Christmas ESL Games, Activities & Worksheets

ESL Christmas Worksheet - Vocabulary: Matching In this free Christmas vocabulary worksheet, students race to write down 20 Christmas words by matching numbers to letters. First, students look at the numbers for each word and find the corresponding letters in a chart. Students then write the Christmas word in the space provided. The first student to complete all the words correctly wins. Afterwards, review the correct answers and meaning of each Christmas word with the class. show less

ESL Christmas Worksheet - Writing Exercise: Gap-fill, Writing Short Sentences Here is an enjoyable Christmas worksheet for young learners. In the activity, students complete a letter to Santa Claus, telling him about the good things they did this year and the presents they want for Christmas. Students begin by writing their name, age and location at the start of the letter. Students then write about the good things they did this year using the past simple. Next, students tell Santa what they want for Christmas by writing a Christmas wish list. Students end the letter with the food and drink they will leave for him on Christmas Eve. Afterwards, students read their letters to the class. The letters can then be displayed around the classroom or sent to the North Pole. show less

ESL Christmas Activity - Vocabulary: Gap-fill - Group Work In this entertaining Christmas activity, students write thank you letters for Christmas presents by completing sentences in a chain format. This is a light-hearted activity, and students should be encouraged to be as imaginative or amusing as they like by completing the letters with the names of famous people, unusual Christmas presents, funny adjectives, etc. To begin, students complete the salutation, e.g. 'Dear Batman'. Students then fold the letter along the dotted line and pass it to the person on their right who completes the next sentence, folding and passing the paper as before. This process is repeated until all the sentences have been completed. Students then open the letter and read it aloud to the group. The letters should make an entertaining read. show less

ESL Christmas Game - Vocabulary: Matching, Gap-fill - Extensions: Letter Writing, Categorising, Pelmanism, Snap - Group Work Here is an engaging Christmas game to practice Christmas vocabulary and learn about Christmas traditions. In the game, students race to provide words in order to complete a Christmas letter. This resource also has three extension activities and games to practice the vocabulary. Start by reading the letter to the class using the word 'blank' for each missing word. When a missing word comes up, students look at their cards to see if they have a suitable Christmas word to complete the sentence. The first student to hold up the correct picture card and say the word scores a point for their team. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. Afterwards, students put all their team's cards together face-up on the table and complete the letter for themselves. As an extension, students write a reply to the letter where they talk about the festivals they celebrate. Students can also play a categorizing game, pelmanism game and games of Snap with the cards. show less

ESL Christmas Vocabulary Game - Vocabulary: Answering Quiz Questions, Guessing - Group Work In this rewarding Christmas game, students guess vocabulary related to Christmas from quiz questions and clues given by the teacher. The aim of the game is to connect the hexagons from one side of the grid to the other. This is a fairly strategic game, and students need to choose their moves carefully in order to win, blocking the other team when necessary. The game starts with the center hexagon. Give the clue or quiz question for the letter in the hexagon (D), e.g. 'What do people put up in their home at Christmas time?' The two teams then race to answer, i.e. decorations. The first team to answer correctly wins the hexagon, and it is coloured accordingly. The winning team then chooses the next hexagon. Give the quiz question or clue for the letter or letters in that hexagon, and both teams race to answer as before. The first team to connect their hexagons from top to bottom or left to right wins the game. show less

ESL Christmas Conversation Questions Activity - Grammar, Vocabulary and Speaking: Gap-fill, Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled and Freer Practice - Pair Work In this free Christmas speaking activity, students complete Christmas questions with question words and then ask and answer the questions with a partner. First, in two groups, students complete Christmas conversation questions with question words from a box. Students then pair up with someone from the other group and take turns asking and answering the questions with their partner. Afterwards, students give feedback to the class on what they found out. show less

ESL Christmas Activity - Vocabulary: Writing Clues, Describing, Guessing - Pair and Group Work In this useful Christmas crossword activity, students complete a crossword by describing and guessing Christmas vocabulary. First, in two groups, students invent and write down clues for the Christmas words written on their crossword. Students then pair up with someone from the other group and take turns asking their partner for a clue to one of their missing Christmas words. Their partner reads out the clue for that word, and the other student tries to guess what it is. If the student guesses the word successfully, they write it on their crossword. If not, their partner continues to give more clues until the student is able to guess the word. Afterwards, students check their spelling by comparing crosswords. show less

ESL Christmas Word Search - Vocabulary Game: Word Search, Forming Sentences - Group Work In this productive Christmas word search and game, students find Christmas vocabulary in a word search and then use the words in sentences. First, students find Christmas vocabulary in the word search. Afterwards, review the position and meaning of each Christmas word with the class. Next, put students in small teams and call out a Christmas word at random from the word search. The first student to put up their hand and make an appropriate sentence with the word scores a point for their team. This process continues until all the words have been used. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. show less

ESL Christmas Worksheet - Drawing and Writing Exercises: Drawing, Writing and Presenting a Description In this imaginative Christmas worksheet, students draw, colour and describe Christmas pictures. To begin, students draw and colour a Christmas picture. Students then think about what they can see in the picture and what is happening. Next, students write adjectives, nouns and verbs they can use to describe their picture and write them in a box on the worksheet. After that, students use the words to write a description of their Christmas picture. Finally, students present their pictures and descriptions to the class. show less

ESL Christmas Board Game - Grammar and Speaking: Forming Sentences, True or False, Asking and Answering Questions, Guessing, Freer Practice - Group Work In this fun Christmas board game, students play a true or false guessing game to practice Christmas vocabulary and 'be going to'. In groups, students take turns rolling the dice and moving their counter along the board. When a student lands on a square, they pick up a true or false card. The student then makes a 'be going to' statement about the Christmas topic on the square, giving either true or false information as indicated on the card, e.g. 'I'm going to make a Christmas cake for my mum.' The other students then ask questions to determine if the student is lying or telling the truth, e.g. 'When are you going to make the Christmas cake?' After a few questions have been answered, the group members guess whether the student's answer is true or false. The student then reveals the answer. The group members who guessed correctly each score one point. When a student reaches the finish, the game ends and the points are added up. The student with the most points wins the game. show less

ESL Christmas Game - Vocabulary: Asking and Answering Questions, Guessing, Freer Practice - Group Work In this memorable Christmas vocabulary game, students ask yes/no questions in order to guess words related to Christmas. In groups, students take turns picking up a card. The card shows the Christmas vocabulary the other students need to guess. The other students then take turns asking one yes/no question to the student using a game sheet to help them, e.g. 'Is it green?' As the student with the card answers each question, students eliminate vocabulary from the game sheet that doesn't apply. When a student thinks they know the answer, they wait until their turn to make their guess, e.g. 'Is it mistletoe?' If the student guesses correctly, they tick the word on their game sheet. The student with the most correct guesses at the end of the game wins. show less

ESL Grinch Worksheet - Listening Activity: Short Answer Comprehension Questions In this handy Christmas worksheet, students answer comprehension questions about the film 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas.' Students watch the film and answer the comprehension questions on the worksheet. When the film is over, check the correct answers with the class. show less

ESL Christmas Activity - Reading: Following Instructions Here is a practical Christmas activity to help decorate the classroom for Christmas. Working alone, students read the instructions on the worksheet and make a snowflake using paper and scissors. Students then use the snowflakes to decorate the classroom by hanging them up or taping them to the window. As an extension, students make small snowflakes and glue them to some coloured paper to make a Christmas card. show less

ESL Christmas Play - Reading, Listening and Speaking Activity: Role-Play, Answering Comprehension Questions, Drawing - Group Work In this interesting Christmas role-play activity, students practice related vocabulary by performing a short Christmas play and answering comprehension questions about it. Assign each student a role in the play. Students then practice the script in their groups, rehearsing the play several times and acting out the various scenes. Next, groups take turns performing the play in front of the class. As the other students watch, they answer comprehension questions based on the story. When all the groups have performed the play, elicit the answers to the questions from the class. Finally, students draw a scene from the play. show less

ESL A Christmas Carol Worksheet - Listening Exercises: Matching, Predicting This Christmas worksheet is based on the story 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens. The worksheet can be used to check the students' comprehension of the film. Students begin by reading an introduction to the story. Students then watch the short film 'A Christmas Carol' and match sentences on the worksheet to each ghost, according to the things that each ghost shows Scrooge. When all three ghosts have visited Scrooge, stop the film and check the answers with the class. Students then predict what will happen next. Students then continue watching to check to see if their predictions were correct. show less

ESL Christmas Worksheet - Reading and Writing Exercises: Matching, Ordering, Answering Comprehension Questions, Identifying, Writing a Paragraph This useful Christmas worksheet helps students learn about Christmas traditions and practice narrative tenses. Students begin by matching Christmas vocabulary from a story they are going to read to pictures. Students then read paragraphs from the Christmas story and put them in the correct order. Next, students answer reading comprehension questions about the story. After that, students find examples of narrative tenses in the story. Finally, students write a short Christmas story using the narrative tenses and then read it to the class. show less

ESL Christmas Game - Vocabulary, Grammar and Listening: Guessing, Gap-fill, Listening for Clues - Group Work In this insightful Christmas traditions game, students guess adverbs of frequency in sentences about English Christmas traditions. Read out the first sentence about Christmas in England from the worksheet. Teams then guess the missing adverb of frequency in the sentence. Teams that want to guess the adverb of frequency without a clue, give their answers first. Teams that are unsure of the correct answer ask for a clue. Teams score five points if they guess correctly without a clue and two points if they guess correctly after a clue has been given. This continues until all the sentences have been completed. The team with the highest score at the end of the game wins. show less

ESL Christmas Game - Speaking: Miming, Forming Sentences, Guessing - Group Work Here is a free Christmas game to practice common Christmas traditions and the present continuous tense. In the game, teams guess what Christmas traditions or activities students are doing from mimes. A student from one team comes to the front of the class and receives a mime card. The student then asks the class, 'What am I doing?' and performs the mime on the card. When a member of either team thinks they know what Christmas tradition or activity the student is doing, they call out their answer by making a present continuous sentence, e.g. 'You are singing a Christmas carol.' The first student to correctly guess the sentence scores a point for their team. A student from the other team then comes to the front of the class, and so on. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. show less

ESL Christmas Worksheet - Reading, Vocabulary and Writing Exercises: Ordering, Answering Reading Comprehension Questions, Identifying, Short Story Writing In this comprehensive Christmas worksheet, students read a Christmas story and complete comprehension exercises based on the text. First, in pairs, students read story strips and put them in the correct order to create a Christmas story. Next, working alone, students answer comprehension questions about the main details of the story and identify words used for dialogue. After that, students write from the point of view of one of the characters in the story, describing what happened. Finally, students read their points of view of what happened in the story to the class. show less

ESL Christmas Activity - Vocabulary: Gap-fill, Matching, Binary Choice, Sentence Completion - Pair Work Here is an intriguing Christmas vocabulary activity to help students practice words related to Christmas and Christmas traditions. Working alone, students complete the beginning of each sentence with a Christmas word from a box. Student A then starts by reading out the beginning part of their first sentence to Student B, who listens and chooses a suitable ending from their worksheet. Student B then reads out the second part of the sentence with its correct preposition. If the other student agrees it is correct, they write it down. If not, Student B reads other possible endings to find the right one. When Student A has completed all their sentences, the two students swap roles. Afterwards, review the correct answers and Christmas vocabulary and traditions with the class. show less

ESL Christmas Activity - Vocabulary and Speaking: Gap-Fill, Asking and Answering Questions from Prompts, Controlled and Freer Practice - Group and Pair Work In this engaging Christmas speaking activity, students practice adjectives by completing, asking and answering Christmas conversation questions. First, in two groups, students complete each Christmas conversation question with an adjective from the box. Next, students pair up with someone from the other group. Students then take turns asking and answering the conversation questions with their partner, responding with the adjective contained in the question. Afterwards, students share what they found out about their partner with the class. show less

ESL Christmas Game - Grammar: Rewriting Sentences, True or False, Guessing, Gap-fill - Pair Work In this challenging Christmas game, students learn about Christmas traditions and facts by playing a true or false game and then completing sentences from the game in the present and past simple passive. First, teams make ten true passive sentences about Christmas false by changing one piece of information in each sentence. Teams then take turns reading each false sentence to another team, who has one chance to guess which part of the sentence is wrong. For each correct guess, teams score a point. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. Finally, working alone, students complete Christmas sentences from the game in the present or past simple passive using verbs from a box. show less

ESL Christmas Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Matching, Asking and Answering Questions, Guessing, Controlled and Freer Practice - Group and Pair Work In this fun Christmas vocabulary game, students answer Christmas questions and hide a secret word in their responses for a partner to guess. In two groups, students begin by matching sentence halves to form Christmas conversation questions. Next, students pair up with someone from the other group and take turns asking each question to their partner, who answers by talking for 30 seconds using a secret Christmas word somewhere in their response. When their partner has finished talking, the other student has two chances to guess the secret word. If the student guesses correctly on the first try, they score two points. If they guess correctly on the second try, they get one point. If the student doesn't guess correctly, their partner reveals the answer, and no points are awarded. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins. show less