Using LearnEnglish Kids - British Council


	Can your child guess what this present is? Play a guessing game!

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Christmas Presents

Teachers can find tips for using Christmas resources on Language Assistant from the BBC/British Council Teaching English website.

Christmas Presents

Ideas for primary teachers on using the topic of Christmas from the British Council's Teaching English website.

USEFUL WEBSITES

Here are some websites that have useful information or activities about the topic of Christmas and Christmas presents.

CBBC
Link to the BBC's website for children, a special advent calendar with links to lots of Christmas themed games and activities.

CBEEBIES Pantomime Maker
A pantomime is a traditional Christmas event for many children in the UK. They are often based on traditional stories like Cinderella or Aladdin You can make your own on the BBCs website for younger children.

A Snowman Poem
You can find this and other seasonal poems for Children on Christmas-time.com. Your children will enjoy the story of what happens when Santa starts to worry about losing his hair in Under Santa's Hat.

	using learnenglish kids with your child


	Christmas Presents

Christmas is an exciting time of the year for children in the UK and many other parts of the world. Traditionally Santa delivers presents on the night of the 24th December, Christmas Eve. These days celebrations in the UK are likely to involve family parties, special Christmas programmes on TV, and eating seasonal foods such as turkey and mince pies. Many children receive presents which 'Santa' may leave around the Christmas tree or in some other special place.

You'll find resources about Christmas presents on LearnEnglish Kids on this page: http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-topics-christmas-presents.htm

With these materials children will be able to:

			Practise words for toys and other Christmas presents
			Listen to and sing a song about Santa and his elves
			Listen to and read a story about Santa and a little girl who helps him deliver Christmas presents
			Play a listening game to help Santa and Amy deliver presents
			Make Christmas decorations for your home or school

The activities are for all ages and levels. Activities are marked with a symbol to indicate the best age group and level. Look at these when you choose which activities to use with your child.

Younger children will enjoy the song about about Santa's busy elf, and there is worksheet for then to read and colour a picture of Santa and lots of activities to practise words for toys.

Older children may enjoy a quiz about Christmas words, they can look at organising a letter and practise listening with a game to help Santa deliver presents.

Below you'll find an idea for an activity you can try with your child using some of these materials. On the left you'll see a list of links to resources about this topic on teaching websites and other external websites that you may find useful. Please note that the British Council is not responsible for the content of external websites.

SOMETHING YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR CHILD

This is a game which children can play together or you can play with your child. It enables your child to review the vocabulary for toys and practise phrases for making guesses.

You will need the printable flashcards which you can find on the Christmas Presents topic page or under Print and Do.

			Print two copies of the toy flashcards and one copy of the wrapped presents, you may back them with card in order to re-use them.
			First use the toy flashcards to teach or practise the words with your child.
			When your child seems reasonably confident with the words for toys they are ready to play a simple guessing game. Glue pictures of the toys and matching wrapped present back to back. Divide the cards equally between two players. Take it in turns to hold up the wrapped side and ask the other player to guess what the present is. Use this to practise language for making guesses: “I think it’s a …..” “It could be a …..” “Perhaps it’s a ….”
			Your child can personalise this activity by making flashcards of their own toys.