Decorating the Christmas tree is one of our favorite parts of the Christmas season. Normally, the day after Thanksgiving our Christmas tree goes up, and our Christmas season has officially begun. It is a family event, with lots of excitement and normally at least one broken ornament. Despite the chaos and shattered glass, I can honestly say I love this joyful time with my children.
Since my kiddos enjoy this tradition so much I decided to get some math in while they decorate their own paper Christmas tree. This activity has word problems that instruct them on how to decorate their tree. After the children have decorated the tree they get to solve questions that ask them how many or how much more.
Christmas Math
Prep Work
- Print off all pages on card stock. You will need four copies of the page that has the ornaments on it. (Page 3)
- Cut out each ornament and place the ornaments that are the same in snack bags. For example, place all the candles in one bag, and place all the bows in a different one.
- Cut out the word problems and laminate so that students may write their equations on them.
- For further organization, grab a plastic dish that has dividers. When it is time to do the activity you can put different ornaments in each section. This will minimize the time searching for a specific ornament.
How to Use:
The first 12 word problems are all addition problems. They instruct the children to place two different types of decorations on the tree and then figure out the total amount of decorations on the tree. My kindergartner would decorate his tree, use the word problem to fill in the addends, and then count the decorations on his tree to figure out the sum.
There also 12 subtraction problems to solve. Some require students to add two different decorations and then decide how many more of one decoration there are. Other just require students to add decorations and then take some away. They then figure out how many are left.
Christmas is such a fun and exciting time. Enjoy working on problem-solving while decorating Christmas trees that won't have you cleaning up broken ornaments!!! You've Got This
Need more adding and subtracting activities?
- Christmas Solve & Stamp Math Worksheets (addition/subtraction; K-3rd)
- Christmas Greater Than Less Than (K-3rd)
- Christmas Color by Number (Preschool / K)
- Monster Word Problems
- Adding to 10 Puzzles
- Wiggle to 100! Adding and subtracting Game
- Christmas Color by Number (Preschool / K)
- Christmas Skip Counting Puzzles
- Christmas Fact Familes
- Christmas Math Practice (+ – ÷ ×) 2nd-4th grade
Download Christmas Math Word Problems
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Rachel is a homeschool mom to four little ones, ages 2 to 6. She is a former public elementary teacher, and has recently began blogging at her page You’ve Got This. You can also find her on Facebook and Pinterest.
