Learning: The Great Pumpkin Dissection

For a sensory, hands-on science experiment, look no further than the classic pumpkin. In this SciShow Kids video, Jessi walks students through the steps of dissecting a pumpkin. Jessi starts by observing the outside of the pumpkin for clues about what type of plant it is, then moves on to excavating the gooey insides to locate the seeds. If time and budget allow, splitting students into groups to dissect and examine a real pumpkin alongside the video is a valuable educational experience for older elementary students and even up into middle school. If that’s not an option though, this video alone gives a thorough demonstration. Check out the assessment questions too for supplemental review suggestions.

Language Arts & Literacy: New Vocabulary for Halloween

The month of October brings talk about spooky creatures and decorations. For early elementary school students, this is an opportunity for new vocabulary and lessons on spelling and alphabetizing. If your school is recognizing Halloween, this Kids Learning Video encourages students to think about alphabet sounds by going through the whole alphabet and giving an example of a costume that starts with each letter. To get students moving, you can follow this video with an interactive activity by having students put themselves in alphabetical order by their Halloween costumes.

Math & Cultural Awareness: Playing the Hanukkah Dreidel Game

The dreidel is one of the most recognizable symbols of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The dreidel is a version of teetotem, a spinnable top that has been used to play math and chance games for hundreds of years. This Howcast video demonstrates how the typical dreidel game is played. A traditional dreidel has four sides, each with a Hebrew letter on it to indicate what happens if the top lands on that side. Players start with an equal number of coins and take turns spinning the dreidel, adding and removing coins from their pile based on their dreidel spin. This game can be modified to specific math lessons and age groups by putting different math symbols on the sides of the dreidel.

Geometry & Symmetry: The Classic Paper Snowflake Craft

Cutting paper snowflakes is a classic wintertime craft and can easily be turned into a lesson in shapes and symmetry. In this video tutorial, Caroline from Doodles and Digits shows how to make a symmetrical paper snowflake, highlighting the lines of symmetry as she goes. You can follow along and recreate the designs she makes or try out your own symmetrical patterns too! For early elementary students and preschoolers who may be too young to understand symmetry, focus discussion on the shapes of the snowflake design and how they change when the snowflake is unfolded.

Writing & Goal Setting: New Year’s Resolution Essays

Last but certainly not least, is the New Years resolution writing activity. This activity can be done at the start of the calendar year or the start of the school year to help students work on future planning and goal setting. Mister Messinger has an excellent video explaining how to write a strong New Year’s resolution essay for high school students. He explains each step of the process from planning an outline to finishing a conclusion paragraph. For younger students, coming up with a simple list of goals for the year or things they are looking forward to might be a better fit. One of the best things about New Year’s resolution writing prompts is that they can easily be simplified and expanded to adjust to students’ age and language level.