Teaching English at Christmas: Festive Ideas to Bring Your Classroom to Life
The festive season is a magical time of year, and it’s also one of the best opportunities for TEFL teachers to make language learning meaningful, memorable, and fun. Whether you're teaching young learners, teens, or adults, Christmas lessons can introduce cultural traditions, inspire creativity, and strengthen classroom community. In this blog, we share some festive ideas to help you bring the spirit of Christmas into your English lessons this year.
Explore Christmas Traditions Around the World
For many students, Christmas may look very different depending on where they live. Start your lesson with a discussion or reading activity about how Christmas is celebrated in English-speaking countries versus in your students’ home cultures.
Try this classroom idea: Show photos of Christmas traditions from the UK. Have students match descriptions to the images and then ask them to share their own holiday customs or compare similarities and differences.
This works wonderfully with vocabulary such as tradition, celebration, feast, exchange, decorate, and custom. We have a great blog post about Christmas traditions from around the world here.
Teach Christmas Vocabulary Through Games
Vocabulary like snowman, stockings, reindeer, sleigh, and ornaments is seasonal, fun, and easy to introduce through interactive tasks.
Some great game ideas include Christmas Pictionary (ideal for visual learners and easy to adapt for any level), Festive Charades (perfect for reviewing verbs and actions), and Christmas Bingo (great for listening practice and vocabulary reinforcement).
Use Christmas Stories for Reading and Listening Practice
Classic Christmas tales are rich in language and full of charm. Whether it's A Christmas Carol, The Snowman, or a modern short story, narratives bring vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension skills together.
Before starting the story, pre-teach key vocabulary to help students understand the text more easily, and keep them engaged by asking them to predict what will happen next. To support different learning styles, incorporate short videos or audiobook clips for additional listening practice. For younger learners, choose picture books like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, as their illustrations and simple language make the stories easier to follow and more enjoyable.
Create Christmas-Themed Writing Activities
Christmas inspires imagination, making it a perfect time for creative writing. Fun writing prompts you could include as part of your lesson might be: write a letter to Father Christmas, describe your dream Christmas celebration, or imagine that you wake up and the whole world has turned into a giant snow globe - describe what that might be like. For higher-level students, try a guided writing task: “What Christmas means to me” or “How festivities bring people together.”
Bring Music Into the Classroom
Christmas songs are fantastic for pronunciation, listening skills, and cultural exposure. From classic carols to modern pop songs, there’s something for every age group. Some activities you could do include: fill-in-the-gap lyrics, song sequencing, vocabulary spotting, or singing (if your learners are brave enough!) Even shy students usually warm up when their favourite seasonal song starts playing.
DIY Christmas Crafts for Young Learners
If you're teaching kids, crafts are a fantastic way to build language while keeping hands busy. Try paper snowflakes, mini Christmas cards, or a simple wreath craft. Use phrases like: cut along the line, fold the paper, stick it together, and colour the shapes. Crafts naturally support instruction-giving language and classroom English.
End the Term with a Class Christmas Quiz
A festive quiz is a fun way to review vocabulary, grammar, and culture before the winter break. Include rounds such as Christmas traditions, festive food and drink, Christmas songs, and winter vocabulary. It’s engaging, competitive, and works well both in-person and online.
Christmas lessons can be so much more than festive decorations and carols; they’re an opportunity to build cultural awareness, connect with students, and create positive memories that last far beyond the festive season. No matter where in the world you’re teaching, there’s a way to bring the magic of Christmas into your TEFL classroom.
Merry Christmas, and happy teaching!
