St. Nicholas Day activities for tots and preschoolers can be so much fun and such a great way to teach about such a special holiday celebrated around the world.

I love that St Nicholas Day provides a way to teach about a real person who helped and served so many, and who later became the inspiration behind Santa Claus.

St. Nicholas includes so many fabulous traditions and symbols, all of which are introduced in the activities and printables below.

St. Nicholas Day Activities for Tots and Preschoolers with Free Printables

St. Nicholas Day Nomenclature Cards

These St. Nicholas Day nomenclature cards are the perfect way to introduce different important aspects of the holiday.

If your child isn't a fan of nomenclature cards, this printable can easily be used for a memory game.

All images are true-to-life and on white backgrounds.

Source: The printable for this activity is part of our St. Nicholas Day Printable Pack.

St. Nicholas Day Shoe Making Activities

Each year the kids leave out their shoes for St. Nicholas to come and fill with candy. 

This activity is inspired by this tradition.

Kids match up the left and right shoes, making pairs.

Source: The printable for this activity is part of our St. Nicholas Day Printable Pack.

St. Nicholas Day Graphing Activity

St. Nicholas brings children several goodies in their shoes. 

Why not graph out how many of each was received?

Kids roll the die for each item and then use the glass beads to create the graph.

This activity is a great way to practice counting numbers 1-6.

Source: The printable for this activity is part of our St. Nicholas Day Printable Pack.

St. Nicholas Day Subtraction Clip Cards

Pepernoten is a cookie that is very much associated with St. Nicholas Day. 

In this activity children are introduced to pepernoten cookies with a simple subtraction activity. 

We provided real pepernoten cookies as counters to enhance the sensory experience.

When food is involved in an activity, I like to provide an opportunity for a taste test. 

Kids know not to eat the pepernoten cookies in the activity.

Instead they eat one from a separate sanitary package after they are finished.

When using this activity children use pepernoten cookies as counters and mark answers on the clip cards with the red glass beads.

Source: The printable for this activity is part of our St. Nicholas Day Printable Pack.

Peeling an Orange Practical Life Activity

Mandarin oranges are often included in shoes on St. Nicholas Day.

Peeling an orange can be a challenge for young children.

In this activity we introduce how to peel an orange, using the bottom of a spoon to initiate the process. 

Kids peel the orange placing the orange slices in one glass bowl and the peelings in the other.

St. Nicholas Day Cutting Strips

These St. Nicholas Day cutting strips are so inviting and so much fun to use.

Tots and preschoolers can always use extra cutting practice and often enjoy it. 

Source: The printable for this activity is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

We hope that your St. Nicholas Day experience is as delightful and beautiful as our is with the help of these activities and printables.

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