Every young student has probably played Simon Says, and should be able to make a simple transition into this Christmas version of this Follow-the-Leader-style game provided by the Kinder Helper website. Remind the students that you will be giving commands -- "Hop up and down," "Stand on one foot," "Put your right hand on your head" or "Close your eyes tight." The important thing is that they listen for whether the command is preceded by the phrase "Santa says." Students who follow the direction when "Santa" does not issue it will be out. The last player left is the winner.
Students sit in a circle. Students tell a Christmas story one word at a time, with each student adding a word when his turn comes. Encourage them to say the first word that pops in their mind to keep the story going, but also remind them that they need to make sure the story makes sense. For example, if the story begins "Once upon a time, a reindeer was born in Florida." The following students should be encouraged to continue with this story rather than adding a new main character or location.
This game will really get the kids moving! Begin with teams of four or five students. Each team will have a bowl of candy, a spoon and a stocking posted across the room from the start position. Each student on the team must hold a spoon in his mouth and scoop up a spoonful of candy with his hands behind his back. The student must then cross the room and drop the candy into his team's stocking. If he drops the candy on the way, the candy must go back into the bowl. The first team to empty their bowl, depositing their candy in their stocking, wins.
Fill a large tray or a table top with items kids associate with Christmas and wintertime, and cover the tray with a tablecloth before the children enter the area. Uncover the items for about a minute and instruct the children to carefully study the items on the tray. When the time is up, cover the tray again and have the children list as many items as they can recall. The student with the most points wins!