December and January might feel like slow months in the classroom, but on Teachers Pay Teachers? They’re actually strong selling months – especially for resources that are simple, seasonal, and easy for tired teachers to print and use.
This is the time of year when teachers are juggling holiday events, winter break energy, sickness, and general exhaustion. They need quick, engaging, standards-based activities that they can use right away.
I’ve rounded up 20 TPT product ideas – 10 for December and 10 for January – to help you create resources teachers actually need during this busy season.
10 TPT Product Ideas for December
Before you get started creating resources to sell in December, it’s important to consider the major holidays during the month:
- Christmas (Dec 25)
- Boxing Day (Canada/Australia)
- Hanukkah
- Winter Solstice
- Kwanzaa
1. Holiday Color-by-Number Activities
These aren’t just for elementary students! Middle and high school teachers also need low-prep, standards-based activities right before break. Create a template you can reuse for holidays all year to speed up production.
2. Seasonal Reading Comprehension Passages
Offer fiction or nonfiction reading passages and include multiple-choice questions, as well as high level questions. You can use AI to help generate drafts (but always review for accuracy and appropriate grade levels).
3. Winter Science Experiment Packs
Think melting-snow challenges, hot chocolate investigations, or sink-or-float winter objects. These make perfect pre-break projects.
4. End-of-Semester Projects
Some high school teachers run on a block schedule, which is similar to college calendars. These high school teachers need culminating projects as they wrap up units and prepare for class changes in January.
5. Holidays Around the World Activities
These types of activities are perfect for social studies or ELA. Students can research traditions, create posters, or give presentations.
6. December Writing Prompts
You could create a calendar of writing prompts for teachers. By creating this type of resource, teachers can just pull up the calendar on a specific day to project the writing prompt for their students.
7. Holiday-Themed Art or Geometry Activities
Snowflake constructions, winter doodle pages, or directed drawings would work well in these types of curriculums.
8. Print-and-Go Sub Plans
Teachers (and their own kids) are getting sick more often this time of year. You could create a full 1 – 3 day sub packet, which would include lesson plans, worksheets, and answer keys.
9. December Digital Escape Rooms
Holiday-themed escape rooms work for nearly any subject and are always fun for teachers and their students the week before break.
10. End-of-Year Reflection Activities
Writing prompts, foldables, or worksheets that help students reflect and set goals before winter break are great to help students with a growth mindset before heading off for break.
10 TPT Product Ideas for January
Once December is over, teachers need new ideas to bring into their classrooms for the new year. They’ll just be going back to work, so they’ll want (and need) resources that are already done for them so they don’t have to sacrifice any precious family time.
1. Beginning-of-the-Year Activities
As I mentioned, a lot of high school teachers get brand-new classes in January, so they’ll need first-day activities, syllabi templates, expectation checklists, icebreakers, and so much more.
2. New Year Goal-Setting Activities
You could also make flipbooks, worksheets, or digital templates students can use to plan the semester. This would well for teachers and students on a regular year-round schedule or block schedule.
3. “Back From Break” Icebreakers
Even if students aren’t switching classes, teachers still need reset-the-routine activities.
4. January Review Stations
Create winter-themed stations to review December content or to study for mid-terms.
5. MLK Day Activities
You can create biographies, timelines, close reading passages, or discussion prompts to honor Martin Luther King Jr.
6. Winter-Themed Task Cards or Around-the-Room Activities
These are helpful for getting sleepy, bundled-up students moving again and back into the swing of things.
7. Bulletin Board Kits for the New Year
Try themes like “New Year, New Goals,” “Fresh Starts,” or “2026 Student Intentions.”
8. Australia Day Resources
A great niche of resources if you have an Australian audience.
9. Student Data Tracking Sheets
Simple goal-setting or self-assessment pages to start the new semester strong will help students reflect on their learning so far in the school year.
10. Winter Reading or Writing Packs
A perfect continuation of December’s holiday-themed comprehension resources, but can be themed around winter and events that happen in the winter, such as the Winter Olympics.
Turn These TPT Ideas Into Product Lines
As you brainstorm ideas, ask yourself:
“Can this become a product line?”
Holiday comprehension passages, seasonal color-by-numbers, monthly writing prompts, and winter science activities all make great product lines and bundles – which increases sales and repeat buyers.
You can create small holiday themed bundles, but you could even think bigger and make year-round bundles for a higher price tag.
Want to Learn How to Create These TPT Resources (and Actually Make Sales)?
If you want to learn how to create high-quality TPT resources, list them the right way, and consistently make four figures a month (without guessing your way through it), my program Teacher Resource Academy walks you through everything.
And for Black Friday, The Teacher Resource Academy is 50% off from Nov. 28 – Dec. 1, plus a special bonus package – including:
- A 100-page TPT planner
- Hundreds of AI prompts
- 10,000 TPT resource ideas
- A December TPT checklist
- …and more!
