Crackers! Holiday Compound Words

Written by Rebecca Reid

Holiday "crackers" are getting more and more popular in the USA, so we had fun with holiday compound words by putting the broken "crackers" together during our hands-on Language Art lesson.

Holiday Crackers for Compound Words

When our family spent a year in Australia (my oldest was born there), my favorite part of the familiar holiday season was crackers. Also called "bonbons" or "poppers," crackers are tubes that have (worthless) trinkets inside. Pull the sides apart, and *crack!* a loud noise startles you and the toy is yours!

At the time of my discovery, I determined that we'd have holiday crackers every year, but, since this is a "new" tradition, I always forget about them on Christmas. So why not make them into a New Year treat? I think they fit better with New Year, anyway, since they are noisy and fun and so is the countdown! As a result, putting a New Year holiday compound words activity seemed like a fun idea.

By putting together the two sides of the cracker, my son could hide a "surprise" underneath: the compound word the two other words created.

Compound Word Surprises

I love the magic of compound words. Put a key with a boring old board, and now you have a keyboard!

The simplicity of holiday crackers is a perfect match to the surprise of compound words: inside the crackers on the interactive worksheets are images of the compound word "treat" to enjoy.

Happy New Year! Holiday "Crackers" Compound Words and two non-seasonal compound word activities are available on my site Shop and my TeachersPayTeachers store.

Related Articles:

Learning the Parts of Speech

Part of learning to construct sentences is recognizing the parts of speech. When students have an understanding of the parts of speech and grammar, they can better express themselves in both writing and speech. Students can understand how sentences are composed and why they are as they are. Students can recognize mistakes, especially as they

Read More

Three Lively Leads: Writing Ideas

The students in my co-op writing class (who are in first to fourth grade) really struggle with starting a story. For the most part, every story starts with “Once there was….” and goes from there. “Once upon a time…” is a close second. It is a challenge to get them to think outside of the

Read More

Fun Games for Your Homeschool and What They Teach

We love games: board games, card games, and more! On those days when no one feels up for a formal math lesson (or the days when I need a break!), we pull out a game and enjoy! Playing games with your little ones during homeschool time can teach a number of great skills. Here are some of our favorite

Read More

Practice Spelling and Vocabulary with Word Ladders

I’ve fallen in love with word links (also called word ladders, word golf, or doublets): games that change just one letter at a time to get to a completely different word. The game of word links were created by Lewis Carroll in 1877.   My son, although a very strong reader, did struggle with vocabulary as

Read More

Get Started Homeschooling: Teach Language Arts

Language Arts usually consists of a few subcategories, including handwriting, reading, and writing. Following a Charlotte Mason-style for teaching language arts is a gentle way to approach the subjects required. Even just reading great books and writing thoughts about them is a great start! Handwriting for children consists of either print or cursive practice. I

Read More

Sign up to get Hands-On Learning Ideas in your inbox!