KS2 Winter Holiday Pack - Week 1

Want some fun things to do at home this Christmas? Our holiday packs are full of awesome activities like games, challenges, Christmas crafts, and quizzes for you to enjoy!

This week you can:

• Make an advent calendar
• Sew a Christmas stocking
• Bake gingerbread people

Advent is the period which leads up to Christmas. It starts on the Sunday nearest to Saint Andrew's Day (30 November).

Many Advent customs involve counting the days until Christmas begins. Children will often be given Advent calendars to mark the days that have passed.

Some churches have an Advent wreath with four candles, one for each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day. Some wreaths will have another candle in the centre to mark Christmas Day itself.

Create your own Advent calendar. Use the example below to help you.

Follow the instructions in the worksheet below to turn a jar lid into a sparkly Christmas bauble.

Join Dr Ranj on this whacky workout to help increase your heart rate and boost your mood.

Give your brain a work out with these Christmaths times tables quizzes.

In the Christmas story, the three wise men were guided by a new star in the night sky. They followed it to the stable where Jesus was born and gave him the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrhh.

In winter it gets dark much earlier than in summer so it can be a good time to try stargazing with your family.

BBC Parent's Toolkit show you how to spot constellations and catch a meteor shower.

Remember to wrap up in lots of warm clothes when going outside in winter.

Snow activities

• In winter it is more likely to snow. Snow is a type of precipitation.

• We get snow instead of rain when the air temperature is below 0°C (freezing).

• In the UK, the air is cold enough for snow when the wind is blowing from extremely cold places like the Arctic regions to the north or from Siberia to the east.

If we do have a White Christmas, it's a good time to go outdoors and try some wintery activities such as:

• building a snowperson

• making snow sculptures

• making a snow angel

• sledging

Remember to dress for the weather and ask an adult to accompany you or ask them for permission to explore. Make sure you stay safe when sledging and never walk on frozen water.

The Christmas Carrolls is a very Christmassy story as the Carroll family are obsessed with Christmas!

Find out more about the book and how the author, Mel Taylor-Bessent, uses these made-up Christmas words.

Discover how Mel uses simile and parenthesis to bring her writing to life.

Can you write a recount of a special day you have had this holiday? It could be Christmas day or it could be another day.

As the weather is colder and wetter In winter, we're more likely to spend time indoors watching television and Christmas films. In the past people would sit together and tell each other stories instead.

Early civilisations created myths to make sense of the world around them and explain things like the seasons. There's an old story about the Holly King and the Oak King who have a Midwinter battle for the seasons.

There is a long tradition of folklore and storytelling around the world so we have amazing characters like Hansel and Gretel and Snow White and creatures like the Abominable Snowman.

Have a go at creating your own mythical creature and tell their tale. You could write it down or tell it to a friend or family member out loud.

Choose a character, then add, subtract, divide and multiply numbers to battle your way to victory in this fun maths game.

Challenge yourself across 11 KS2 maths topics from the Mysterious Mountains of Multiplication to the Deadly Sea of Shapes!

Try the new winter-themed version and go on a wintery maths adventure.