Episode 114

8 Winter Holidays to Teach to Your Students

Published on: 27th October, 2025

Bring global celebrations to life in your classroom this season! 🌎✨

In this episode, I’m sharing 8 winter holidays celebrated around the world that are perfect for teaching cultural awareness, geography, and world traditions — all while keeping your students engaged and inspired. These holidays span from October through January and include hands-on classroom ideas you can use right away.

🎉 Here’s what we’ll explore:

1️⃣ Diwali

2️⃣ Día de los Muertos

3️⃣ Hanukkah

4️⃣ Las Posadas

5️⃣ Christmas

6️⃣ Kwanzaa

7️⃣ New Year’s Eve/Day

8️⃣ Three Kings Day/Epiphany

Perfect for:

Upper elementary teachers (Grades 3–5) looking for multicultural holiday lessons, social studies activities, or winter-themed projects that go beyond Christmas.


Resources Mentioned:

Blog Post - Episode 114

🕯️ Winter Holidays Around the World Unit

🎄 Christmas Around the World Unit

📖 The Night of Las Posadas by Tomie DePaola


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Mentioned in this episode:

Social Studies Guided Curriculum

Easy-to-follow lesson plans and activities for social studies - just print and teach! The complete bundles for Communities, Texas History, and U.S. History are available. Click the link to learn more!

Learn more about the Smart and Simple Social Studies Guided Curriculum!

Get the Winter Holidays + Christmas Around the World Units!

Winter Holiday 3-week Unit https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winter-Holidays-Around-the-World-Unit-Activities-Social-Studies-Mini-Lessons-14563801 Christmas Around the World 3-week Unit https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Holidays-Around-the-World-Unit-Activities-Social-Studies-Mini-Lessons-14563832

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About the Podcast

The Social Studies Teacher Podcast
Social Studies Strategies, Tips, and Ideas for Upper Elementary and Middle School Teachers
Are you an upper elementary or middle school educator looking for simple strategies to make teaching social studies easier and more fun? This podcast is perfect for 3rd-8th grade teachers and parents who want to maximize their time and bring social studies to life in their classrooms!

Your host, Kirsten of The Southern Teach, is a mom and educator with over a decade of experience teaching in the classroom. She is all about simple and actionable strategies that result in wins, big or small.

Each week, she'll share a variety of tips on integrating social studies with other subjects, teaching accurate and culturally-relevant social studies topics, lesson and resource ideas, and more! Listen in for ways to make teaching social studies manageable, fun, and best of all - rewarding for both you and your kids!