¡Hola profes! How are you doing? I can’t believe we are almost halfway through December already! Where is the time going?
The holiday season is upon us, and it’s the perfect time to bring some Christmas cheer into your Spanish classroom while helping students expand their vocabulary. Christmas-themed activities are not only festive, but are also a fun way to engage students and connect language learning with students’ personal lives. Here are some creative ideas and resources you can use to make your December lessons merry and bright.
#1 Start with a Christmas-Themed Vocabulary List.
Kick off your Christmas unit with a free vocabulary list that features a wide range of Christmas-themed terms. This list serves as a great foundation for introducing essential vocabulary related to the holidays. Use it for:
- Daily Warm-Ups: Ask students to pick one word from the list and write a sentence or short paragraph using it.
- Memory Games: Create flashcards with the terms in Spanish on one side and English on the other for pair activities.
- Quick Reviews: Have students brainstorm as many related terms as they can remember at the start of class.
#2 Create a Festive Word Wall or Bulletin Board.
Transform your classroom into a holiday wonderland with a Christmas vocabulary word wall or bulletin board display. Word walls make great visual aids for students! Here’s how a Christmas-themed word wall can be useful in your classroom:
- Classroom Décor: Keep the holiday spirit alive by incorporating the display into a festive classroom theme.
- Interactive Matching Activity: Take the cards off the wall and mix them up. Have students work in teams to match terms with their definitions.
- Vocabulary Scavenger Hunt: Challenge students to use the word wall to find specific terms during other activities.
- Word of the Day: Select one word from the wall each day to spotlight. Discuss its meaning, pronunciation, and any cultural connections. Encourage students to use the word in a sentence or short story.
- Vocabulary Relay Race: Divide the class into teams. Call out a description or definition of a word, and one student from each team must race to the wall to point to or grab the correct card.
- Pictionary/Charades. Choose words from the wall and use them in a Pictionary or Charades game. Students can draw or act out the word while their classmates guess it in Spanish.
- Writing Prompt Inspiration. Use the word wall as inspiration for creative writing activities. Assign students to write a holiday story, poem, or dialogue using a specific number of terms from the wall.
Like the idea of a Christmas-themed word wall? Grab this ready-to-print word wall featuring 63 Christmas-related terms with corresponding images, available in 6 different formats!
#3 Play Christmas Vocabulary Bingo.
There’s no better way to review vocabulary than with a game of Christmas vocabulary Bingo! Bingo is fun and engaging for students and, perhaps best of all, low-prep for you! Additionally, Bingo can be played in a variety of ways – as a whole-class activity, pair work, or an activity for centers or small groups! Here are some ideas for using Christmas-themed Bingo cards in the coming weeks:
- Group Bingo Competition. Divide the class into small groups and have them play Bingo as a team. Teams must agree on the correct answers before marking their cards.
- Progression Bingo. Instead of resetting the game after each round, continue playing until someone fills the entire card.
- Silent Bingo. Instead of calling out terms, display them as flashcards or on a PowerPoint slide. Students must match what they see to their cards.
- Listening Comprehension Bingo. Read a short holiday-themed story or description in Spanish, using vocabulary terms from the game. Students must listen carefully and mark any words they hear on their Bingo cards.
- Picture Challenge Bingo. Use Bingo cards that have images only – no text. Describe the item in Spanish without naming it directly, and have students match the words to the correct pictures. Example: “Es un lugar donde pones regalos, normalmente en la sala. ¿Qué es?”
- Action Bingo. When students mark a word on their cards, they must perform a related action. Example: Pretending to open a gift for “el regalo.”
- Student-Led Bingo. Assign a student to be the Bingo caller. This gives them practice with pronunciation and speaking in Spanish. Rotate callers each round.
If you’re interested in Christmas-themed Bingo cards, but not the idea of making them yourself, I’ve got you covered! Grab this ready-to-use Christmas vocabulary Bingo set with 35 unique cards in three formats (images only, text only, or images with text)!
#4 Preguntas Personales.
Add a personal touch to your lessons this December by asking your students about their plans, traditions, and preferences! These are perfect for speaking and writing activities! Here are some ideas for using preguntas personales with your students:
- Carousel Conversations: Set up stations around the room with different personal questions. Students rotate in pairs, spending a few minutes discussing each question before moving to the next station.
- Speed-Dating Style Conversations: Arrange students in two lines or circles facing each other. Pose a question, and students discuss their answers with the person across from them. After a few minutes, one line or circle rotates, and a new question is asked.
- Snowballs: Write the questions on individual pieces of paper and crumple them into “snowballs.” Students throw the “snowballs” around the room, pick one up, and answer the question on it.
- Four Corners: Label the corners of your classroom with different answer options (such as, sí, no, depende, no tengo opinión). Read a question, and students move to the corner that represents their answer.
- Class Survey: Have students survey their classmates by asking the questions and recording responses. Afterward, they can create a summary or graph to present the class data to hang up around the classroom.
- Journal Writing Prompts: Assign one or more of the questions as a journal writing prompt. Encourage students to expand their answers into paragraphs or short essays.
Like the idea of preguntas personales, but don’t have the time to write your own? Don’t worry, I’ve done it for you! Grab this set of 15 editable Christmas-themed preguntas personales that you can use in your classroom ASAP!
#5: Christmas-Themed Color-By-Code Activities.
Color-by-code activities are a fantastic way to combine creativity, language practice, and holiday cheer in your Spanish classroom. Color-by-code activities can provide variety and adaptability, making them suitable for diverse student needs and proficiency levels. Here are some tips for integrating these activities into your lessons and suggestions for adding engaging twists:
- Individual Practice: Assign the color-by-code activities as individual tasks. Students complete the exercises and use their answers to color the picture correctly.
- Partner Practice: Pair up students to work on the activity together. They can discuss their answers and collaborate on coloring the picture.
- Whole-Class Competition: Divide the class into teams. Each team works together to complete the activities. The first team to complete the activities and color the picture correctly wins.
- Holiday-Themed Story Starter: After completing the color-by-code sheet, challenge students to write a short story about the scene they colored. They can use vocabulary and grammar from the activity in their story.
- Christmas-Themed Vocabulary Assessment Review: Use the activities as a fun way to review material before a test or quiz on Christmas-themed vocabulary. Choose activities that align with upcoming assessments and give students the chance to reinforce their knowledge in a low-pressure setting.
- Fast Finisher/Enrichment Activity: Keep color-by-code sheets available as an enrichment activity for students who finish other work early this season.
#6: Christmas-Themed Escape Room.
Escape rooms are a fantastic way to get students moving, collaborating, and using their Spanish in meaningful ways! If you’ve never tried one before, here are a few classroom-friendly ways to run an escape room using Christmas vocabulary and themes:
1. Create Stations Around the Room
Set up 4–6 stations, each with a different puzzle or task. Students rotate through the stations in small groups and must solve each task to earn a clue. Examples of puzzle types might include:
- Vocabulary matching or “find the definition” challenges
- True/false or multiple-choice reading questions based on a Christmas text
- “Which paragraph?” inference tasks
- Secret code words revealed through correct answers
- Images students must identify and match to vocabulary terms
2. Use Locks (Physical or Digital)
If you have lockboxes, assign each puzzle a code that opens the next clue. If you don’t want to manage physical locks, digital locks created in Google Forms or another app of your choice will work perfectly. Students enter each answer and only move forward when they’re correct.
3. Build in Movement and Collaboration
Escape rooms work best when students move around and rely on one another. Encourage different team roles:
- Reader: reads the instructions and story text
- Recorder: writes answers
- Decoder: applies answers to open the lock or clue
- Runner: gets new clues or checks with you when needed
This helps everyone stay engaged, not just the fast finishers.
4. Use a Short Story as the Anchor
A brief Christmas-themed story gives students the context they need. All puzzles can connect back to the reading so students repeatedly revisit vocabulary in context. This creates strong comprehension practice without feeling like a worksheet.
5. Add a Final Challenge
After groups solve all puzzles, give them one last clue they must assemble to “escape.” This could be a hidden message, a puzzle piece image, or a short writing prompt in Spanish they must complete.
If you want a ready-to-go option, check out this print-and-digital Spanish Christmas Story Escape Room, which includes the story, puzzles, and answer keys!
Bringing holiday themes into your Spanish classes is a fantastic way to keep students engaged while they practice new vocabulary. With these ideas and resources, you can foster a festive and educational atmosphere that your students will love.
Don’t forget to grab the free vocabulary list and explore the other Christmas-themed resources mentioned above. ¡Feliz Navidad! 🎄
Señora Q 