Twelve days of small gifts is the December habit that gets planned on the first evening and then has to be counted: twelve of what, starting when? For a teacher the twelve days are the last twelve school days before the break, and every school breaks on its own day. This page counts them for you and puts the date on every tag.
The twelve days, worked out
| Choose | The twelve days |
|---|---|
| The last 12 school days | counted back from your last day before the break, weekends skipped, tap any day off on the calendar |
| Up to Christmas Eve | December 13 to 24 |
| Christmas Day to January 5 | the twelve days of the carol |
| From a date you choose | twelve days in a row, or weekdays only |
With a last school day of Friday, December 18, 2026, the twelve school days start on Thursday, December 3. Mark Monday, December 7, as a day off and they start on Wednesday, December 2.
What is on each tag
- The day in a big number, 1 to 12.
- A line from the carol with your names: On the third day of Christmas, Emma gave to Mrs. Lee. Without names it reads my true love gave to me.
- The gift, your own or one of the twelve ideas.
- The date it goes out, such as Thursday, December 3.
Ideas for every kind of twelve days
The ideas change with who the gifts are for. A teacher gets the classroom kind (a mug, highlighters, sticky notes, stickers for the class), a coworker the snack drawer kind, a partner the love note kind, the kids the small treats kind, a friend the cozy kind. Many carry the day’s number: two candy canes on day two, ten granola bars on day ten.
What it costs
Nothing. No account, no watermark, no email. For the gifts under the tree, Santa gift tags print the names, and the Christmas page has the rest of the season’s printables.
Questions
When do the 12 days of Christmas start for a teacher?
Count back twelve school days from the last day before winter break, skipping weekends and any day off. If your school breaks after Friday, December 18, 2026, the twelve days run from Thursday, December 3, to that Friday. Every school sets its own last day, so type yours and the page counts back for you.
What are the traditional twelve days of Christmas?
The twelve days from Christmas Day to January 5, the eve of Epiphany, which the carol counts. Choose Christmas Day to January 5 and the tags carry those dates. Most gift-givers today do the twelve days before Christmas instead, December 13 to 24, or the last twelve school days for a teacher.
What do you give on each of the twelve days?
Something small: a candy cane, hot cocoa, pens, a note. The page has twelve ideas each for a teacher, a coworker, a partner, the kids and a friend, many with the day's number in them (three packets of hot cocoa on day three). Replace any line with your own gift, and leave a line empty to keep the idea.
How big are the tags?
60 × 120 mm, about 2⅜ × 4¾ inches, with the top corners clipped and a circle to punch for a ribbon. Six fit on a sheet of US Letter or A4, so the twelve are two sheets. Print at 100 % on card stock if you have it.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The dates are worked out and the tags drawn in your browser. Closing the tab erases them.