Learn more about the cookies left for Santa all around the world with this Cookies for Santa Classroom Activity.
Do you leave cookies for Santa at your house? If you don’t, do you have any other December holiday traditions?
We are all familiar with leaving cookies for Santa, but do you know that there are actually different kinds of cookies left for Santa all over the world?
That is the focus of this Around the World Cookies for Santa activity.
Around the World Cookies for Santa Classroom Activity
This Cookies for Santa Classroom Activity is quite simple. As a class, you’ll research different traditions from around the world, focusing specifically on what kinds of cookies each culture/country typically leaves for Santa.
In the Around the World Cookies for Santa PDF, students will have pages to document their findings, document any special holidays they celebrate in the month of December, and then create their own special cookie design.
Although this is a pretty straightforward PDF, you have a few different options for how you go about doing the research on the different cookies.
Bring this project full circle with this Christmas Close Reads Activity, which also includes passages about how people around the world celebrate this holiday. (Click the link to learn more)
Activity Options
The activity includes two full pages of documentation cards. On each documentation card, there is space to write about the different places in the world, their traditions, and what kind of cookies they set out for Santa (or whatever they call Santa in their part of the world). There are many different ways you can do this research. Some ways give students a chance to work independently over time, and others have more of a divide-and-conquer feel.
Individuals or Groups
When deciding to approach this as individuals or groups, consider what your goals for the activity are. Do you want to formatively assess students’ ability to look up and sort through information? Do you want to take a look at their writing, or do you want them to just learn the information and take in the content?
Depending on which of these options (or many others), you’ll want to decide if students are working on their own or if they are working with others. Maybe you even decide to approach it as a big group.
If you are looking to assess anything related to research or sorting through information, I will strongly recommend that you have students do at least one card on their own; however, if you are looking for them to learn the content or even want to assess writing, students can do that in groups or as part of a large group experience.
Now, let’s talk about this Cookies for Santa Classroom Activity in regards to how you actually set up the project.
Predetermine Locations
Before beginning this activity, decide what parts of the world you want students to research. Then, have students randomly draw cards to complete using the predetermined location.
Provide the Cookie First
Rather than having students research based on location, give them the type of cookie and see if they can figure out where people leave that cookie for Santa. Students may find that the same cookie type is used in multiple locations.
Cookie of the Day
Rather than researching all of the places and cookies on the same day, celebrate by having a cookie of the day. Each day in the month of December introduces a new cookie type. You may choose to bring in a sample of the cookie or show the students pictures, but after introducing the Cookie of the Day, students can research to find out as much as they can about the cookie, including where it is typically left for Santa.
Presentation Options
Although this activity is initially set up as a PDF, printable document, you can also have students create their own slides to present on different cookie types.
Type the questions from the cookie cards into a Google Slide, duplicate it, and share it with the class so that, in the end, you are left with a cookie slideshow that you can share with the whole class!
This activity is fun with many different ways to use it. If you like this type of activity and you want some more fun December holiday activities to choose from, check out this blog post!
