Several mornings a week, I do a little preschool-at-home routine with my 4 and 2 year olds.
It’s really nice to have a little bit of structured, fun activity time each morning to look forward to. (You can check out the printable preschool planner I use here.)
To keep things interesting, we like to explore a different theme each week. Now that it’s the Christmas season, we decided to check out some Nutcracker preschool activities!
Our preschool-at-home routine
Each day during the week, we follow the same basic routine:
- We start with music (a song or dance)
- Then we read a story
- Do a craft
- End with an extra activity (usually movement or play-based)
It’s nothing too complicated, but we have so much fun that I wanted to share our plans with you. The activities you’ll find here are each tested and approved- mostly by my 4 year old- but sometimes by my 7 and 2 year olds as well. 😉
Download the plans here
You’ll get an overview page with links to all the videos, books, crafts, and activities for this unit, along with a supply list for the week.
Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Planning for the week
Before we jump into it, here are 3 things for you to do before you start your Nutcracker preschool activities:
- Check out 5 Nutcracker books from the library. Or buy them on Amazon if you’d rather have them shipped right to your home. 🙂 These can be any Nutcracker-themed books. If you’re not sure which ones to get, check out the ones I recommend in the supply list.
- Browse the supply list. Make note of anything you want to use that you don’t already have at home. Add them to your shopping list or buy them on Amazon now.
- Print out the craft templates that you’ll need. All the links are on the supply list.
That’s it! If you do these 3 things now, you’ll be ready to go. 
Nutcracker Music & Movement
Each day we started our preschool time with some music. Some days we just watched a specific dance from the Nutcracker ballet. Other days, we did a movement activity. We often went back and repeated what we did the day before, because a little repetition is great for preschoolers. 😉
Day 1: Watch the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Day 2: Sugar Plum Fairy: Scarf Movement Routine
Day 3: Nutcracker Suite Creative Movement Activity
Day 4: Watch the Russian Dance
Day 5: Scarf Activity for the Trepak dance
Nutcracker Stories
You can read any Nutcracker-themed stories that you want for this unit. But here are the five that we used:
The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers
| Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Nutcracker: Great for Holiday and… |
$10.60 |
Buy on Amazon |
Mary Engelbreit’s Nutcracker
| Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mary Engelbreit’s Nutcracker: Great for… |
$7.69 |
Buy on Amazon |
Waltz of the Snowflakes by Elly MacKay
| Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Waltz of the Snowflakes | $14.48 | Buy on Amazon |
Jan Brett’s the Nutcracker
| Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Jan Brett’s The Nutcracker | Buy on Amazon |
The Nutcracker’s Night Before Christmas by Keith Brockett
| Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Nutcracker’s Night Before Christmas |
$17.99 |
Buy on Amazon |
Nutcracker Crafts & Activities
After our music and story time, we do 2 activities each day. The first is usually more craft-focused, and the second is movement or play-based.
DAY 1 Craft: Make Nutcracker puppets
You can create an entire puppet show stage out of cardstock, or just print the characters and attach them to popsicle sticks.
DAY 1 Activity: Nutcracker puppet show
Kids can play with the puppets, acting out the story however they want to. You can also let them use the stories for this week and they can act out the stories while looking at the pictures for reference.
DAY 2 Craft: Make a sugar plum fairy wand
DAY 2 Activity: Learn to dance like the sugar plum fairy
Time to put that new wand to good use!
DAY 3 Craft: Make paper snowflakes
Have fun showing your little one how to create their own paper snowflakes!
DAY 3 Activity: Listen to the Dance of the Snowflakes, and dance with your paper snowflake
DAY 4 Craft: Decorate ballerina paper dolls
You can use anything you want to decorate your dolls: Sequins, glitter glue, scraps of fabric or paper, etc.
DAY 4 Activity: Nutcracker lacing (Pg. 32 of the Nutcracker Tot Pack, here.)
DAY 5 Craft: Make a paper plate tambourine
DAY 5 Activity: Watch a few minutes of the Nutcracker orchestra. Play along with your tambourine!
I hope you have as much fun doing Nutcracker preschool activities as we did. Thanks for reading!
-Laura
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