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Christmas Activities.
Finally, the Christmas season approaches, bringing us a sense of relief. Not just that, but a well-deserved break for many. This year has challenged everyone, but especially those whose job involves others. We are grateful for teachers, and all they do – educating generations with care and passion.
Here at Emile, we thought we could give back by suggesting five fun activities you can use in your classroom. It is time to enjoy this last week of work before we take shelter in mince pies and Christmas puddings.
We hope these ideas inspire you to use them for your classroom.
From the Emile team, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Children's Meditation
A relaxed start to the day. We understand how excited students can get when this time of the year approaches. Therefore, it is important to take some time to wind down. Research has found that meditation in children helps them develop personal boundaries such as being focused, taking time to breathe and mindfulness. However, getting a young student to relax during such an exciting period might be hard.
Here are some meditation activities that are fun, but at the same time relaxing, for the Christmas season.
- Gratefulness. Meditation is not just about sitting in silence, it is also about appreciating the things we have.
Students can state what they are grateful for this year, like for example, I am grateful for being able to come to school and see my friends.
- The concentration of a word, thought, sensation, or image. Have your students relax in their seats and imagine they are walking on snow. How does that feel? Can they smell anything?
You can end this meditation with an affirmation such as, today is going to be a good day.
- Compassion. Everyone deserves to receive a compliment, especially after this stressful year. Encourage students to say one nice thing about someone else, this could be easily done in teams of four or pairs. Teachers can start first to break the ice by saying things like: I am grateful for my classroom and my students.
Emile Games
At Emile we have multiple games that are fun and promote learning, the range includes both literacy and numeracy subjects. Have your students travel through space and complete tasks then reward them with coins so they can upgrade their Emile character.
You can find multiple games online, but there are more options and games on the app.
Request your free trial here.
The app is available for windows 8, 8.1, & 10, Windows 7 (MSI) google android, and iPhone and iPad.
Crafts
With all the excitement the festive season carries, it is always fun to let it out on fun activities which involve creating and using one’s imagination. Make your classroom into a fun workshop by incorporating the following activities:
- Santa says
Just like Simon says, but with a special guest: Santa! This could be a fun game to pass the time and get students moving. You can collaborate with students by taking turns who gets to say, “Santa says”. You could try the following orders:
Santa says to sing a Christmas carol for 5 seconds.
Santa says what’s two plus three?
- You can also hide certain objects around the room and get students to find them when Santa requests the object.
- Word find (find words in Christmas words)
Students can work in teams and find as many words as they can that are hidden within Christmas words. Here are a few examples:
- Christmas: air, has, mist, cast.
- Snowfall: Now, sow, wall, won.
- Family: Lima, Yam, I’m, lay.
- Brussel sprouts: Bus, s.o.s, trouble.
For more ideas try using an online unscrambler.
- Christmas cards
This can be a fun arts and crafts activity that gets your students to create small gifts for others. Get the coloured cardboard, glitter, and glue sticks out and watch what your students come up with.
- Jump to the front.
Jump to the front is a classic game that can be applied in the classroom or the playground. You simply state something and have everyone who relates to your sentence take a step forward, if you do not relate to the sentence you stay put. This is a great way for students to learn about each other’s cultures.
- I am a Christmassy person
- In my culture we do not celebrate Christmas
- Our Christmas tradition
- I enjoy friend times
- I enjoy Christmas movies
- Christmas tongue twisters!
We did a previous blog on alliteration and tongue twisters, and have found them to be very useful for students to develop language skills. Tongue twisters are incredibly fun and always gets people laughing. Try some of the following with your class:
- Running reindeer romp ’round red wreaths
- Eleven elves licked eleven little licorice lollipops
- There’s chimney soot on Santa’s suit
- Frosty froze frequently, furthermore fell on frozen frost freezing his fiddly thumbs
Christmas Films
Or course, how can we forget! Christmas films are a great idea for the classroom, especially on the last day of term. Get some snacks and have the students pick a film that they would like to watch, keeping in mind age restrictions and policies within the school.
Here are some ideas of things you can watch that we came up with:
- Dr. Seuss’: The Grinch
A classic film that everyone can enjoy! [Rated PG]
- Klaus
Released in 2019, the story follows a mailman on his quest to deliver Christmas presents. This film is a great representation of Christmas as it focuses on family and being together. [Rated PG]
- 2. Elf
Another classic, released in 2003 yet is still one of our top films for Christmas. [Rated PG]
- The Polar Express
A film about being grateful for one has. Another classic which never gets old.
[Rated G]
Christmas Music
Listen and dance to different types of Christmas music from different cultures!
Christmas music is always fun, but what can be interesting is listening to other cultures’ Christmas music. You could have the music playing in the background whilst you do arts and crafts, or you could do classic games such as musical statues, the last chair, and pass the parcel.
We hope these ideas have given you some inspiration.
And from the Emile team, we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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