CHRISTMAS ALL LEVELS - DECEMBER 2014

CHRISTMAS - IDEAS FOR ALL LEVELS

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish
LearnEnglish Kids
Christmas crafts
© The British Council/ Spring Gardens 2005
The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
Christmas paperchains
Materials: Christmas wrapping paper, scissors, glue
1. Cut the wrapping paper into strips, (approximately 20cm Å~ 3cm).
2. Bend each strip into a circle and glue the ends together.
3. Thread the next strip through the first and glue the ends.
4. Continue to thread each strip through the next to make a long,
colourful chain to decorate your walls, windows or doorways.
Alternatively,
1. Take 2 long strips of paper. Place one at a right angle to the other. Glue the ends together.
2. Fold the strips over each other until you reach the end of the paper. Glue the ends together.
3. Gently extend your paper chain.

Snowflakes
Materials: Paper, scissors
1. Place a round object such as a dish or saucer on a piece of paper.
2. Draw around the object. Remove the object and cut out the circle.
3. Fold the paper in half three times.
4. Now cut small shapes out of the sides.
5. Open out the paper and decorate your window with your snowflake.
To make snowflakes of different shapes try cutting out squares as well as circles!

Christmas baubles
Materials: Tissue paper, silver foil, cotton, scissors, glue1. Cut a piece of cotton about 18cm long.
2. Fold the cotton in half.
3. Wrap a small strip of silver foil around the ends of the cotton and squeeze tight.
4. Continue wrapping silver foil around the cotton until you have a good-sized, round ball.
5. Brush the ball with glue and cover with bright tissue paper. Decorate with glitter or
stickers.
6. Hang the ‘baubles’ on your Christmas tree!
Alternatively, make Christmas tree decorations from old Christmas cards or gift tags! Just cut
out the different shapes, punch a hole in the top with a hole punch, thread a piece of cotton or
ribbon through and your decorations are ready to hang on your tree!

Christmas cards
Materials: Card or paper, scissors, glue, cotton wool,
glitter, silver foil
1. Fold a piece of card or paper in half.
2. Draw a tree on the card or paper.
3. Cut out half of the tree and decorate.
Alternatively,
1. Draw a picture of a snowman or Santa Claus.
2. Glue cotton wool on the body or moustache and beard. Decorate with glitter.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish
LearnEnglish Kids
Christmas crafts© The British Council/ Spring Gardens 2005

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
Christmas crackers
Materials: A cardboard tube (e.g. from the inside of a toilet or kitchen roll), tissue/crepe paper,
ribbon, glue, glitter, scissors
1. Roll the paper around the cardboard tube and glue the edges together.
2. Tie one end with ribbon.
3. Now drop a small packet of sweets or other treats inside the tube. You could also add a
paper hat and a message-perhaps a joke, a riddle or a tongue twister!
4. Tie the end with ribbon.
5. Decorate your cracker with a festive picture, stars, stickers or glitter glue.

Fingerprint robins
Materials: Card or paper, liquid paints, paintbrush
1. Pour some brown paint into a small dish.
2. Dip your thumb into the paint.
3. Press your thumb onto a piece of card or paper to make the body of a robin.
4. Now pour some red paint into a dish and dip a finger into the paint.
5. Press your finger onto the body to give the robin a red breast.
6. Leave to dry for a few minutes.
7. Add legs, a beak and eyes with a paintbrush or felt-tip pen.
Alternatively, try making a snowman with white paint, or a penguin with black and white paints!
You could use your print designs on Christmas cards or gift tags, too!

Festive potato prints
Materials: Card or paper, potato, knife, festive biscuit cutters, liquid paints, sponge
1. Cut a potato in half.
2. Using either the knife or biscuit cutters, cut out the shape of a Christmas tree.
3. Pour some paint into a small dish. Put some paint on the sponge and paint onto the potato.
4. Now press the potato onto card or paper and leave to dry.

Santa Claus mobile
Materials: Card, cotton, scissors, sellotape
1. Draw and colour Santa’s hat.
2. Draw and colour 2 round eyes and a round nose.
3. Draw and colour a moustache and a beard.
4. Cut out the eyes, nose, moustache, beard and hat.
5. Cut a piece of cotton (about 30 cm long).
6. Sellotape the hat to the middle of the cotton.
7. Sellotape the nose below the hat.
8. Sellotape the moustache below the nose.
9. Sellotape the beard below the moustache.
10. Cut 2 short pieces of cotton of equal length.
11. Sellotape them to the hat.
12. Sellotape the eyes to the other end of the cotton.
Your Santa Claus mobile is now ready!


Christmas Games

Clare Lavery, British Council

Here are some games which we associate with parties and Christmas celebrations in UK schools. These games can be adapted for language learners of all ages and levels.•   Pass the parcel (Whole class/mixed ability groups)
•   Prepare 5-6 boxes or envelopes decorated or wrapped with Christmas paper. In each parcel put a group activity with a Xmas theme for students to try e.g. a word search, a dialogue to practice, a questionnaire to ask each other, a poem to read aloud. Spread the boxes around the class and students can work through each parcel, passing them around. Good for two lessons or a double period as well.  Suggestions for parcel activities at different levels:◦                      ▪                                       Younger learners▪                                                         A Christmas card to colour in (by numbers, following the instructions) or a kit to make one with the words Happy Christmas from… inside.
▪                                                         A dialogue with very simple words missing e.g. Santa talking to a child (complete the dialogue and practice) or a silly quiz e.g. Christmas colours: What colour is Santa’s beard? White brown or black What colour are Christmas trees? Etc.
▪                                                         A simple questionnaire: What would you like for Christmas? Where do you spend Xmas? What’s your favourite Christmas food?
▪                                                         Pictures of food, drink and other words to match to word cards
•   Santa’s sack (whole class)•   Prepare everyday objects of varying sizes and shapes. Wrap them up in Xmas paper and put in a sack (a pillow case will do !). Students take turns to fish out an object then win points if they can guess the object. “It could be a mobile phone….It might be a calculator …etc.” Lower levels can say “I think it’s a..” or ask “Is it a/an..?”

•   Mystery pictures (whole class or small groups)
•   Another guessing game is to cover Christmas pictures with a black card and leave a slim keyhole or peep hole in the centre of the card. Can they guess the object that is half hidden? You can get your pictures from magazines, free leaflets and catalogues from supermarkets or printed up from the net. Make a keyhole template with one blank sheet of paper. Cover each picture and photocopy. You will then have a series of pictures half hidden by black. Students can also play this in small groups if you have enough pictures photocopied. For groups write the solution in pencil on the back of each hidden picture.
◦                     For lower levels (and kids): concentrate on 8 key items which they know well (this can be Christmas presents hidden i.e. a Harry Potter book, a game boy, a favourite video).
◦                     For higher levels: pick objects associated with Christmas but still stick to vocabulary they know e.g. a bottle of Champagne, a Christmas cake, a parcel or gift, a ski slope, a reindeer, an angel Or cover Christmas presents.                 •   Pin the nose on the reindeer (whole class or small groups)
•   Prepare a picture of a reindeer with a small piece of Velcro glued to the place where the nose should be. Prepare a nose backed with Velcro. Blindfold a student from each team and their team have to shout directions to help them get the nose on the reindeer e.g. “Up a bit, down a bit, left, right etc.” All ages play this but beware of self conscious adolescents as it may cramp their style!
•   Xmas find someone who… (whole class, small groups)
•   Prepare 8 festive sounding challenges suited to the language level of your class and get them talking to find someone who …went skiing / will be going skiing, wrote a letter to Santa when they were small, has got a Xmas tree at home, has done some Xmas shopping, can tell you how to cook a traditional meal/dish.
◦                     Example challenges:
▪                                       Lower levels: Find someone who is.. going to the mountains for Christmas / Going to stay with cousins for Christmas / Staying at home for Christmas.
▪                                       Higher levels (use language they have studied this term) Find someone who … has never been away from home / has eaten pizza on Christmas day / Would go to a hot country for Christmas (if they could/had the opportunity) / Has already bought some Christmas presents / a Christmas CD / Can suggest an original dish/activity for Xmas day / can tell you a special Xmas memory from childhood (this is a very open conversation starter for a fairly fluent class).               •   Xmas colouring (whole class or pairs)
•   Make multiple copies of the same colouring picture (print up one from the sites suggested in the Essential UK Xmas Special). Tell the whole class how to colour it (best with lower levels and kids) or in pairs give each students a half coloured picture (different parts coloured for each) and they ask questions to finish the picture e.g. “What colour is the present? fairy on the tree? Santa’s sleigh?”
◦                     Higher levels can have different pictures but do not give them guidance on which objects are coloured in or not. Students therefore have to ask and find out what needs colouring in. In some cases the pictures have a few objects coloured in but the choice is more random than half and half.
◦                      ◦                     Make sure students know all the words for the objects. Put a glossary
◦                     down the side of their pictures and/or use one copy to review the words before they start the activity.
These activities originally appeared on the British Council Language Assistant website.