Order of Operations – With a Christmas Theme

Order of operations can be routine, we get it. Pair that with antsy kids, ready for winter break, and well, let’s just say, we imagine it can be a challenge to review this time of year. So we created a Christmas-themed order of operations poster for your bulletin board to help keep spirits high! There’s also a set of black/white handouts that are four to a page, so you can hand it out as well. And it’s free, of course!

Order of Operations as PEMDAS in Math

PEMDAS stands for Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Add, Subtract – a mnemonic for order of operations in math equations. You can also use it as Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally, another mnemonic for order of operations. We understand that it can be tricky for learners to grasp, so teachers often use a poster and/or a handout. 

Our free poster is Christmas-themed with a cute little green elf. The handouts are in black and white, so they are easy to print.

Here’s what the PEMDAS poster looks like:

The poster is letter sized, and represents Parentheses/Grouping Symbols, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, Addition and Subtraction – PEMDAS.  The little green elves make it fun for Christmas holiday time.

And for those learners who would like something they can take with them, we have included a handout/worksheet version:

Four sheets are available on one page. We hope you get a lot of use out of these. We designed them for your middle school students who need a little card to help them remember how order of operations works. It’s very simple and straightforward, but we think it will save you some time in preparing your lessons in middle school math.

We made these as part of a larger resource on order of operations. But we decided it would be great to separate out the posters as a freebie. 

Keep this resource handy during the Christmas season – or any time of year – to help to review order of operations!

Merry Christmas!

—Eric and Friday from Puzzlemonster.com