Here are ten ESL Christmas activities for adult and teen classes, from A1-A2 to B1-B2, with almost no preparation. Six of them come with a free printable page, and all six pages are in one free PDF with no sign-up. Each activity gives you the level, the time, a ready example to put on the board and the full lesson it leads to in our holiday lesson section.
Nothing here is written for children. The activities are built on opinions, culture and real language goals, so grown-up students don't feel they're wasting a paid class. Most of them also work in a class where some students don't celebrate Christmas, and the section after activity 10 shows which.
The activities at a glance | # | Activity | Level | Print | | 1 | Weird Advent Calendars | A1-A2 | page 1 | | 2 | Christmas Food Taboo | A2-B1 | page 2 | | 3 | The Gift Budget | A2-B1 | page 3 | | 4 | Awkward Questions at the Family Table | A2-B1 | page 4 | | 5 | Guess the Country | B1-B2 | page 5 | | 6 | The Regifting Debate | B1-B2 | page 6 | | 7 | Carol Gap-Fill | A2-B1 | none | | 8 | Two Holiday Cards | B1-B2 | none | | 9 | Christmas Quiz for Adults | A2-B1 | none | | 10 | Phrasal Verb Story Chain | B1-B2 | none |
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 Free · printable PDF · no sign-upChristmas ESL Activity PackSix pages, one for each of activities 1 to 6 below, in the same order: advent calendar cards, 16 food Taboo cards, a gift shop with a $100 planner, family table role cards, ten tradition cards and a regifting debate. Every page works for pairs or small groups without you reading anything aloud.6 activities6 pagesA1-A2 to B1-B2A4 and LetterDownload the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
1. Weird Advent Calendars
1of 10A1-A215 minOpinionsFree printable · page 1 How it works- Pairs read about six real kinds of advent calendar, from coffee and instant noodles to dog treats and one sock a day, and tick the two they would like.
- Together they agree on the funniest, the best gift for a friend, the one they'd buy and a waste of money, with one reason each.
- Each pair invents its own calendar in three sentences and presents it to the class.
| Write on the boardOpinionI think the noodle calendar is funny.AgreeI agree. It's cheap.DisagreeMaybe, but I don't eat noodles every day. |
| Online Share page 1 on screen and run each vote in the chat: students type the number of the calendar, then defend it out loud. |
Free printable · page 1 Six calendar cards with prices, a table for the four choices, opinion phrases and a frame for the students' own calendar. Download the free PDF |
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Where the vote leads Advent Calendars (A1-A2) uses short videos of real calendars and asks the same question in more detail: is a calendar like this good value or a waste of money? Advent CalendarsA1A2ProSee the Pro lesson → |
2. Christmas Food Taboo
2of 10A2-B110 minVocabularyFree printable · page 2 How it works- Two teams. A student takes a card and describes the dish without saying its name or the three words on the card.
- The team has one minute to guess as many dishes as it can, while a player from the other team watches the card.
- At the end, every student fills in an empty card with a dish from home, and the game runs again with those.
| A sample roundThe cardpanettone · Don't say: Italian, bread, cakeA good descriptionIt's tall and sweet, with dried fruit inside. People in Milan love it. |
| Lower level Allow one of the three words. In a mixed class, the home-dish round gives every student a turn as the expert. |
Free printable · page 2 16 cut-out cards with dishes from Europe and the Americas, from mince pies to tamales and bacalhau, plus four empty cards. Download the free PDF |
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The full lesson Christmas Food (A2-B1) builds a lesson around an article on traditional Christmas dishes and ends with groups planning an international Christmas dinner menu, which the home-dish cards lead straight into. Christmas FoodA2B1ProSee the Pro lesson → |
3. The Gift Budget
3of 10A2-B120 minSpeakingFree printable · page 3 How it works- Pairs get an imaginary $100 and a small gift shop of twelve items.
- They choose one present each for a boss, a neighbor, a teenage nephew, a best friend and themselves, and agree on every reason.
- They write two gift tags, then compare with another pair: which present is the most thoughtful, and which is the safest?
| Model languageSuggestLet's get your neighbor a scented candle.ReasonIt's cheap, and it's a safe choice.Push backThat's too expensive. We only have $18 left. |
| If your class runs a Secret Santa Use the same page to agree on the budget and the rules first, then plan the real gift exchange. |
Free printable · page 3 A gift shop with prices, a planner for five people, a box of adjectives for gifts and two gift tags to fill in. Download the free PDF |
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4. Awkward Questions at the Family Table
4of 10A2-B115 minFunctional languageFree printable · page 4 How it works- Groups of three. One student plays a nosy relative from a role card, and the other two are guests.
- The relative asks; a guest answers politely without really answering and changes the subject.
- Guests score a point for every polite escape and the relative scores for every real answer. Swap after four questions.
| A sample exchangeThe relativeSo, when are you getting married?The guestAsk me again next year! Did you try the dessert? |
| Keep it a game The relatives are invented, so nobody talks about their own family. For a second round, each group writes the nosy question relatives ask most in their country. |
Free printable · page 4 Three relative cards, Aunt Carmen, Uncle Frank and Cousin Mia, a guest card with four ways to dodge, and a score table. Download the free PDF |
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5. Guess the Country
5of 10B1-B215 minReadingFree printable · page 5 How it works- Pairs take turns reading a tradition card aloud. The partner guesses the country from a box of ten.
- The answers are upside down at the bottom of the page, so pairs check themselves.
- Each student writes one tradition from home on the empty cards, without the country, and the class guesses.
| One cardThe cardMany families buy a live fish a few days before Christmas and keep it in the bathtub.The answerthe Czech Republic |
| Why it works Every tradition is real, but several sound invented, so students argue before they check. Christmas traditions around the world feel real to an ESL class when the experts are sitting in the room. |
Free printable · page 5 Ten traditions from Sweden to Colombia, a country box, two empty cards and the answers upside down. Download the free PDF |
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6. The Regifting Debate
6of 10B1-B220 minSpeakingFree printable · page 6 How it works- Two teams, one question: is it OK to give away a present you received? Each team gets four arguments and adds one of its own.
- Debate in three timed rounds: open, answer back, finish.
- Then students drop their team and decide three real cases, and the class agrees on three rules for regifting.
| Opening linesForA gift is meant to be used. If I never use it, regifting is just recycling.AgainstA gift was chosen for you. Giving it away says it didn't matter. |
| B2-C1 business classes Move the debate to the office: a client sends an expensive gift. Keep it, share it or send it back? |
Free printable · page 6 The motion, four arguments per side, debate phrases, three tricky cases and lines for the class rules. Download the free PDF |
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7. Carol Gap-Fill
7of 10A2-B115 minListeningNo printing How it works- Play a well-known Christmas song twice. The first time, students answer one question: is the singer happy or sad, and how do you know?
- The second time, they fill eight gaps in the lyrics.
- Finish with a question that gets them talking.
| The last questionWhich line could be about your own life, and why? |
| Mixed classes Students who don't celebrate can do the same task with any winter or New Year song in English. |
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The gap-fill is ready in a free lesson Christmas Songs (A2-B1) is free. It's built on "Last Christmas" and "All I Want for Christmas Is You", with gap-fills, lyric analysis and pronunciation work on tricky words like mistletoe, reindeer and sleigh. Christmas SongsA2B1FreeOpen the free lesson → |
8. Two Holiday Cards
8of 10B1-B220 minWritingNo printing How it works- Students write two short cards with the same message: one to a close friend and one to a client.
- Pairs swap and underline every word that changed between the two.
- Together they list what makes the client card formal.
| Two modelsTo a friendMerry Christmas! Can't wait to catch up in January. Save me some of your mom's cookies!To a clientWishing you and your team a restful holiday season and a successful year ahead. |
| Mixed classes Students who don't celebrate write New Year cards. For the grammar mistakes in holiday cards, use the Fix the Card task in our Christmas grammar post. |
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9. Christmas Quiz for Adults
9of 10A2-B130 minVocabulary and cultureNo printing How it works- Teams of three or four. Read out a round, give teams a minute to agree and write their answers.
- Swap answer sheets for marking, so every team checks another team's English.
- The team with the most points picks the topic of the next class warm-up.
| A warm-up roundWhat do coworkers call a gift exchange where you buy for one secret name?In the US, what do children leave out for Santa?Name three things people put on a Christmas tree. |
| Answers Secret Santa · milk and cookies · any three, such as lights, a star and ornaments. For an online class, teams write answers in a private chat to you. |
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The full quiz Christmas Quiz for Adults is a Pro worksheet in eight rounds and 58 questions: Christmas words, traditions around the world, true or false, in/on/at, what to say in holiday situations, songs, films and British and American words. It comes with a teacher's copy and works as homework too. Christmas Quiz for AdultsA2B1ProWorksheetSee the Pro worksheet → |
10. Phrasal Verb Story Chain
10of 10B1-B215 minSpeakingNo printing How it works- Write twelve December phrasal verbs on the board.
- The class builds one December story together: each student adds a sentence with the next verb.
- A student who can't continue the story starts a new one with the same verb.
| The twelve verbsput up · take down · wrap up · run out of · splash out on · chip insell out · get together · catch up · dress up · pig out on · put up with |
| How it sounds "We put up the tree on Saturday." "Then we ran out of lights." "So my brother splashed out on new ones." "Everyone chipped in for dinner." |
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Teach the verbs first Christmas Phrasal Verbs (B1-B2) is a Pro worksheet that teaches the same twelve verbs through a family group chat and an office email, with a rule card on where the pronoun goes. Its last task asks about each student's own December, so it works for students who don't celebrate. Christmas Phrasal VerbsB1B2ProWorksheetSee the Pro worksheet → |
Christmas ESL Activity PackPages 1 to 6 hold the printables for activities 1 to 6, in the order of this post.Download the free PDF |
For classes that don't celebrate Christmas
Some students celebrate a different holiday, some celebrate nothing, and some adults find a Christmas class childish. Three moves keep the lesson useful for all of them.
- Teach Christmas as culture. Present it as something students meet in films, songs, shops and offices in English-speaking countries. Never ask about religion, and never assume who celebrates.
- Let students be the experts. The empty cards in activities 2 and 5 exist for this: students bring their own dishes and their own end-of-year traditions.
- Widen the topic to the end of the year. Winter plans, the year in review and New Year traditions work in every class. Our Christmas and New Year lessons post lists the lessons that work for any group.
Works without changes Activities 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 work in any class as they are. Activities 2, 7 and 8 work with the small change described in each one. |
Full Christmas lessons for adults and teens
Each activity above is a starting point. When you want a full Christmas ESL lesson plan for adults, with video, a teacher's version and a Quizlet set, open the lesson linked under the activity. More ideas for the same weeks: 30 Christmas conversation questions, Christmas movies by level, Christmas vocabulary and Christmas grammar.
Standard gives you the lesson PDFs and a Quizlet set for every lesson, Plus adds homework, and Pro adds Miro boards, interactive homework and games. Compare plans.
Christmas ESL activities FAQ
When is the best week to teach a Christmas lesson?
The last two weeks before your winter break. Students are already thinking about the holidays, and the words are everywhere they look.
Which of these activities work online?
All ten. Share the PDF pages on screen, run votes in the chat and use breakout rooms for the debate, the role play and the gift budget. In Taboo, send each card to the describer in a private chat.
Are these ESL Christmas activities suitable for teens?
Yes. In a teen class, swap the client card in activity 8 for a card to a teacher, and the boss in activity 3 for a teacher or a coach.
Do I need to sign up to download the PDF?
No. The Christmas ESL Activity Pack is a direct download, in A4 and US Letter.
