Great games to play with your class this Christmas
With the end of term in sight, and Christmas snapping at its heels, you are undoubtedly ready to start winding things down in the classroom. Once you've got all your loose ends tied up, it's time to bring a little festive cheer to your pupils and get everyone into the holiday spirit. What better way to do so than play some Christmas games in the classroom?
Christmas activities can be engaging, thought-provoking, or just plain silly. You could even try to sneak some learning in there too! The most important thing is to get everyone in the classroom involved, keep it fun and send all your pupils off on their winter break feeling positive and full of Christmas cheer.
With that in mind, here are our top 5 Christmas classroom games that all your pupils are sure to want to get involved with.
1. Pin the nose on Rudolph
We all know that pin the tail on the donkey is a classic party game that both young and old can enjoy. Pin the nose on the Rudolph will bring lots of laughter to your classroom regardless of your class size and whichever year you are teaching!
To create the activity, you'll need to print out or, if you are feeling particularly crafty, draw, a large picture of a reindeer. Stick it to some card to make it sturdy and then stick double-sided, or just a rolled-up ball, of sticky tape over its nose. You can then cut a red, circular nose out of cardboard. You could also cut out a nose for each member of your class and attach the double-sided tape to each nose if you prefer.
To play this game, you blindfold one member of the class, spin them around a few times, and then ask them to stick their nose onto the reindeer where they think it should be. The person closest to the correct spot wins!
2. Find someone who
This is a great game that will ensure your whole class feels involved. It isn't competitive, so it can keep everyone engaged and feeling positive. To create this game, you'll need to make a grid and then fill it with lots of statements related to Christmas. Your students must find someone who matches each of the statements on the grid. They can do this by mingling around the classroom and asking questions.
Some ideas for statements to include on your grid could be:
- Wants it to snow this Christmas
- Can make a proper Christmas dinner
- Hasn't bought any Christmas presents yet
- Loves Christmas carols
- Hates Christmas carols
- Has a funny/ silly/ strange family Christmas tradition
- Loves Christmas food
- Doesn't like Christmas food
- Wears Christmas jumpers on Christmas day
- Opens one present on Christmas eve
3. Christmas carol game
For a more educational Christmas game that's still fun and festive, you could try this Christmas carol game. Here you listen to the carol and ask pupils to write down any words or phrases they've never heard before or don't know. Next, distribute the lyrics written down and teach any new vocabulary to your students. You can also learn more about the carol itself, its origins, whether it's ever been played as part of a famous film or covered by a famous person.
Why not have a singalong once you've learned all about the carol? You could also play a game where your pupils have to memorize the lyrics. You could go around in a circle taking it in turns to remember the next lyric. Students who can't remember must sit down, and the last one standing is the winner!
4. Draw/Act/Describe
Who doesn't love a festive game of pictionary or charades? You can use Christmas themes to create cards that students then have to act out without words, draw, or describe using a limited amount of words. You can divide them into teams for a little bit of spirited competition! Pupils can take turns selecting a card and drawing, acting, or describing what's on it. If their team guesses correctly within 60 seconds, they keep the card. If not, it's passed to the other team who can confer and have one guess only - if they get it right, they keep the card. The team with the most cards at the end is the winner.
5. Memory game
A classic memory game with a festive twist! For this game, you'll need a large piece of card or paper on which you can cut out and attach various different Christmas-related items. Some ideas for items could be:
- Christmas presents
- Christmas pudding
- Robin
- Turkey
- Angel
- Christmas crackers
- Star
- Stocking
- Santa
- Reindeer
Give students a time limit to try and memorise the items on the board and then cover them up. See who can remember the most amount of items.
5 classroom games to keep your pupils entertained this Christmas!
These five festive games will make sure that you end the term on a high and that all of your pupils head into the Christmas season feeling positive, wound down, and ready to relax and enjoy their break - hopefully, you will too!
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