5 Days of Holiday Learning Fun-Day 1: 6 Minute-to-Win-It & Activity Games

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holiday learning fun games

I am so excited to participate in my first iHomeschool Network Christmas Hopscotch-a blog hop for the holidays! I will be sharing 5 Days of Holiday Learning Fun. Busy Boys Brigade loves to have fun while we are learning-especially during the holidays!

This week on Busy Boys Brigade, you will find holiday-themed:


 

I love to include fun challenges and games into our learning. All of my 5 boys (ages 1-13) benefit from hands-on, active educational opportunities. Homeschooling through the holidays can require a bit of creativity mixed with a lot of activity!

My boys were thrilled to discuss various ways we could include the holidays in our learning. They also truly enjoyed our trip to the Dollar Tree to find and buy materials that we did not have at home.

To start our Holiday Learning Fun  off right, the boys eagerly agreed to pose for this picture:

holiday learning fun Busy Boys Brigade 2015

 

6 Minute-To-Win-It & Activity Games for the Holidays

  1.  Candy Cane Wrap:  The boys and I had a blast with this challenge!
    1. Materials--red and white streamers
    2. Separate into teams.
    3. Select one person to be the "candy cane".
    4. Teams are given 1 red and 1 white roll of streamers.
    5. Team members collaborate and decide on a plan on how to create their "candy cane" in one minute.
    6. Winners:  wrapped "candy cane" first with best teamwork and planHoliday learning fun candy cane

  2. Minute-To-Win-It Snowball Basketball:  (to see how we use this game to practice sight words, click here)
    1. Materials:  basket or bag, left over streamers from Candy Cane Wrap wadded into a ball -OR- marshmallows (we used the huge kind!)
    2. Designate a line to throw from.
    3. Set timer to one minute.
    4. Thrower gets as many attempts as they can in one minute but must use all "snowballs" in basket prior to collection previously used.
    5. Record number of "snowballs" scored.
    6. Each person takes a turn.
    7. In case of tie, play again!holiday learning fun snowball fun

  3. Candy Cane Relay Race:  (We did a version of this game with glow sticks!)
    1. Materials:  Candy cane stick
    2. Designate an area to run (may need to go outside!).
    3. Place participants in order.
    4. Explain how a relay race works-leg 1 hands off to leg 2, etc.
    5. Learning fun:  Have players estimate how long it will take team to compete. Was their estimate accurate? Subtract  or add to find the difference!

      holiday learning fun candy cane relay race
      Captain turning the bend on his leg of Candy Cane Relay Race


  4. Minute-To-Win-It Peppermint Stack:  
    1. Materials:  round peppermint candies
    2. Unwrap peppermint candies.
    3. Make teams or do individually.
    4. Players have one minute to stack peppermint candies as high as possible.
    5. Challenge:  Have team members discuss and write a plan -OR- have individuals write down their plan on how to build the highest peppermint stack!holiday learning fun peppermint stack

  5. Minute-To-Win-It Pony Beads & Pipe Cleaners:
    1. Materials:  pipe cleaners, pony beads
    2. Players have one minute to see how many pony beads they can place on a pipe cleaner and shape into a holiday-themed shape.
    3. Winner(s):  Largest number of pony beads used + shape.holiday learning fun pony beads pipe cleaner

  6. Minute-To-Win-It Mini-Snowball Challenge:
    1. Materials:  pom poms (different sizes add an extra challenge!), pipe cleaners, bowl, egg carton
    2. Fashion pipe cleaners into tweezers by folding in half and using like chop sticks.
    3. Use pipe cleaner tweezers to move as many pom poms as possible from bowl to egg carton in one minute.
    4. Extra challenge:  players must sort pom poms by color!holiday learning fun mini snowball game

Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out Busy Boys Brigade's Holiday Fun Learning Games! Make sure to check in each day this week for more Holiday Fun Ideas!

[bctt tweet="Day 1: 6 Holiday Minute-To-Win-It Games & Activities (part of #ihsnet 5 Days of Christmas Hopscotch)"]

I highly encourage you to hop on over to iHomeschool Network's Christmas Hopscotch! You will find many awesome ideas and tips for your holiday season!

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