12 days of Christmas – part 2
The Christmas break is on the horizon, so rather than ignoring the hype why not inject some festivities into your lessons? Following on from part 1, we have listed more activities for you to enjoy in your classroom leading up to the holidays. Keep your class entertained with these festive activities for 12 days of Christmas fun.
7. Word find
An easy word game to start, and one that can help your class improve their vocabulary and strengthen their understanding of the relationship between words.
Present your class with Christmas-related words or phrases. Put a minute on the clock and ask them to write down as many words as they can that are made up from the letter in that Christmas word.
Here are some examples:
Christmas: car, art, hit, rich, this, cats, chats, trash
Santa Claus: act, tan, cut, tuna, cans, can’t, aunts, canal
Mistletoe: lot, elm, sit, soil, item, slim, miles, times
8. Christmas Pictionary or charades
Chances are you’ll be playing one of those classic family games at home over the festive period. Get some practice in and have some fun with your class with a game of Christmas-centric Pictionary or Charades.
You could play this game as an extension of Word find (see activity 7), using the words you’ve just used as the basis of the game. This is also a great way of getting your class working together and collaborating.
9. Advent calendar of kindness
Rather than gorging on chocolate with a typical advent calendar, why not make a class one that encourages a bit of kindness?
For each day of advent, ask one member of the class to open the right door and read out the random act of kindness that’s hidden within. All you need to do is create your own advent calendar and write a series of nice acts behind each door. Use these stickers for each day and source an empty advent calendar so children can open the doors. Then have the nice acts of kindness written behind the doors. These can be things like:
- Smile at as many people as you can in a day
- Tell a joke to someone who looks sad
- Offer to help someone who is struggling
- Make something nice for your parents
Don’t just task the individual who revealed the act either. Encourage the whole class to take on these acts of kindness and let’s make Christmas a happier time.
10. Read a Christmas story
Ask your library to stock up with plenty of Christmassy books and spend an afternoon letting your class explore a brand-new story. You could either select one to read as an entire class or encourage your class to take one home to read for pleasure. There are plenty of classics out there; here are some examples:
- The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
- The Empty Stocking by Richard Curtis
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss
- Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs
- Travelling Tales: Stick Man by Julia Donaldson
If you want more Christmas books to read, then check out our recent blog on books to read over Christmas.
11. Create a Christmas story
Being the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas is the ideal time to weave an engaging tale or exciting adventure. Put your pupil’s storytelling to the test and challenge them to come up with an original Christmas story. Will the story be about a bossy reindeer at a classroom Christmas party who’s looking for Santa’s stolen sleigh? Or will it be about an angry elf in a huge toy store trying to save Christmas after all the toys vanish from Santa’s workshop? There are so many possible storylines!
Consider writing the story together as a class if you teach younger pupils. Older pupils can partner up and take turns writing each line of the story. Finally, give children the choice of how they want to share their creations, whether it’s by:
- Reading the story aloud to the class
- Acting out the story
- Putting on a puppet show – they could use our Christmas puppets or make their own!
12. Watch a Christmas movie
To celebrate the final day of our 12 days of Christmas fun and festivities, why not put on a Christmas film and relax?
Christmas movies are, frankly, the best. Thankfully, you can pop on a Christmas movie for your class and not feel guilty that they aren’t learning anything from the experience. Plenty of festive favourites can be spun with an educational angle.
Head here for five Christmas films that can both excite and educate your class.
Keep your class entertained in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Our 12 days of Christmas fun and activities are perfect for enjoying the festivities as well as sharpening their reading, writing, and maths skills. For more activities for your class to enjoy, head to part 1!
