November 12, 2022

Celebrate Three Kings Day for Kids on Jan 6th with these FUN Activities

Kids Activities

Christmas

In many other countries, celebrating the birth of Christ doesn’t stop on Christmas Day; it’s actually when it starts! The celebration continues until January 6th, which is known as Three Kings Day. Kings Day is the day recognized that the Three Wise Men (or Magi) finally came upon baby Jesus. Celebrate three kings day for kids with these fun crafts, three kings day activities, and ideas for toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, and elementary age students.

Three kings day for kids

Celebrate 3 Kings Day on January 6 with these fun three kings day games and three kings day crafts with toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartens, grade 1, grade 2, and elementary age students.

What is Three Kings Day?

Until this post, I honestly had no clue what Three Kings Day was, why it was celebrated, and what it meant. Growing up, our Christmas season was celebrated the 1st of December to Christmas Day. Our tree may have stayed up til the New Year, but more out of our laziness to pack everything back up til next year. However, while reading up on Three Kings Day, I have learned that for many cultures, Christmas Day is when celebrating the coming of Christ BEGINS!

Three Kings Day is also called, Epiphany. It marks the 12th Day of Christmas and concludes that Christmas season.

According to the Biblical story, the Three Kings (also called wise men or magi)—named Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar—followed the Star of Bethlehem to find the birthplace of Baby Jesus. They presented the baby with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The holiday is widely celebrated in the Hispanic community with traditions that include a Rosca de Reyes (“King’s Cake”) and gifts for children. Many consider this day more important than Christmas. — Hallmark

three kings day lesson plans

It is also a celebrated tradition in parts of Europe. According to the book, Three Kings Day: A Celebration of Christmastime, “Three Kings Day was brought to the Western Hemisphere by the Spanish (7).”

Three Kings Day, or Epiphany, is steeped in traditions with beautiful meaning pointing to the Christ-child. To introduce your children Three Kings Day traditions, here are some fun, yet simple ways to make this day meaningful to your child.

Three kings day games

Baby Jesus Hide and Seek Game

The Three Kings, also known as the Three Wise Men, were in search of something special. They followed a star that led them to Baby Jesus. With your kids, turn their search into a fun hide-n-seek game! Find a stuffed animal or baby doll and hide it somewhere around the house. Once hidden, have your children pretend to be the Three Kings searching for Baby Jesus!

Follow the Leader Star Game

Each of the Three Kings were in different areas when they noticed a special star in the sky. Each gathered something of worth to bring on their journey, which led them to the greatest gift of all– Baby Jesus. For the kids, play a fun game of Follow the Leader Star Game. Craft up a DIY Star Wand using foil and decorative gems. If playing this game with multiple children, have each child create a star. To play the game, choose a child to be the “leader.” Holding his/her star high above, the other children can follow it as the child moves around the house!

Three kings day crafts

Three Kings Popsicle Sticks — Craft up some the Three Wise Men using craft sticks. This is a simple craft for all ages!
Stained Glass Sun Catcher — Inspired by the star that the Three Kings followed, create a beautiful and simple star sun catcher to showcase on your window!
Paper Crown — Use paper plates and your craft stash for your little ones to create their own crown to wear, just like the Three Kings.

Read the Nativity Story

Using your nativity set, toy props around the house, or these sweet Nativity Story Stones from My Joy Filled Life, read the Christmas story with your child and have him/her act out the story as you read. Or, re-tell the story with your child!

Prepare for the Three Kings to Visit You

In many cultures that celebrate Three Kings Day, it is the Three Kings who bring gifts– not Santa Claus! To prepare for the Three Kings gifts, children put a shoebox filled with straw or grass under their bed. The box of grass is meant to be a treat for the camels that have traveled a long distance following the star. For showing kindness to the camels, the Three Magi leave a special gift or two on January 6th..

3 kings day for kids

Gift(s) of the Magi Sensory Play

On their journey, each Magi brought a special gift. Balthazar brought gold, Melchior brought Myrrh, an Gaspar brought Frankincense. Using the gifts the Wise Men carried, create an Invitation to Play. This Three Wise Men Invitation to Play is a great way to engage little ones in endless play and is a great way to explore the sense of smell!

Eat Rosca de Reyes (Three Kings Bread)

Celebrations are never short on yummy foods! Traditionally, a Three Kings Cake is a soft, sweet bread ring with dried fruit toppings. To keep things simple, I love this King Cake using Monkey Bread! Or this Three Kings Cake idea using a glazed donut is simple and fun, too!

three kings day activities

Is Three Kings Day a custom you celebrate in your home? Set aside January 6th to celebrate Three Kings Day, whether it is by making time for one of these activities and/or turning the whole day into a celebration for the King that has come!

Winter Activities for Kids

Looking for more fun winter crafts and winter activities for kids of all ages? Don’t miss these winter activity ideas!

Kids will love making this super cute circle snowman craft!
This easy-to-make Puffy Snow Paint is amazing! It has the best texture, dries promptly and completely, and makes the cutest little snowman crafts.
Tons of fun snowflake crafts for kids of all ages
Now you have a reason to get excited when it snows! Your whole family will enjoy this super-easy-to-make Snow Ice Cream recipe. YUMMY!
Find lots more engaging winter themed ideas in these January Activities for Kids
Silly melting snowman slime

Come take a peak at how these glue snowman suncatcher craft turns out! Such a fun, simple idea with stunning results!
Try this epic winter science experiment making a snow volcano
Make this beautiful keepsake snowman handprint ornament
You’ve got to try this easy, DIY Snow globe craft for kids
Super cute, count-to-10 Snowman Craft for Preschoolers

Snowman Printables

Looking for snowman worksheets and educational snowman activity ideas? You will love these resources!

Build-a-Snowman Winter CVC Words Activity
Snowman Addition Clip Cards
Snowman Counting Cards
Free Snowman Worksheet Pack with LOTS of pages
Sneak in some fun winter learning with these super cute, Free snow globe letter find snow worksheets
Winter Counting Worksheets
Free Winter Writing Prompts PDF
Multiplication Snowman Activity
Snowman Printables Winter letter Find
Snowman Tracing Letters A to Z
Snowflake Winter Compound Words
Build a Snowman Sequencing Worksheets
Snowman Printables Counting Book
Winter Worksheets for Preschoolers
Free printable shape puzzles for winter

Winter Printables

Snowman Word Family Spinners
Snowman Math Craft for practicing addition and subtraction
Winter Telling Time Worksheets
Snowflake Dab the Letter
Snowman Activities for Preschool – Count to 10
Cute Snowman Shape Puzzles
Free Snowman Coloring Pages
Build a Snowman with these Beginning Sounds Snowman Printable

Fun Holidays

We love celebrating fun holidays and fun days throughout the year! We have lots more special days throughout the year with activities to inspire you to create memories with your kids:

Did you know there is a national Dice Day on December 4th? Try these dice games for kids
Try these candy cane activities for National Candy Cane Day on December 26th
After Christmas comes Three Kings Day for Kids on January 6th
Celebrate Penguin Day on January 20th with these penguin crafts and activities
Fun crafts and activities to celebrate Chinese New Year for Kids
Carnival Crafts and Activities for National Carnival Day February 26
These moon activities for kids will take you out of this world for National Moon Day on July 20th
National Honey Bee Day is August 17th, celebrate with these bee activities for kids
Learn about author Roald Dahl on September 13th with these roald dahl craft ideas
Enjoy National Chocolate Day in Octoboer with these chocolate activities
Become a super hero on Batman Day this September 15th with batman crafts and activities
August 3rd is Watermelon Day, celebrate with these watermelon activities
Sweeten your next July 15th with these gummy worm games for Gummy Worm Day
Happy Birthday Donald Duck! Join in on the celebration this June 9th with these Donald Duck Day activities
Head down to Seasame Street for these sesame street crafts for Sesame Street Day on November 10th
Eat up on October 4th and celebrate Taco Day with these taco crafts
Kids will love celebrating the largest living land mammal with these elephant activities to celebrate World Elephant Day on August 12th
Mark your calendar for one of two donut days on June 7th and try these fun donut activities
Celebrate Eric Carle’s birthday March 2nd with these hungry caterpillar crafts
We celebrate Dr. Seuss day on his birthday on March 2nd with these fun dr seuss activities
The 2nd week of mark is Bubble week! Join in on the fun with these bubble activities
Let’s hear it for National Popcorn Day on January 19th with these poporn crafts
Stay in your pjs for the Festival of Sleep Day on January 3rd and try one of these pajama day activities
Grab some candy and try one of these activities for National Candy Day on November 4th.
Make one of these mad hatter hat ideas to celebrate Mad Hatter Day on Octoboer 6th
Show your patriotism by celebrating Flag Day on June 14th with one of these flag day activities
Kids will go nuts over these jelly bean crafts for National Jelly Bean Day on April 22nd.
Teach kids about our amazing planet on Earth Day this April 22nd with these Earth Day crafts
Learn about frogs on Save the Frogs Day this April 30th with these frog activities
May the 4th be with you on Star Wars Day! Try one of these star wars crafts today
Celebrate Dental Health Month in February with these clever dental crafts

Beth Gorden

Beth Gorden is the creative multi-tasking creator of 123 Homeschool 4 Me. As a busy homeschooling mother of six, she strives to create hands-on learning activities and worksheets that kids will love to make learning FUN! She has created over 1 million pages of printables to help teach kids ABCs, science, English grammar, history, math, and so much more! Beth is also the creator of 2 additional sites with even more educational activities and FREE printables – www.kindergartenworksheetsandgames.com and www.preschoolplayandlearn.com. Beth studied at the University of Northwestern where she got a double major to make her effective at teaching children while making education FUN!