Fun ESL Christmas activities for preschool and primary!

Christmas is probably my favourite time of year for classes with my little ones. It’s so magical with young children, and as the day approaches their growing excitement is contagious!

Here, I’ve put together a selection of my favourite Christmas activities for classes with preschool and early primary age kids. I’ve included games, crafts, books, songs and printables that I’ve tried and tested with small groups, although you can adapt many of the ideas for larger classes.

As an ESL teacher, most of the activities I suggest are focused on teaching and practising Christmas related vocabulary, but there’s no reason you can’t use them in classes with native English-speaking preschool kids as well.

Personally, I keep my Christmas activities secular and focus on the Santa side of things. For 3-5 year olds I choose to teach 4 to 6 key vocabulary words, for 6 – 8 year olds I work with about 8 – 10 key words.

I hope you have fun with these ideas. Try them out with your own groups and feel free to share your own ideas in the comments!

Flashcard Sack

This is a simple way to introduce some Christmas vocabulary. Put some flashcards in a small sack or a Christmas stocking. Have the children sit in a circle, show them the sack and ask them if they can guess what’s inside. Pull out a card, say the word, and have them pass the card around the circle, repeating the word as they do so.

Once you have taught the words, put the cards back in the sack and play some Christmas music. Have the children pass the sack around the circle. When the music stops, the child holding the sack pulls out a card and says the word. If they can name it, they can keep the card. For 3-5 year olds, help them remember the word if necessary so they always get to keep the card!

You can download our lovely FREE CHRISTMAS FLASHCARDS here!

Elf Hunt

Young kids LOVE any kind of treasure hunt! In keeping with the Elf on the Shelf tradition, I made this cute Christmas Elf out of felt for my little students to find. If you don’t have an elf, you could use a picture of one instead.

Each lesson in December I hide the elf somewhere different in the room and invite the children to look for him. You can join them in the hunt, asking questions, for example “Where’s the elf? Is he under the table? No, he isn’t! Is he behind the door? Yes, here he is!” It’s a fun way to practise prepositions of place!

Santa, where are you?

Have the children sit in a circle. Place some Christmas flashcards face down in the middle. Make sure to include a Santa card. Encourage the children to say altogether “Santa! Where are you?” Ask one child to turn over a card. Ask “Is it Santa?” Encourage the child to say “Yes, it is!” or “No, it isn’t!” If it isn’t, chant together again “Santa! Where are you?” and ask the next child to turn over a card. Continue around the circle until Santa is found.

Missing Present

Put a number of presents wrapped in different colours in a sack or stocking. I used some empty match boxes wrapped them in tissue paper. Show the children the sack and ask them to guess what’s inside. Pull out a present and say “Ho!Ho!Ho! Look! A red present!” Place it where children can see it. Do the same for the rest of the presents, asking the children to name the colours each time. Then put all the presents back in sack, and take them out again one by one – but leave one inside. The children must guess which colour present is missing! Repeat as many times as you like.

Happy Christmas!

Choose some Christmas character flashcards, eg. Santa, reindeer, snowman. Have the children sit in a circle and play some Christmas music. They pass one of the flashcards round the circle (eg the Santa card). When you stop the music, the child who has the card says “Happy Christmas, Santa!” You can use one character, or change characters after a couple of rounds. Repeat, so all the children have a chance to say “Happy Christmas!”

An alternative version of this game is to use two different coloured presents. Put on the music, and the children pass the presents round circle. When the music stops, the children holding the presents exchange them, saying “Happy Christmas, (name)!” Continue so all kids have had a turn.

Mystery Presents

Take several common small gift items (eg. a small ball, a soft toy, a doll, a toy car, a book, socks, etc) and a flashcard depicting each item. Before class, wrap the items up and put them in your sack or stocking.

Show the children the flashcards and teach the vocabulary if necessary. Place the flashcards where the children can see them. Then show them the sack and take out a present, saying “Look! A present! What is it?”. Pass it around the circle. The children must feel it and guess what it is. Point to the flashcards and ask the children which one they think it is (“Is it a doll?” Is it a ball?” etc), then place the present next to that card. Do the same for the rest of the presents. At the end, unwrap each present to see if they are correct!

For older children, use word cards instead of picture flashcards. You could even just have them try to guess the items without any flashcards to help them! A word of note: if you want the children to unwrap the presents at the end make sure you have one item for each child. If you have more kids than presents, you may want to unwrap them yourself to avoid arguments!

Secret Santa

This is a variation of the game “Secret Sheep”. Space the children out around the room and have them curl up with their heads in their arms. Walk around and touch one child on the arm. That child must say “Ho, ho, ho!”. The other children must guess who the secret Santa is!

Pin the Ornaments on the Tree

This is something you can put up in class and play as a time filler activity. The traditional game is to blindfold a child and have them stick a particular item in the correct place on the poster (the classic is “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”). In this Christmas version, I made a simple Christmas tree from green triangles that I pasted on a large piece of card stock. I cut out a number of large circles from coloured card and a yellow star, and laminated them.

To play the traditional version, place a blob of blu-tack on the back of each ornament. In turn, the children put on the blindfold and try to place a bauble or the star on the tree. Very young kids may not like wearing a blindfold so you can try playing this version, which also adds more opportunity for practising vocabulary: put the ornaments in a sack or stocking and have each child in turn pick one out. Ask them to tell you the colour and then have them stick it on the tree.

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Dear Santa by Rod Campbell

toys, sizes, adjectives

Based on the same concept as the ever popular Dear Zoo, this is a cute lift-the-flap book to get kids guessing what each present might be. Great for reviewing toys vocabulary and description adjectives.

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The Hungry Caterpillar’s Christmas 123 by Eric Carle

numbers 1-10, Christmas vocabulary

This is just a very simple, straightforward counting book that will allow you to review numbers 1-10 and Christmas vocabulary with your kids.

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Maisy’s Christmas Tree by Lucy Cousins

Christmas vocabulary: tree, lights, presents, baubles, sugar canes, angel, carols

This is a short, cute book showing how Maisy and her friends decorate their Christmas tree step by step.

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Lulu’s Christmas – Camile Reid

Christmas vocabulary

Another lovely lift-the flap book showing how Lulu prepares for Christmas. Good for reviewing key Christmas vocabulary (snowman, presents, stockings, tree, decorations, etc.)

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Counting Christmas – Karen Katz

Numbers 1-10, Christmas vocabulary

Lovely illustrations in this Christmas counting book. The counting is in reverse – so it goes from ten to one. As the illustrations are quite busy, children have to look well to count all the items.

Christmas Bingo Game

This printable game is a fun way for little ones to practise words associated with Christmas. First one to complete their bingo board wins!

Christmas Word Puzzles

These simple word puzzles are great for practising Christmas vocabulary with your kids! Includes word searches and letter/word match games in three levels of difficulty – 8 puzzle sheets in total!

Hide and Seek Elf on the Shelf Printable

Use this simple printable to play a fun Elf hide and seek game with little ones! Hide the Elf under one of the pictures. Children try to guess where he or she is – lift up the flap to see if they’re right! Great for practising prepositions of place and Christmas words.

CHRISTMAS FLASHCARDS

Use these lovely pocket-sized CHRISTMAS flashcards with your child to teach or review vocabulary, or play fun flashcard games! Includes eight Christmas related words and original illustrations!

Christmas Art – Free Frames and Tracing Sheets

Children can use our festive blank frames to follow our fun Christmas Guided Drawing video, or make a lovely Christmas scene of their choice to put on the wall! Also includes some tracing sheets for very young children to complete and colour!

From our store:

CHRISTMAS GAMES MULTI-PACK

Designed for little ones, there are so many different Christmas themed games you can play with these super-cute boards and editable cards, including Bingo, Tic-Tac-Toe, Scavenger Hunts, Pairs and more!

CHRISTMAS DOMINOES – Printable Dominoes Game!

These super cute Christmas dominoes are a great way to practise counting, number recognition, early literacy and Christmas vocabulary with little ones! Includes 3 levels of difficulty, so you can choose which version to play according to the age and level of your kids!

SANTA’S SACK – 3 in 1 Christmas Match Game – PRINT & PLAY

Your kids will love being Santa’s Little Helpers in this super fun 3 in 1 Christmas match game! Great for young ones to practise colours, counting, and early math. Also includes a craft activity!

Hungry Penguin! – Colours and Shapes Fishing Game

Everyone’s a winner with this super fun, non-competitive game to practise colours and shape matching! Spin the spinner, match the fish and collect them in your net. But, wait! You might have to feed a fish to the Hungry Penguin!

Christmas Stocking Surprise! Toy Words Matching Game

Get your little ones in the festive spirit with this fun, printable matching game! Great for practising toys vocabulary, observation and reading skills, or even to encourage giving and sharing!

There are so many lovely crafts you can do for Christmas with your kids! Here are a few of my favourites to do with small groups in class. I’ve tried and tested these crafts with my kids and indicate how appropriate they are for different ages.

Easy Christmas Wreath

This is a really simple yet eye-catching craft that kids as young as 3 years old will be able to do without much help. See the tutorial here.

Easy Christmas Tree

Kids will love making and decorating this lovely paper tree! Easy enough for 3-5 year olds, although some 3 year olds may need help with the cutting. See the tutorial here.

Peekaboo Santa in the Chimney

Make Santa pop up and down in the chimney! This craft is appropriate for 4-6 year olds. Some 4 year olds may need help cutting out Santa. See the tutorial here.

Toilet Roll Christmas Decorations

Hang them on the tree or line them up on the mantelpiece! This craft is appropriate for 5 – 8 year olds. See the tutorial here.

Santa Stars

These are made with felt, but I make them out of cardstock with my kids. The craft is appropriate for 3-5 year olds, although 3 year olds will probably need some help cutting the star. See the tutorial here. (This is an external link. If it no longer works, please let us know at [email protected])

Curly Bearded Santa

Very cute and appropriate for 3-5 year olds, although 3 year olds will probably need help cutting some of the pieces, especially the circles. See the tutorial here. You need to scroll down the page to see the instructions for the Santa craft. (This is an external link. If it no longer works, please let us know at [email protected])

Young kids can learn how to draw a lovely Christmas scene with Flip and Penny Pencil in our fun guided drawing video! You can show just one part of the video (either the snowman or the Christmas tree) and make the finished pictures into Christmas cards that children can take home. Or do the whole video and have them make a picture for the wall. This activity is appropriate for 4 – 6 year olds and is great for familiarizing young children with the language as they follow the instructions for the drawing.

We have some free Christmas Art Frames and Tracing Sheets here that you can use with the video.

These were drawn by Ciro, aged 4!

Some of my favourites for 3 – 7 year olds!

S-A-N-T-A – Super Simple Songs

We Wish You A Merry Christmas – Super Simple Songs

10 Little Elves – Super Simple Songs

Hello, Reindeer– Super Simple Songs

Decorate The Christmas Tree– Super Simple Songs

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