Best of NTC: Christmas activities
Teaching tip
‘Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man’s hat.’ So goes the children’s rhyme … Well, the Network Teachers’ Club has got plenty of activities for you to put in your hat and in your lesson now that Christmas is coming.
There is a whole treasure trove of Christmas activities in our archives. Songs, discussions, fantasies, vocabulary practice: all have the theme of winter or Christmas and all of them are fun to use in the last lesson(s) before the yuletide break. Every activity shows the time it will take and the level of student it is aimed at, and, of course, a key is provided where necessary.
If you would like to look again at the short, fun activities you can use with A1 Starter or A1, click on the box ‘Christmas activities A1 Starter / A1’. These activities include the song Here comes Santa Claus; a personalised conversation activity; a true or false quiz about Christmas in English-speaking countries; a discussion about an ideal Christmas; a short writing activity: send a Christmas card, and an activity which practises Christmas pronunciation – get to grips with mince pies, decorations and whisky.
If you would like to use other teachers’ favourite activities at different levels, click on the box ‘Christmas activity file’. Here are more favourites for you, including pass the parcel; a personalised speaking activity using Christmas vocabulary; talking about a fantasy Christmas dinner: the guests, the food, the conversation topics; discussing an ideal Christmas (I’d like to spend my Christmas in …); agreeing on ideal presents for friends and family. And an anagram game of Christmas vocabulary.
And that’s not all … If you like to add more to your pool of Christmas activities, click on the box ‘More Christmas activities’. Here you’ll find choosing Christmas presents for famous people; Christmas BINGO! (A1 and A2 versions); sorting out jumbled ingredients for Christmas dishes; a fun activity where students act out Christmas or winter activities; and that Christmas evergreen: Jingle Bells.
And in case you’ve still got room for one more NTC morsel, then please read on below where you’ll find a ‘December quiz’ for you to use with A2 students and above.
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December quiz (15 mins; from A2)
Preparation:
- Photocopy the December quiz, one for each student.
In the lesson:
- Give a copy of the quiz to each student and ask them to complete it and to write down the phrase in the middle.
- Check answers together in class.
Key: 1 snowman, 2 chimney, 3 skiing, 4 hat, 5 gloves, 6 frozen, 7 wool, 8 boots, 9 robin, 10 candle, 11 ice, 12 fire, 13 bells, 14 scarf, 15 reindeer, 16 sledge; phrase in the middle: winter wonderland
Click on this picture to get to the December quiz.
