The Nutcracker Resource Page

Here you will find activities and resources to enhance your experience learning The Nutcracker.

What is a nutcracker?

A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. There are many retellings and versions of The Nutcracker, but in them all, a young girl is given a nutcracker as a gift, who later turns alive, leading to many adventures.

INTERACTIVE: Kids, what kind of nuts can you name below? Hover over the image to view the answer.

Peanuts

Walnuts

Pistachios

Pecans

Almonds

Cashews

Macadamia Nuts

Tchaikovsky

Have you heard the music?

The beautiful and identifiable holiday music in this ballet was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Drawing inspiration from E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 short story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” the ballet wasn’t originally successful. Now it is one of the most well known ballets around the world.

Listen to a playlist of the music on YouTube here.

We are starting to use these songs in class:

INTERACTIVE: Parents, play a few of these songs and ask your child which tunes he or she recognizes from class. Which songs does she or he like?

Create your own Nutcracker

Materials:

  • Either two toilet paper rolls (you can connect them with paper or ribbon) or one kitchen towel tube cut down 3/4 of the way

  • Paints or Markers

  • Pens for faces

  • Stickers, ribbon, and other embellishments

  • Glue

  • Scissors

Step One:

Add basic block colors. Top: hair; Middle: skin; Bottom: uniform color

DIY craft project showing steps of painting toilet paper rolls with blue, black, and pink paint, from "Red Ted Art."
Four-step craft tutorial showing someone making a DIY superhero figure from a cardboard tube, featuring painting, adding glitter paper details, and drawing on decorations.

Step Two:

Wait to dry and then add stickers and other embellishments.

Crafting a Nutcracker toy using recycled bottles and markers, step-by-step process, Red Ted Art logo.

Step Three:

Draw a face.

Take a look below at professional dancers performing versions of The Nutcracker.

Sugar Plum Fairy and Soldier

The Hip Hop Nutcracker

Toy Doll

Mouse King and Mice

Two children standing indoors, one holding a copy of "The Nutcracker" book, both with snacks and backpacks, wearing casual clothing.
Child holding "The Nutcracker Comes to America" book, wearing a black cap and dark clothing, standing in a room with a blue wall and carpeted floor.
Child holding the book 'Nutcracker Night' by Mireille Messier and Gabrielle Grimard, wearing a pink hooded jacket and standing indoors, with a snack pack in hand.
A young girl holding a book titled "My First Nutcracker."
A smiling child holds a book titled 'The Harlem Nutcracker' in a hallway with light blue walls and a table with clothes in the background.

Look at all of the versions of The Nutcracker!

Which have you read?

Group of children in a classroom holding various Nutcracker-themed books, standing together smiling. The classroom has shelves, books, a sink, and educational posters on the walls.

COSTUME IDEAS

COSTUME IDEAS

Young girl in a Victorian-style dress performing a dance pose indoors.

Click here to view a pdf with ideas for your child’s costume!

Two children in costumes standing on a porch; one is dressed as a king with a crown, sword, and red cape, and the other is wearing a pink ballerina outfit with a tiara.
Child dressed in a toy soldier costume with red jacket and blue pants, standing on a porch decorated with garland and Christmas lights, with light snowfall.

See The Nutcracker ballet near you!

Click here