Merry Monster Mayhem! FREE festive fun!

They’re back!! You may remember our Yellow Monsters causing all sorts of mischief in the run up to Christmas last year? Here’s just a little snippet of what they got up to…

Well, not only have they planned another escape from Busy Things this year, they have gone BIGGER and BETTER with their Merry Mayhem! The Monsters will be setting you Merry Missions each day, giving you FREE access to festive games and FREE printable activities!!

So, make sure you’re following us on social media and come back here each day to get your next Monster Mission!

Keep up with ALL the Yellow Monster’s antics!

Make sure you’re following us on social media to see everything that the Yellow Monsters get up to! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!

Let the Merry Monster Mayhem commence!

It is officially Christmas in the Busy Things world. The snow has fallen and all our lovely Christmas games and activities are now live!

Each day throughout the countdown to Christmas the Monsters will set you a Monster Mission which we’ll update here…

Day 1: 24 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission: Begin your Christmas countdown!

To help with today’s mission we have a FREE advent calendar and FREE Xmas activity pack which includes a printable advent tree, ready for you to decorate…

Open the first door of your jigsaw advent calendar, it’s completely FREE to play! We hope this will bring you and your children some jigsaw joy in the lead-up to Christmas day. The jigsaws start nice and easy but by Christmas Eve you will need a little extra brain power and a tad more patience! 

AND fill your advent Christmas tree with colourful baubles as you countdown to the big day. This is just one of many activities included in our FREE Christmas activity pack!

Day 2: 23 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission: Play Candy Cane Races!

Today the Monster’s want you to have fun with some free maths games!

Be the first to grab the candy cane treasure in our FREE to download Candy Cane Races game…

AND we’ve made Miner Birds: Christmas edition FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! Find out all the details in our Christmas Countdown: Play Candy Cane Races blog!

Day 3: 22 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission: Decorate a Christmas tree!

The monsters think it’s time to get those Christmas trees up! Today we’ve got everything you need to make beautiful FREE paper and digital Xmas trees…

Craft a Christmas tree or a mini forest of them! Just one of many activities in our FREE Christmas activity pack:

AND this week you can play our Christmas trees activity FREE! There are no baubles to break in Busy Things! Children can decorate, dismantle and re-arrange our digital trees to their hearts’ content.

Go to busythings.co.uk/play and hit ‘Try a free game’ to play!

Day 4: 21 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission: Become a penguin expert!

As it’s World Wildlife Conservation Day, the monsters wanted to set you an animal mission. They want you to learn all about penguins!

Our FREE penguin pack is full of interesting facts about penguins, penguin jokes, penguin activity ideas and some lovely penguin colouring sheets!

AND we’ve made some of the polar activities FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! Find out all the details in our Christmas countdown: It’s penguin day! blog.

Day 5: 20 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission: Christmas colouring!

The Monsters love a spot of calming colouring, it’s a great break from the pre-Christmas chaos! You’ll find some FREE Christmas colouring fun on Busy Things this week…

In our Christmas colouring game each colour makes a different Christmassy sound! Head to busythings.co.uk/play and hit ‘Try a free game’ to play!

AND we’ve also made our Christmas colouring sheets FREE to download too! Just go to busythings.co.uk/play and hit ‘Try a free game’ and search for Christmas colouring sheets!

Day 6: 19 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission: Make a Christmas card!

Today the Monsters want you to spread some festive cheer and wish your friends and family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We have some lovely FREE Christmas card templates for you to use…

Children can make this special pop-up Christmas card to surprise people with their favourite festive Busy Things character!

AND we’ve also made our ‘Make a Christmas card’ activity FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! Find out all the details in our Christmas countdown: Make a Christmas card! blog.

Day 7: 18 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission: Play Santa’s Sleigh Dash

Today the Monsters want you to help Santa to deliver presents! To do this we have a reading challenge for you and you can play all the Santa’s Sleigh Dash games FREE on Busy Things…

Make sure Santa is delivering the right present down the correct chimney in this FREE Christmas reading challenge:

AND we’ve also made ALL our Santa’s Sleigh Dash Christmas games (maths, shape and colour, words and just for fun) FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! Find out all the details in our Christmas countdown: Play Santa’s Sleigh Dash! blog.

Day 8: 17 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Guess what Monster has wrapped?

Today the Monsters have a competition for you! They have been doing some wrapping. Can you guess what they have wrapped? You could win a 1 year family Busy Things subscription, a cuddly Yellow Monster plush and some lovely Busy Things goodies!

All you have to do is tell us what Monster has been wrapping! Head to our social channels now to enter on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

To enter:

1. Make sure you are following us
2. Like the competition post
3. Tell us in the comments what it is you think Monster has wrapped

We’ll be picking winners at random next week – one from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You can enter on them all! Good luck!!

Terms and conditions at bottom of the page.

Day 9: 16 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Design a Christmas jumper!

Happy Christmas jumper day!! The monsters want you to get creative and design your own Xmas jumper today, we’ve got everything you need to channel your inner fashion designer…

Colour stitches to design super snazzy knitwear!! Just one of many activities in our FREE winter activity pack:

AND this week you can play our ‘Fashion fun’ activity FREE on Busy Things! Children can become creative fashion designers with our easy-to-use tools.

Go to busythings.co.uk/play and hit ‘Try a free game’ to play!

Day 10: 15 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Play Snowball shootout!

Today the Monster’s want you to shoot some snowballs!!

Create your own snowballs and targets, who will be crowned snow King or Queen in your house? FREE to download now…

AND we’ve made Snowball shootout FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! Find out all the details in our Christmas Countdown: Play Snowball shootout! blog

Day 11: 14 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Make a snowman!

Even if it’s not snowing where you are, we have the perfect tools for making a whole snow family!

Mix and match a snowman in our FREE winter activity pack…

AND this week you can play our ‘make a snowman’ activity FREE on Busy Things! Go to busythings.co.uk/play and hit ‘Try a free game’ to play!

Day 12: 13 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission: Crack the elf code!

The monsters have some real Christmas crackers for you to solve today! Crack the elf code to reveal the answers to some festive brain teasers AND they’ve left you clues in Busy Things – solve them all and you could WIN some goodies!

The monster elves have chosen their favourite Christmas cracker jokes – use the elf code to find the punchlines! FREE to download Christmas Countdown: Crack the elf code! blog

AND the cheeky Busy Things elves have been busy hiding our Christmas baubles again! Will you help us to find them so that we can decorate our tree? Find them all and you could WIN some goodies! Find out all the details in our Christmas Countdown: Crack the elf code! blog

Day 13: 12 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Write you letter to Santa

If you haven’t done it yet, today is the day to write down your Christmas wishes for Santa. To make it easy, we have a lovely FREE printable template for you can practise your computer and skills to create one FREE on Busy Things!

Let Santa know some of the nice things you’ve done this year and ask for your Christmas wishes. This is just one of many activities included in our FREE Christmas activity pack!

AND this week you can use our ‘Letter to Santa’ activity FREE on Busy Things! Go to busythings.co.uk/play and hit ‘Try a free game’ to play!

Day 14: 11 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Sing some jolly jingles!

The monsters want you to tune up those singing voices today! Test out your Christmas carol knowledge in our Jolly Jingles activity FREE to download AND Jolly Jingles is FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things!

Can you complete the Christmas song lyrics? Cut and stick or practise writing yourself in this FREE Christmas challenge...

AND we’ve made Jolly Jingles game FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! Find out all the details in our Christmas Countdown: Sing Jolly Jingles! blog

Day 15: 10 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Do a festive jigsaw!

You’re spoilt for choice today! Catch up with our FREE jigsaw advent calendar, enjoy a FREE festive jigsaw printable activity or have a go at the famous skylines of New York and London, FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things at the moment!…

We’re on to Door 15 on the Busy Things jigsaw advent calendar and they’re starting to get tricky! It’s completely FREE to play! Are you enjoying playing? Let us know in the comments!

AND have a go at cutting out some festive puzzles. This is just one of many activities included in our FREE Christmas activity pack!

AND in honour of all the lovely festive films we’ve been watching, we’ve made our New York and London jigsaws FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! Along with ‘Picture Perfect’ so that the little ones don’t miss out on the jigsaw fun! Go to busythings.co.uk/play and hit ‘Try a free game’ to play!

Day 16: 9 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Play Cracker Stackers!

We’ve got a cracking FREE download for you today as the monster elves are getting ready for a big Christmas cracker-athon! AND Rocker Shocker is FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things week too…

Can you help split the monsters into equal groups ready for pulling their Christmas crackers? Crack on!

AND we’ve made Rocker Shocker (the game this printable idea came from) FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! Find out all the details in our Christmas Countdown: Play Cracker Stackers! blog

Day 17: 8 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Draw something fun and festive!

Today the Monsters want you to have a go at drawing Busy Things characters in a winter or Christmas scene – use our FREE tutorials AND we’re made some of our drawing tools FREE TO PLAY this week!

Watch the how to draw tutorials of some of our favourite characters and add them to a winter or Christmas scene.

AND we’ve made some of our drawing activities FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! There’s something for children of all ages and abilities! Go to busythings.co.uk/play and hit ‘Try a free game’ to play!

Day 18: 7 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Go on a turkey hunt!

Monsters have started thinking about Christmas dinner! Help them to find a turkey in our FREE download AND Hen Hunt is FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too…

Can you help Chicken Santa collect the Christmas turkey? Make sure to avoid the Scrooge monsters! Go hunting!

AND we’ve made Hen Hunt (the game this printable idea came from) FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! Find out all the details in our Christmas Countdown: Go on a turkey hunt! blog

Day 19: 6 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Make a cosy reading den!

All this wintry weather has got the Monsters wanting to curl up in a cosy den with a good book! We’ve made some of book extracts FREE to read AND you can then check your understand with a quiz, also FREE TO PLAY this week!…

Did you know Busy Things includes lots of popular book extracts from famous authors? There’s even a grammar highlighter on some pages. Try a couple of them FREE this week. Go to busythings.co.uk/play and hit ‘Try a free game’

AND we’ve made a few of our reading comprehension quizzes FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! Go to busythings.co.uk/play and hit ‘Try a free game’ to play!

Day 20: 5 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Find out about Christmas traditions

Have you ever thought about why we do certain things at Christmas? Today the monsters want you to find out about Christmas traditions! We’ve got a FREE download to help you AND we’ve made our wrapping game FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too…

In today’s FREE download, we’ve given you some prompts to think about your family traditions and how people celebrate Christmas around the world. Start your research!

AND we’ve made ‘Christmas presents’ FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! A
lovely festive activity, children can choose a gift and get creative with the wrapping! Find out all the details in our Christmas Countdown: Christmas traditions! blog

Day 21: 4 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Make a snowflake flurry!

Today the monsters want to ensure it’s a white Christmas with DIY snowflakes! We’ve got FREE templates to cut out and you can make endless beautiful snowflake designs for FREE on Busy Things!

Use our templates to make beautiful symmetrical snowflakes! This is just one of many activities included in our FREE Winter activity pack!

AND we’ve made our snowflake activity FREE TO PLAY this week on Busy Things! Go to busythings.co.uk/play and hit ‘Try a free game’ to play!

Day 22: 3 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Test your sleigh skills!

Today the monsters want to test out your direction and reasoning skills – just in case Santa needs your help on the big night! Take a sleigh test in our FREE download AND Path Peril is FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too…

Can you pass our two sleigh skill tests? Let’s find out!

AND we’ve made Path Peril (the game this printable idea came from) FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! Find out all the details in our Christmas countdown: Test your sleigh skills! blog.

Day 23: 2 Sleeps to go…

Today’s Monster Mission is: Do a Christmas wordsearch!

The monsters want to help you expand your Christmas vocabulary today! Find the festive words in our FREE download AND they challenge you to create your own Christmas wordsearch on Busy Things too…

See if you can spot the Christmas words in our Christmas Countdown: FREE Christmas wordsearch

AND it’s very easy to make your own wordsearch! Find out all the details in our Christmas Countdown: FREE Christmas wordsearch blog

Day 24: 1 Sleep to go!!!…

Your LAST Monster Mission is: Play Santa Crossing

For your last #MerryMonsterMayhem mission, the monsters want to ensure Santa has a clear path to deliver all those presents! Help the monsters fill in the road holes in in our FREE download AND Road Blocks is FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too…

It looks like the chickens have been digging up the road in search of candy canes again! (Have you played Candy cane races from day 2 yet?) Help the monsters fill in the holes so Santa can complete his important journey! Claim your FREE activity in our Christmas countdown: Play Santa Crossing blog.

AND we’ve made Road Blocks (the game this printable idea came from) FREE TO PLAY on Busy Things this week too! Find out all the details in our Christmas countdown: Play Santa Crossing blog.

Merry Christmas!

We hope you have enjoyed playing along with #MerryMonsterMayhem this year!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and happy 2023 from all of us at Busy Things!!

Not a Busy Things subscriber? You can trial all our fun learning games free! Busy Thing is trusted by thousands of schools and families to make learning fun! Take a free trial to access all of our Christmas games and activities plus 100s more spanning the whole primary curriculum! Take your free Busy Things trial

We hope you enjoy counting down to Christmas with Merry Monster Mayhem! Which Monster Mission has been your favourite? We’d love to know if you are joining in and to see any photos – please do let us know in the comments and tag us on social!