If you’re looking for the best holiday picture books for the classroom, holiday student gift ideas, or maybe even a teacher holiday gift idea- you’re going to LOVE this! There is now a brand new special Holiday Edition of the #1 best-selling children’s book Our Class is a Family.
This December read aloud will give the gift of spreading some extra cheer before winter break, and strengthening class community during the holiday season. It’s a festively fun version of a favorite picture book for the classroom:
Our Class is a Family has been reimagined with a wintery, magical makeover! If you’re an elementary teacher who already loves re-reading the original book to your students at various points throughout the school year, this holiday version gives you a chance to reintroduce it in a freshly new, seasonal way while still conveying the same social emotional messages.
Holiday Twist on a Familiar Favorite
Our Class is a Family: Holiday Edition keeps all the heart of the original text- it contains most of the same exact wording as the traditional version, with just a few variations to fit the winter holiday theme.
Students will love spotting the cozy details that have been sprinkled into the familiar illustrations—like mugs of hot cocoa, snow-dusted scenes, and holiday lights—all while experiencing the same comforting words and images they already know and love.
Perfect for December morning meetings, holiday classroom parties, or a last-week-before-break read aloud, this book helps anchor students in connection—right when the excitement (and chaos!) of the season starts to peak.
A Joyful New Tradition for Your December Read Alouds
The holidays are such a uniquely special time in the classroom. Amid all the high energy, it’s the perfect time to intentionally pause and remind students (and yourself too, among all the hustle and bustle) that you’re all a part of something special—a classroom family that gets to enjoy celebrating these seasonal times of the year together.
Reading aloud this holiday edition in December is a meaningful way to:
- Revisit SEL topics like belonging and classroom connection
- Create a cozy, festive atmosphere leading up to winter break
- Strengthen classroom community in a season that’s all about togetherness
Whether using this special edition of Our Class is a Family as a mentor text or a “just because” read-aloud, sharing it with your students can easily become a new holiday classroom tradition each year.
Book Companion: Holiday Schoolhouse Writing Craft
After the read aloud, here’s an idea for a holiday writing craft that your students could do as an extension activity!
Along with having students create their own holiday schoolhouse, you could have them write about a class community themed topic. For example:
- Favorite holiday traditions at school and at home
- How your class family can others during the holiday season
- Special ways that your class family can celebrate the holidays together
Student writing could either be stapled underneath their schoolhouse craft, or pasted below it.
And if you might like a little extra charm and personalized touch, you could choose to add these mini holiday string lights onto the schoolhouse and/or paste a student photo behind a folded door:
Display all the cozy schoolhouses on a winter bulletin board or as a warm and inviting classroom/hallway display! The book companion resource comes with printable bulletin board title letters that spell out “Happy Holidays from our Classroom Family” or as another option, “Our Classroom Family Holiday Traditions.”
Holidays Around the World connection
If you have students who celebrate holidays other than Christmas (and/or if you might happen to do any sort of holidays around the world unit in December) the inclusive illustrations in this diverse picture book can also help spark classroom discussions or lessons.
If you haven’t done a “Holidays Around the World” unit with your class before or might be looking to freshen up your current one—this reading comprehension and opinion writing resource is both engaging and academic (and has everything you need to just print and go)!
The read-aloud of Our Class is a Family: Holiday Edition could serve as a springboard for naturally introducing any Holidays Around the World activities like this.
Mini Books for Holiday Gifting
Needing holiday gift ideas for students? This special edition also comes available in a class set of 30 mini books—perfect for holiday student gifts from teachers!
The pages in these mini paperbacks are exactly the same as in the full-sized book (just in cute mini size)! And at less than just a couple dollars per book, more budget friendly to be able to give each student a copy of their own.
It’s a thoughtful, lasting gift that keeps on giving—one that continues to nurture that connection of positive student relationships, even when school is out for winter break.
Teacher Tip: Have students sign one another’s copies, or write your own special teacher message to each student on the inside cover.
Miniature books are also just the right size for tucking into gift bags, or leaving as a sweet surprise on students’ desks during a classroom holiday party or on the last day before winter break.
FREE Gift Tags for your Student Holiday Gifts
If you are planning on gift wrapping your mini books (or even just tying a yarn or ribbon around the outside of each book is a simple time-saver that works beautifully), here are some FREE printable gift tags to pair with the mini books!
This same freebie also includes a gift tag option to pair with the regular-size book, if you might like to give a copy as a holiday gift to a special teacher in your life!
Teacher Holiday Gift Idea for Parents
If you’re a parent who’d love to give a meaningful holiday teacher gift to your own kids’ teacher(s), this holiday edition of Our Class is a Family is something that teachers can add to their classroom libraries and enjoy year after year.
Parent Tip: For an extra-personal touch, have your child write a message inside to their teacher, or have the whole class sign the inside cover as a surprise keepsake. And pair it with the free printable gift tag pictured right above!
It would be a simple, thoughtful way to say “thank you” to a teacher who helps make your child’s classroom feel like home.
💡 The holiday edition of this book would also be a sweet gift idea for co-workers on your grade level team, student teachers, or other school support staff!
Where to Get the Book
The Holiday Edition of Our Class is a Family is available in hardcover at direct pricing right here in the shop on my website, or you can also find it hardcover or paperback on Amazon.
If you might also like to give the mini books as holiday student gifts after reading aloud your copy with the class—you can get special savings when you grab the hardcover and mini book box set together in this bundled package (only available in the Life Between Summers shop):
Enjoy this New Addition to Your Holiday Picture Book Collection
Before ringing in the new year over winter break, there’s no better way to close out December than with a meaningful tradition. One that leaves students feeling safe, cared for, and part of something special.
Whether you’re snuggled on the carpet for a story, passing out mini books during your class holiday party, or gifting this new holiday edition of Our Class is a Family to a colleague or teacher, I hope it adds some extra joy and warmth to your classroom this season.
May you and your students have a memorable rest of your year together, with that most special type of holiday magic that only teachers can create! ❄️✨