Christmas language lessons – some ideas and how to organize them!
The holiday season is a perfect opportunity to bring creativity, joy, and a sense of togetherness into your language lessons. Festive-themed activities can re-energize students, spark their curiosity, and keep them motivated at a time when attention can easily drift. These lessons are flexible and can be adapted for both in-person and online classrooms, making it possible to continue learning even in challenging circumstances, such as we have now in our country.
The ideas in this guide are designed to make your lessons engaging, interactive, and full of festive spirit—whether through games, storytelling, or music. With a little planning, you can create lessons that combine meaningful language practice with the excitement and warmth of the season.
What will you find in this article?
- How to organize a Christmas language lesson
- 8 ideas for a Christmas language lesson
- Summary – Christmas language lesson
How to Organize a Christmas Language Lesson
The festive season is on its way, and the magic of Christmas can bring warmth and creativity to your classroom. If you’re looking for ways to plan a special language lesson that captures the holiday spirit while keeping your students engaged and learning, this step-by-step guide will help you make it happen.
Step 1: Plan Your Lesson
Create a clear, festive lesson plan tailored to your students’ level. Decide whether the focus is fun, celebration, or specific skills like speaking, writing, or vocabulary. Pre-teach useful holiday words that will be used in the lesson.
Step 2: Let Students Know in Advance
Give your students a heads-up about the Christmas-themed lesson so they can look forward to it. You can mention it during the previous class or send out a short message or email inviting them to join in the holiday fun.
Steps 3: Set the Festive Mood and Prepare Materials
Create a warm Christmas atmosphere with simple decorations—fairy lights, ornaments, Santa hats, or a small tree—and soft seasonal music. Then gather all necessary materials in advance, such as flashcards, handouts, quizzes, or digital tools, to keep the lesson running smoothly and focused on learning.
Step 4: Encourage Teamwork
The holidays are all about togetherness — and your lesson can reflect that. Plan group activities such as creating a collective Christmas story, working on a festive quiz, or writing short holiday poems. Collaborative tasks make the class lively and help strengthen the group dynamic.
Step 5: Add a Little Holiday Magic
Finish the lesson with something special. Offer small rewards for participation, organize a mini competition, or surprise students with a short quiz about holiday traditions around the world. These little touches will leave them smiling and motivated.
In short: A Christmas language lesson doesn’t just celebrate the season — it’s a chance to bring joy, creativity, and real communication into your classroom. With a bit of planning and festive spirit, you can turn it into a memorable experience for everyone.
8 ideas for a Christmas language lessons
1. Christmas Taboo
A great classroom activity for the holidays is Christmas Taboo, which helps students practice speaking and expand their vocabulary while having fun. Students take turns choosing a card with festive words and try to describe the main word without saying any of the five “taboo” words written underneath.
Focus: Vocabulary, paraphrasing, fluency.
How to play:
- Prepare cards with Christmas-related words (e.g., reindeer, chimney, wrapping paper, mistletoe).
- Students describe the word without saying it or a few listed “taboo” words.
- The others guess within a time limit.
You can use these word lists to help you get started. Click to download the pdf
2. Festive 20 Questions
Festive 20 Questions is an excellent activity for practicing question formation in a fun, seasonal context. Students think of a Christmas-related object, character, or concept, while their classmates ask yes-or-no questions to figure out what it is. It’s a simple, engaging way to strengthen speaking skills and reinforce vocabulary.
Focus: Question formation, deduction, speaking.
How to play:
- A student thinks of a Christmas-related word or character (e.g., Santa, snowman, ornament).
- Others ask yes/no questions to guess it within 20 tries.
Did you know that in the United Kingdom a typical Christmas lunch consists of Roast turkey, pigs in blankets, stuffing, gravy, mince pies, and Christmas pudding?
3. Secret Stocking (Describing Game)
The Secret Stocking is a fun holiday activity that gets everyone talking! Fill a stocking or box with small festive objects or images, and have students secretly choose one. Their challenge is to describe what they’re holding without saying its name, while the rest of the class tries to guess. It’s a great way to encourage creativity and sharpen descriptive skills.
Focus: Vocabulary, adjectives, speaking.
How to play:
- Place Christmas items (real or pictures) in a stocking or box.
- A student feels (or secretly looks at) an item and describes it without naming it.
- The others guess what it is.
Click here for a word sheet to help you with this game.
4. Christmas Charades / Pictionary
Christmas Charades / Pictionary is a lively activity that encourages students to practice language through movement and creativity. Using festive-themed words or phrases, learners take turns acting out or drawing what’s on their card while the rest of the group guesses. It’s an engaging way to reinforce vocabulary and promote quick thinking in the target language.
Focus: Action verbs, creativity, comprehension.
How to play:
- Prepare cards with holiday-related actions or phrases (e.g., wrapping presents, singing carols, decorating a tree).
- Students act or draw while others guess in the target language.
5. “Dear Santa” Writing Relay
Bring holiday cheer to writing with the “Dear Santa” Writing Relay! Students work together to create a letter to Santa, adding one sentence each without seeing the whole story until the end. The result is usually funny, imaginative, and full of language practice.
Focus: Writing, grammar, creativity.
How to play:
- In teams or individually, students take turns writing one sentence of a “letter to Santa.” They fold the paper over so their sentence is hidden and pass it to the next team or student for them to add their sentence.
- Each person adds to the story without reading it aloud until the end — then the teacher reads the full (often hilarious) letter!
Did you know that in the United Kingdom typical Christmas activities include pulling Christmas crackers, listening to the King’s Christmas speech after lunch, playing charades, and wearing special Christmas jumpers?
6. Christmas Story Dice / Story Chain
The Christmas Story Dice / Story Chain is a creative activity that encourages storytelling and reinforces language skills. Students use dice or cards with festive images to build a collective story, adding sentences one by one. This exercise helps practice vocabulary, connectors, and sentence structure while keeping the lesson engaging and interactive.
Focus: Storytelling, tenses, creativity.
How to play:
- Use story dice or cards with Christmas images (tree, snow, sleigh, star, etc.).
- Each student adds a sentence to build a collective Christmas story.
7. Christmas Karaoke / Carols with a Twist
Bring the joy of music into your classroom with Christmas Karaoke or Carols with a Twist! Singing festive songs in the target language helps students improve pronunciation naturally while having fun. Add an extra challenge by removing some lyrics for students to fill in or asking them to spot certain words as they listen.
Focus: Pronunciation, listening comprehension.
How to play:
- Choose popular carols/songs in the target language. (” Last Christmas,” “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” or “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” etc.)
- Play a “fill in the blanks” version of the lyrics or ask students to translate short phrases.
You can use Christmas Karaoke for this lesson.
8. Movies and cartoons
Christmas films and cartoons are an excellent way to expose students to authentic foreign-language input. Start by pre-teaching any tricky words beforehand. Prepare slips of paper with the main events in the video —in the target language—and have students arrange the storyline in the right order and let them piece the plot together.
Christmas songs and stories for children (on YouTube):
And for comedy based around an English Christmas:
Summary – Christmas Language Lesson
To create a memorable holiday-themed language lesson, start by designing activities that match your students’ proficiency levels, set a festive mood in the classroom, and include interactive exercises such as games, quizzes, storytelling, or singing.
Such a lesson blends learning with enjoyment, helping to boost motivation during the busy December period. Beyond the fun and festive spirit, it also provides meaningful opportunities for students to strengthen their language skills.
This is just a glimpse of what a holiday lesson can offer. Use this special season to introduce variety into your teaching and capture your students’ attention, even as their minds begin to wander toward holiday celebrations and gift-giving.