Christmas activities

Here are five short Christmas activities to keep your students in a festive mood!

1 Presents

• In this game students write down the name of a present for five categories of people. The aim of the game is for each student to think of the same presents as their team members.
• First, divide the class into two teams.
• Then, write the list on the board: a grandparent, a parent of three children, a student, a school child in the 6th class and a kindergarten child.
• Students work alone and decide on the present for each person.
• When everyone has finished, each team member reads out their chosen present for the grandparent.
• If two students in the same team have the same answer then award a point.
• Carry on with the other people on the list.
• The team with the most points after all the presents have been read out, wins.
• You could use other people as recipients of the gifts – a lawyer, a cook, a flight attendant, a swimming instructor and a bus driver or real famous people Meryl Streep, Greta Thunberg, Boris Johnson, Til Schweiger and Kylie Minogue and so on.
   

2 In 2020 I will….

• Ask students to write four New Year’s Resolutions for 2020. Give them a few examples:

I will stop eating chocolate.

I will exercise more.

I will be kinder.

I will write more letters.

• The resolutions can be fun or serious.
• When everyone has finished, each person reads out their resolutions.
   

3 True or false?

• Read out (or write on the board) the following sentences and ask students to decide in pairs whether they are true or false.

• Ask students to think of one more sentence about 2020 that may be true or false.
• Students read out their sentences and the rest of the class decide whether they are true or false.
   

4 Cheerful, crazy, colourful, creative, crispy, clear, clean, clever Christmas

• Students need to find an adjective beginning with the same letter as the Christmas words: Christmas, bells, holly, mince pies, present, reindeer, sleigh, turkey, winter.
• Read out: I’m going to have Christmas. Go round the class and ask students to think of an adjective beginning with c which can be used with Christmas.
• The first student says: I’m going to have a cheerful Christmas. The second student adds their adjective: I’m going to have a crazy, cheerful Christmas. You may get some amusing answers!
• Carry on with: I’m going to hear bells. I’m going to hang some holly. I’m going to eat mince pies. (and so on)
• Read out each word and ask students for the adjectives – always start with a different student.
   

5 20-word Christmas list

• A fluency exercise using as many words and phrases about Christmas as possible.
• Ask students to write the numbers 1 to 20 down the page of their exercise books. Tell them they have 5 minutes to write twenty words or phrases about Christmas and New Year. For example: Merry Christmas, Christmas Eve, goose, family, presents, Christmas tree, washing up, coffee, whiskey, ice skating, skiing, visit mother-in-law, car journey, New Year, midnight, fireworks.
• After five minutes, tell students to stop writing (it doesn’t matter how many words they have written).
• Each student speaks to a partner (or the whole class depending on number of students) about their words. They should keep to the order in which the words have been written on the paper. For example: At Christmas we always say Merry Christmas and the most important day for us is Christmas Eve when we eat goose and roast potatoes. It is delicious! Then we …

And don’t forget to finish your Christmas lesson with a resounding version of

We wish you a merry Christmas