Christmas ESL Activities, Games, Lesson Plans, Worksheets & More

If you’re looking for some of the best ESL Christmas games and activities, then you’re certainly in the right place. We have the top options for you to consider trying out, along with lesson plans, worksheets, vocabulary, and more. Holidays like Thanksgiving, X-mas, and Halloween are great for ESL teaching! We got awesome Christmas activities for ESL students.

Christmas ESL Games and Activities

Let’s get to the best ideas for a Christmas ESL lesson. Try out these ESL Christmas games.

#1: Concentration Christmas Vocabulary Game

A nice way to review new vocabulary is to play this memory game. Make up matching cards. One card has a picture and then the other one has the corresponding word. Higher-level students can do a word and then a description.

In small groups of 3-4, students place the cards face down in a random fashion and then play a memory game. The first student takes two and, if matching, keeps them and goes again. If they’re not matching, they place them back in the same spot, and the next student goes.

#2: Make Christmas Cards

Making Christmas cards is a fun activity that students of all ages enjoy. First, show students some sample cards and then teach some possible greetings to include. I let students give the cards to whomever they’d like. Me(!), another teacher, students, family member or friend.

#3: Candies in a Jar

Put holiday-themed candies in a glass jar and count how many you are putting in as you do it. Seal up the jar well.

Then, let each of your students have one guess as to how many candies there are. I usually do this by giving each student a small piece of paper. They have to write their name, class and guess. Then, the person who guesses the closest to the correct number gets the entire jar of candies. They can choose to share, or not!

Find out more ESL guessing game ideas.

#4: Christmas Speaking Lesson Plan

It’s super easy to plan your own lesson for Christmas. Have a look at the simple steps to follow:

#5: Used Gift Exchange

This is a fun activity that is a counter to consumerism. Students have to bring in a gift but the catch is that it has to be something from their house that they no longer use. It should still have some life in it!

Then, do a white elephant gift exchange. Each student gets a number and the first person has to choose a gift. The second person can steal that first gift or take another one. Each gift can only be stolen three times. Continue until everyone has something!

#6: 2 Truths and a Lie Christmas Traditions

A fun way to talk about Christmas traditions around the world is to assign each pair or small group a different country. They can use their phones to do a bit of research about traditions in that country.

Then, they have to write down three traditions. 2 are true and they can make up a false one. The goal is to fool their classmates! Go around the class and each group can share their three statements, while the other students guess which one is false.

#7: ESL Christmas Charades or Pictionary

Try out these classic party games around the holidays. Just make sure that students know the selected vocabulary words first. You can have students act it out (charades) or draw it (Pictionary). Either way, get ready for a fun class!

#8: Odd One Out

#9: Singing Christmas Carols

I’m terrible at singing but the good news is that there are lots of people on YouTube who aren’t! I like to have a small sing-a-long in my classes to some popular carols. I generally take requests and then search for something like “Jingle Bells Karaoke” so we can see the words if students don’t know them already.

#10: Guess the Word Vocabulary Review

This is a quick game to review new vocabulary. Teammates have to describe a secret word to one person on their team who has to guess what it is. It’s best-suited to smaller, rather than larger classes. Find out more details here:

Guessing Game Vocabulary Review.

#11: TEFL Vocab Auction

#12: Christmas Listening Lesson

I always like to have some dedicated listening lessons in all of my classes. They’re a nice change of pace from the usual speaking-focused activities and the more introverted students really appreciate it. Plus, listening is an important, but often overlooked skill!

It’s possible to make your own TEFL listening lesson based on someone talking about their experiences with Christmas, Christmas traditions, or just about anything else that might be related. Find out how to do that here:

TEFL Listening Lesson Planning Template.

#13: Decorating Christmas Cookies

This activity does require some extra preparation and a small budget but students love it! Make (or buy) some plain Christmas cookies in a variety of shapes such as Christmas trees, Santa, reindeer, etc. Then, bring in icing in a variety of colors.

I get students to each bring one type of sprinkle or candy to share with the class when they’re decorating, plus their own plastic container with a lid and knife or whatever they want to use to decorate with. I always bring some extra wooden chopsticks and paper plates in case some students forget.

Play some carols or a Christmas movie in the background and you’ll have yourself a great class!

#14: Dialogue Substitution

#15: Christmas Around the World Presentations

A fun activity to do around the holiday season is to do a group presentation about X-mas traditions around the world. Have each team choose a country and then prepare a presentation about what happens on that holiday. Find out some more ideas here:

ESL Presentation Topic Ideas.

#16: Bingo

A fun party game is to play Christmas-themed Bingo. Bring in some blank Bingo grids, or have students draw their own in a notebook. Then, elicit at least 30 X-mas vocabulary words, or have this prepared ahead of time if you’d like.

Students can fill up their Bingo boards with whatever words they’d like, in any spot. To pump up the educational value of this, I describe the words instead of just saying them.

#17: Running Dictation

#18: Crossword Puzzles

A fun, quieter activity that students really enjoy is a crossword puzzle. Have a search on Google and you’ll find a ton of ready-made ones. Or, consider making your own using Discovery’s PuzzleMaker. It’s also easy to make puzzles for other holidays. Here are some more ideas: ESL Thanksgiving.

#19: Random Acts of Kindness

A fun thing to do around the holidays is to teach students about acts of kindness. Then, in small groups have students think of some random acts of kindness they could do in their neighborhood. Come together as a class to discuss the ideas and actually do some of them, if possible.

#20 Would You Rather Questions for Christmas

Have some fun with these Christmas-themed would you rather questions.

#21: A Christmas Debate

Have a friendly debate about some of these fun questions:

• Is re-gifting okay?
• Christmas is too commercialized.
• It’s ridiculous for people to believe in Santa Claus.

Find out who believes which side and hopefully it’ll work out evenly. If not, assign sides and put students into small groups to hash it out with some convincing arguments.

#22: Door Decorating Contest

A fun activity to do around the holidays is to have students decorate a door in the school. Then, a group of teachers or administrators can judge the contest and declare a winner. It can get surprisingly competitive and students and parents love it.

#23: Pin the Nose on Rudolph

Have some fun with students by playing this Christmas-themed version of “Pin the tale on the donkey.” Instead, students have to put the red nose on Rudolph while blindfolded.

#24: ESL Christmas What is it? Quiz

Test how well you know about Christmas by playing this What Am I? guessing game.

#25: Make Some Christmas Ornaments

If you have a tree at school, consider doing a craft project (look on Pinterest for lots of ideas) to make an ornament. Alternatively, students can take it home and put it on their tree there.

ESL Christmas Lesson Plans

If you’re a teacher, then you already know how much time it can save, using what other teachers have created. Here are some of the best Christmas ESL lessons to check out:

ESL Flow

ESL Kids Stuff

British Council

TEFL Christmas Worksheets

Here are some of the top picks for ESL Christmas worksheets:

ISL Collective

Boggles World ESL

ESL Printables

Christmas ESL Vocabulary

Here are some of the words to consider teaching students related to this popular holiday:

• bells
• candy cane
• decoration
• candles
• carols
• chimney
• gifts
• gingerbread house
• lights
• North Pole
• ornaments
• presents
• Rudolph
• Santa
• sleigh
• snow globe
• star
• stocking
• stuffing
• tree
• turkey
• under
• wreath

Did you like these ESL Christmas Games?

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You can get the book in both digital and print formats. Keep a copy on the bookshelf in your office to use as a handy reference guide. Or, take the digital version with you to your favourite coffee shop for some serious lesson planning on the go.

Whatever the case, get ready to level up your TEFL teaching with kids in a big way! Find out more about the book right here:

FAQs About Teaching ESL Christmas

Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about teaching Christmas to ESL students.

How do you teach students about Christmas?

Start by explaining what kind of holiday Christmas is. It was originally a Christian holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. While it is a major holiday for Christians, many non-believers also celebrate this day as a cultural event or vacation holiday around the world.

What is the best ESL Christmas Activity?

There are many ESL Christmas activities you can do in your classroom. These are only a few examples: What is it? (or What am I?), Odd One Out, Make Christmas Cards, Decorating Christmas Cookies, Christmas around the world presentation, vocabulary auction, and more.

What is Christmas vocabulary?

Here are some of the X-mas vocabulary.

• bells
• candy cane
• decoration
• candles
• carols
• chimney
• gifts
• gingerbread house
• North Pole
• ornaments
• presents
• Rudolph
• Santa
• sleigh
• tree
• wreath

ESL Christmas Activities and Lesson Ideas: Join the Conversation

Do you have any go-to TEFL activities you like to do for this popular holiday? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

Also, be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other busy English teachers, like yourself find this useful resource.

Last update on 2022-06-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API