HO HO HO Christmas is coming! A special, joyous time is ahead of us, so make sure to celebrate it in your Teddy Eddie classes, too. Just add… a little bit of magic, some exercise and lots of smiles, and there you have it – your secret formula for a great lesson.
Let’s help children enjoy these magical moments together with Teddy Eddie.
To get your students intrigued and capture their attention right from the start, try using a YouTube recording of Santa’s voice, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLRipM03ZhA. Have them guess as quick as they can who is making that sound, answering in English, of course. Then ask students what other Christmas characters they know.
Next, you can move on to introducing vocabulary of your choice. You can use selected vocabulary from the Teddy Eddie books. My choice would be: Santa, an elf, a snowman, a star, a reindeer, a present, a Christmas tree, a hat, a gingerbread, Merry Christmas; and two alternative activities using vocabulary from the Toys and Food sections.
Below are some ideas for vocabulary consolidation activities:
SNOWBALLS (for ABC, SCHOOL and STANDARD groups)
What you will need:
sheets of white paper, a felt-tip pen or mini picture cards: (Santa, an elf, a snowman, a star, a reindeer, a present, a Christmas tree, a hat, a gingerbread and Merry Christmas), a fabric bag
There are two versions of this activity to accommodate different age groups.
For younger students – Stick mini picture cards with selected winter words on sheets of white paper (if you have some extra time available, you may want to draw them). Crumple the pieces of paper to form balls. Put the balls in the bag. Tell the kids that the paper balls are your presents. Teddy Eddie becomes Santa (to make this activity even more fun, have Teddy wear Santa’s beard or hat). Teddy draws a ball (a present) from the bag and throws it to a student who has to name the picture on the card.
For slightly older students – Hand out white sheets of paper. Ask students to choose and write down one winter related word they have learnt in the class. Only after the teacher checks their word for spelling, are they allowed to crumple up their sheet of paper. At the word START, students throw paper balls at each other.
Everyone must pick up one ball and then read out the word that has been written on it. If a student gets their own paper ball, they swap with another person.
HUNGRY SANTA CLAUS (for SCHOOL groups, improving global reading)
What you will need:
a game board, a pawn, picture cards: (such as Santa, an elf, a snowman, a star, a reindeer, a present, a Christmas tree, a hat, a gingerbread and Merry Christmas)
Place the picture cards on the whiteboard (this will make it easier for the students, as the word they have to guess will be on one of those) and then draw or stick your ready-made game board with Santa on it. Prepare a pawn (you can use a magnet). This is yet another version of the classic HANGMAN game. Draw snowflakes/ circles/ squares on the board (these will represent the number of letters in the word to be guessed). One by one, the children suggest a letter. With each incorrect answer, the pawn moves up another snowflake, closer and closer to Hungry Santa Claus. The game ends when the magnet reaches the last snowflake and lands in Santa’s tummy or when the children have guessed the word.
CHRISTMAS BOX (for ABC, SCHOOL and STANDARD groups)
What you will need:
box/ bag, laminated picture cards
Prepare the picture cards. Each card has a numbered present on one side and a picture of one vocabulary item from a given category on the other, e.g. Toys (words can be repeated). To make the cards more durable, you can laminate them, but this isn’t necessary. Put the cards in a bag/ box. Each student says a number in English and receives a card with that number. Their task is to name the picture on the card. You can also leave some cards empty. If the child finds one, they have to think of a toy and name it themselves (this is also a great opportunity to practise asking and answering the question What’s your favourite toy?).
This activity can also be performed with other picture cards, such as Santa, an elf, a snowman, a star, a reindeer, a present, a Christmas tree, a hat, a gingerbread and Merry Christmas.
LETTERS TO SANTA CLAUS (for ABC, SCHOOL and STANDARD groups)
What you will need:
envelopes, picture cards, felt-tip pens, scissors/ hole punch.
Insert picture cards into envelopes (for SCHOOL groups these can be word cards to practise global reading). Decorate the envelopes, e.g. addressing them to Santa. Show the envelopes to the group and tell the children that they will now help Santa read the letters.
Option 1 – Each child is given one envelope. They take out their picture (or word) card and name what they see.
Option 2 – Cut holes in the envelopes, so that once they are turned over, only small parts of the cards are visible. For example, you can use a snowflake-shaped hole punch or cut out simple shapes with scissors, such as circles, hearts, etc.
This activity can also be performed with other picture cards, such as Santa, an elf, a snowman, a star, a reindeer, a present, a Christmas tree, a hat, a gingerbread and Merry Christmas.
Let’s not forget that children also tend to associate Christmas with festive dishes and special treats. These will be the main theme of the next activity which is an opportunity to revise food-related vocabulary.
FEED SANTA CLAUS (for ABC, SCHOOL and STANDARD groups)
What you will need:
food picture cards, a cardboard cutout of Santa Claus, a small plastic bag, a paper clip
Cut out a cardboard shape of Santa Claus, making a hole for the mouth. From behind, attach a plastic bag and fix it with a paperclip.
With the group, go over the vocabulary and then stack the picture cards on top of each other. This is also an ideal opportunity to consolidate the structures learnt earlier with Teddy Eddie. Each student asks Teddy Eddie for one card e.g.: Can I have a strawberry, please? Teddy Eddie hands the card over, saying: Here you are. If the child uses the correct structure and the right food-related word, they can ‘feed’ Santa.
I hope you will find this year’s festive season even more magical with these Christmas themed classes and, of course, I warmly encourage you to share your inspirations and suggestions on the Edu Bears Teachers group. Together, we can come up with even greater ideas.
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The author of the article is Maria Charkot: “English has always been a companion in my life, at some point it became more than a passion for me. I felt that my goal was to enchant the youngest children with it at the beginning of their adventure with the language. Three years ago I started working with the Friday English school in Lomianki, which is licensed to teach using the Teddy Eddie method. I currently teach TEDDY EDDIE STANDARD (4-5 year olds), ABC (kindergarten) and SCHOOL (freshmen) groups.
You can learn more about the Teddy Eddie method here: https://edubears.com/teddy-eddie/, and find the nearest accredited Teddy Eddie method center on the map here: https://edubears.com/localizations/.