Creative Ideas to Celebrate Christmas in your ESL Class

Christmas is a fantastic time for hidden learning though, with Christmas activities and traditions being taught using English as a second language. Continue reading for five of our favorite festive activities.

1-Corners

Corners is one of my favorite games to play to support the learning of new vocabulary. First, use some Christmas-themed flashcards to teach the necessary vocabulary. Next, use the same flashcards and place one in each corner of the room. If you can use a sports hall or more substantial space, even outdoors, this makes the activity much safer if you have lots of children. Allow them to dance around for a little while to some festive tunes, and then when the music stops, they should all run to a corner of their choosing. Once everyone is in place, choose a word at random and say it (do not show them as they will use their visual memory rather than recognizing them). Everyone standing in the corner which had the word you said can remain in the game. Continue until one person is left, and there you have your winner! It’s great fun, and you can also encourage the children to 
practice speaking in the target language by choosing a few to pick out the words to read out.

2-Sensory Station

Create an area that all your learners want to explore, not just those with additional sensory needs. Soft toy reindeers, noisy Santas and fake snowballs are fabulously fun. A sensory bin is the perfect addition to this area. Simply fill a container with packing peanuts, pom poms (got to be red and green to tie in with the Christmas theme!) or your own choice and add some fillers like these. It can be a great way to get children engaged in conversation and using the target language effectively.

3-Elf on the Shelf

The mischievous visitor can be used to create amazing learning opportunities in the classroom. From creative writing in your mother tongue to the acquisition of new vocabulary in English. My all-time favorite one is prepositions. Each evening, the elf moves to a new location within the classroom and the children excitedly hunt for him the next day. If the elf is under a bucket, ‘under’ is the keyword they would learn that day. Then they can practice it in other concepts or draw the elf ‘under’ a variety of other things. Although you may curse the Elf on the Shelf, it can really bring learning to life.

4-Alphabet Fun

Learning the alphabet in a foreign language can be tricky, so why not link it to Christmas? Make it fun and use these attractive flashcards. One of the most fun ways can be to give each child one of the flashcards and get them to stand in alphabetical order. Get them to practice the vocabulary on their card and others by encouraging them to say “A is for angel” or “Next is b for bells” for example.

5-Jumbled Sentences

Learning a foreign language must go beyond single words and not simply involve speaking and listening, as important as they are. Christmas-related sentences are a great place to start. Simple sentences work well, so the children understand the structure. There are some fantastic examples here. Muddle up the words and get the children to reassemble them. It’s a super way to practice reasoning too with children explaining why the word starting with a lower case letter cannot be the first word in the sentence, for example.