Get Christmas into the classroom: How can teachers make this season special?

December is here so, as a teacher, you have an important job: to add some Christmas into the classroom!

With a few festive decorations, a couple of carols and some tips from us, you can really make a difference. Try to get the whole class involved – even those who don’t celebrate Christmas – as it’s a great chance for some end-of-year fun!

Here’s how we think you should bring Christmas into the classroom this year!

Put up decorations

It’s time for you to deck the school halls – here are three of our favourite decorations for the holiday:

1. Hanging decorations

Encourage your students to think of as many festive shapes as they can – stockings, trees and snowflakes are normally top choices.

Give them templates, or ask your class to create their own. They can then cut them out, and jazz them up using glitter or other craft supplies. You can help them hang these glitzy decorations from the ceiling (or the Christmas tree if you have one).

2. Class post-box

One of the best thing about Christmas is receiving cards. Make this easier for your class by setting up a post-box where they can send letters for delivery at the end of the day.

Do this by using a cardboard box, painting it red (or sticking red paper to it) and cutting a slot for envelopes to slide through. Then, add some instructions to it. These could include:

• What to put on the envelope (name, classroom, address)
• What time the envelopes need to be posted by
• A rota for who’s handing out cards today
• A reminder that you should make cards for everyone, so no one is left out

3. Fluffy snowmen

Be prepared to get messy with this one! Grab three cotton balls or pompoms and stick them together using glue, or by sewing them.

Your students can then decorate them with hats, carrots, googly eyes and sticks for arms. Place them around your room to bring a touch of Christmas into the classroom.

Play (educational) Christmas games

You can easily tie Christmas in with the curriculum. Here are a few great examples:

1. 12 days of Christmas maths teasers

Give your students a copy of the famous carol and ask them questions about it. This will test their maths and comprehension, so it’s a great way to assess their abilities. Here are some examples:

• How many items did your true love give?
• How many birds are there in total?
• If each maid-a-milking has their own cow and they all need slippers (because it’s cold in December), how many slippers do you need?

2. Plot a course for Santa

Use your interactive screen to map out a course for Santa on Christmas Eve. This is a great chance to teach kids about time zones and geography.

You could even add in your own rules or challenges to make it harder, (e.g. he must avoid bears, he can only travel at 88mph over America etc).

3. Challenge students to create a Christmas container

Whether it’s for presents, cookies, cards or something else, ask your students to make a sturdy container before the end of term. It will really test their imaginations.

Give them the dimensions of what the container should hold, and a list of materials they can use. You could even suggest using the 3D printer!

Create an assault course for the container to move around – then test them at the end of term, or ask the class to vote on their favourite.

Any other ways to get Christmas into the classroom?

There are plenty of additional things you can do to get Christmas into the classroom.

Make festive treats like mince pies, Christmas cake and cookies to snack on while watching a winter film (The Grinch is our favourite).

Or, you could kick things off by playing a Christmas song while the kids are coming into class.

Let your imagination run free, and put a little bit of Christmas into your classroom this year.

Need some extra equipment to get Christmas into the classroom? Our expert elves are happy to help – get in touch today!