One of the creative thinking tools that my students learn is S.C.A.M.P.E.R.  It is an acronym to help people to remember different ways inventive ideas can happen:  Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to Another Use, and Rearrange.  It was originally developed by a man named Roger Eberle.  The holidays lend themselves to this type of thinking, as the students are already feeling a little loose and silly – willing to take risks with unusual ideas.  Here is a link to a first grade teacher’s activity in which her students had to think of ideas for the putting candy canes to another use.  And here are some other ones I’ve used:

Substitute other materials for making a “snowman” for a place where it never snows.

Combine two holidays and draw a picture of a family celebrating them.

Adapt Santa’s sleigh to another environment – like the desert or outer space.

Modify (Magnify or Minimize) a holiday dessert.

Put flying reindeer to another use for the rest of the year.

Eliminate presents from a holiday. What could be done to celebrate instead?

Rearrange the holiday calendar. What months would have which holidays, and why?

If you prefer having pre-made sheets, you can purchase PDF’s of these in my SCAMPER Through the Seasons pack on TPT. Here are some examples from my third graders: