Published November 27, 2025 Written by Hamza Irfan

Early years activity: A very sensory Christmas

Introduce the children to the magic of the season through this hands-on exploration of natural items, festive spices and wintery textures.

A very sensory Christmas activity learning aims

Identify familiar properties of an object

Use all senses to explore and discover

Vocabulary extension.

Resources you will need for this activity

Natural materials such as pinecones, dried oranges

Fabric – various colours and textures

Dried fruit such as apricots and dates

Wrapping paper

Bottles containing spices associated with Christmas, e.g. ginger, cloves, cinnamon

Tuff tray, basket or other container to put all the items in.

A very sensory Christmas activity outline

Gather the children and invite them to explore Christmas using their senses. Ask what are our senses? Discuss and give guidance if required

Introduce your basket of Christmas related items and invite the children to select an item to explore

Ask them to name what they have chosen. If they’re unsure, support them, e.g. “I can see you’ve chosen a pinecone”

Give the children time to explore using their hands, eyes, noses, ears, and the really curious may even use their mouths! You could narrate what they are doing, “Adam is smelling the cloves and smiling”

Children might add their own words or vocalisations as they engage with the objects

As they describe the items, encourage children to relate their own experiences of the items. You could model this for them.

How to extend this activity

Add magnifying glasses to observe more closely

NDNA products to support you with this activity

EYFS series – Expressive arts and design – Face to Face training

Back to myNDNA

Disclaimer: Activities with children must always be risk assessed, including for allergies or choking. Children must always have adequate supervision. Resources and materials must always be appropriate for children’s age and stage of development.