As December rolls around the corner, you might wonder what fun Christmas ideas you can bring into your classroom. From interactive maths games to creative crafts, this guide presents a diverse range of activities tailored to various age groups.
Whether you teach nursery classes or secondary school students, there’s something here to keep your class engaged. Without further ado, here are the top Christmas activities for schools that will make this season of learning merry and bright…
Six Christmas games and activities for nursery students
1. Lollipop stick snowflakes
Children can assemble lollipop stick snowflakes to create beautiful snowflake ornaments. Using glue, stick your lollipop sticks together to resemble a snowflake. Once dry, you can paint the sticks or add any other decorative element to make your snowflakes sparkle!
2. Handprint wreaths
Using green paper, kids can draw around their hands and use the shape to create a handprint Christmas wreath they can hang in your classroom or at home. Not only does this fun activity work for wreaths, but you can also use the hand cutouts for making a Christmas tree.
3. Interactive Christmas storytelling
Use your interactive whiteboard to display a Christmas story with engaging visuals to your class. Encourage nursery students to participate by letting them touch and interact with elements on the screen. They can drag characters, complete sentences and even make choices that affect the story’s outcome.
Interactive displays, like the Promethean ActivPanel, are excellent resources for increasing engagement in all lessons, not just festive ones. Take a look at our blogs for tips on how to monitor student engagement, how to engage shy and quiet children and more.
4. Christmas-themed matching games
Develop simple matching games with Christmas-themed images. Nursery students can touch the correct pairs on the interactive whiteboard, promoting visual recognition and hand-eye coordination.
5. Candy cane slime
This next activity combines two things children absolutely love: Christmas and slime. Slime-making is not only incredibly popular but also offers a rich sensory experience, allowing nursery students to explore different textures and sensations. Candy cane slime introduces children to chemistry and combines it with festive fun.
6. Maths mosaic worksheets
These worksheets allow children to practise and consolidate their division abilities and knowledge of the two, five and ten-times tables. The mosaic format adds an element of fun and creativity as students gradually uncover a holiday-themed design as they solve each problem. By combining learning and play, maths mosaic worksheets are a practical and enjoyable way for children to master multiplication and division during the holiday season.
Six Christmas games and activities for primary school students
1. DIY snow globe
Help your students make a mini winter wonderland! Without using water, you can use an empty glass jar to make a quick and easy snow globe. As well as having faux snow and a tiny tree, your students can add fun decorations inside, like presents or a reindeer, to create their own festive scene.
2. Paper plate Christmas tree twirler
Help your students decorate their family’s tree by showing them how to make a Christmas tree twirler! It features a step-by-step process, which helps develop patience and attention to detail that students carefully follow instructions to achieve the desired outcome. This craft not only promotes hands-on learning but brings a sense of accomplishment and holiday spirit to the classroom.
3. Maths challenges with a Christmas twist
Display maths problems related to Christmas on the interactive whiteboard. Encourage students to come up to the board and solve them using the touch-screen controls.
4. Interactive spelling bee
Organise a spelling bee competition with Christmas words. This allows students to practise their Christmas vocabulary in preparation for the big day and injects some friendly competition into the holidays.
5. Write a letter to Santa
Encourage your primary school students to write a letter to Santa Claus. In their letters, they can ask what gifts they’d like, tell Santa about their accomplishments and good deeds, and what they’re excited about in the new year. By writing a letter, your students can use this time to reflect on their behaviour and hone their spelling and grammar skills.
6. Create a Christmas story
Let your students write compelling Christmas stories with the roll of a dice! This innovative approach to storytelling nurtures creativity and encourages students to think on their feet and adapt their Christmas ideas based on chance. It prompts them to consider how their characters and the settings interact with the chosen scenario, fostering critical thinking and imaginative problem-solving.
Eight Christmas games and activities for secondary school students
1. DIY Christmas cracker fillings
This engaging activity encourages secondary school students to get creative and craft a Christmas cracker. By adding their own fillings, students can personalise the surprises inside for their family members.
2. Make your own Christmas stocking
Providing students with the materials and guidance to craft their Christmas stockings is great for artistic expression. They can select fabrics, trims, and embellishments to decorate their stocking, making each one a unique reflection of their personality. Additionally, this activity hones sewing and crafting skills, offering a practical and enjoyable way to learn or refine this valuable talent.
3. Christmas trivia quiz
Create a trivia quiz on the interactive whiteboard with questions about pop culture, events from the past year and Christmas traditions from around the world. Students can compete individually or in teams to answer questions.
4. Christmas mathematical concepts
Challenge high school students to apply mathematical concepts in a Christmas context. For example, they could calculate the volume of gift boxes, analyse holiday spending trends, or even simulate snowfall patterns.
5. Christmas Scattergories
Christmas Scattergories is an engaging and educational game designed for English classes. It serves as an excellent tool to enhance students’ vocabulary and writing skills with a festive twist.
Players will take turns rolling the alphabet dice (or drawing letters from a bowl) and then quickly fill in the categories on their game pages with words that start with the chosen letter. The goal is to develop unique answers that fit within the given categories.
6. Christmas cards
Creating Christmas cards is a timeless activity. It provides students with an opportunity to express gratitude and appreciation for their loved ones.
Another fun idea is for students to write to their future selves. This gives them the opportunity to reflect on who they were and what their aspirations were. It’s a wholesome way for students to connect with their present selves while envisioning the growth they hope to achieve in the years to come.
7. Fake snow STEM experiment
This STEM experiment offers secondary school students a hands-on opportunity to explore the science behind artificial snow. By combining common household materials like baking soda and white vinegar, students can create a substance that mimics the texture and appearance of real snow.
This experiment exposes students to chemical reactions and their properties as they observe how the ingredients interact and transform into fake snow.
8. Design Santa’s workshop blueprint
This project combines geometry concepts with practical architectural design as secondary school students create workshop house blueprints with the correct measurements.
You could task students to include 2-3 bedrooms, at least one bathroom, a garage, kitchen or living room, and a unique feature (like a fireplace or closet, etc.). To make the activity more real, ask your students to research the cost of their plans or set a budget price per square foot.
This is a great activity to enhance students’ team building and presenting skills as they can pitch their workshop to you and their classmates.
Merry Christmas from Promethean
To help your students wind down before the end of term, one of the best activities to get your students ready for the festive season is watching a Christmas film.
And what better way to watch The Grinch or Elf than on an interactive whiteboard like our ActivPanel Display? With 4K resolution and dual front-facing speakers, You can recreate the feel of being at the cinema by showing Christmas classics in excellent clarity.
Request a demo to discover how Promethean can benefit your students’ learning experiences.
Or, for more guides, explore the Promethean blog for advice on increasing student engagement, including engaging students with ADHD and engaging students using technology.
FAQs
What can we do to celebrate Christmas in school?
There are various activities you can organise in school to celebrate Christmas, including crafting decorations, hosting games, a Christmas play or performance, and even holding a festive food or gift drive like Operation Christmas Child for those in need.
What is a good game to play on Christmas?
A fantastic interactive whiteboard game to play is “Christmas Bingo.” Create custom Bingo cards with themed pictures or words related to Christmas. Use the interactive whiteboard to display the Bingo board, and have students mark off the items as they’re called out. This game not only engages students but also helps reinforce Christmas vocabulary. It’s a versatile and enjoyable activity suitable for various age groups.