10 Festive Christmas Activities & Decoration Ideas for Your TEFL Classroom

The holiday season is one of the most magical times of the year—especially in the classroom. Whether you’re teaching English abroad or online, December is the perfect opportunity to bring festive cheer into your Christmas lessons, boost student engagement, and create memorable learning moments.

If you’re looking for fun, simple, budget-friendly ideas for your Christmas lessons, we’ve put together the best Christmas classroom games and decoration inspiration for TEFL teachers. These activities work brilliantly with young learners, teens, and even adults.

1. Christmas Charades

Christmas Charades is a lively, low-prep activity that gets the whole class involved. Write festive actions on small slips of paper—wrapping presents, building a snowman, decorating a tree, or drinking hot chocolate.
Students take turns acting them out while their classmates guess.

Why teachers love it:

• Great for speaking and vocabulary

• Works in any classroom

• Zero materials needed

2. Santa Says

Bring a festive twist to your Christmas lessons with the classic game Simon Says.
Swap “Simon” for “Santa” and give fun commands like:

• “Santa says hop like a reindeer!”

• “Santa says jingle like bells!”

• “Santa says pretend to shovel snow!”

This game is perfect for young learners and supports Total Physical Response (TPR) techniques.

3. Christmas Bingo

An easy, high-energy game that students love.
Create bingo cards using festive vocabulary such as elf, sleigh, star, fireplace, candy cane, or snowflake.

Teaching tip:
Include pictures for younger learners and text-only for more advanced groups.

4. Pass the Present

A brilliant activity for end-of-term Christmas lessons!
Wrap a small gift with several layers of paper. Between each layer, add a challenge such as:

• Spell a Christmas word

• Name an item in the picture

• Describe your favourite holiday tradition

Play music while students pass the present around. When the music stops, the student holding it unwraps one layer and completes the challenge.

5. Christmas Pictionary

Split the class into two teams and let the festive competition begin.
Students take turns drawing Christmas-themed words while their team guesses within a time limit.

Great for building confidence, teamwork, and fast recall of vocabulary.

6. Guess the Christmas Song

Play the first 5 seconds of a popular Christmas song and let students guess the title.
This works wonderfully as a Christmas lesson warm-up or lesson closer.

Tip: Choose family-friendly songs and keep difficulty levels varied for multi-level classes.

Christmas Decoration Ideas for TEFL Classrooms

Creating a festive learning environment doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. These simple decoration ideas bring instant Christmas magic to your classroom.

7. Word Wall Garland

Turn festive vocabulary review into a decoration!
Write Christmas-themed words (snowflake, holly, reindeer, chimney, sleigh) on colourful cards, add a bit of glitter, and hang them as a garland across the classroom.

This doubles as a visual learning tool and looks fantastic.

8. Paper Snowflakes

A classic craft that never goes out of style.
Students love making them, and you can cover your windows, walls, or noticeboards with unique snowflake designs.
This activity also helps with following instructions and fine motor skills.

9. Christmas Tree of Goals

Create a large paper Christmas tree on the wall and invite students to write their English goals, wishes, or favourite festive vocabulary on paper ornaments.

Why it works:

• Encourages reflection

• Builds classroom community

• Makes a beautiful seasonal display

10. Festive Photo Corner

Set up a simple Christmas photo area using fairy lights, paper props, or a festive backdrop.
Students can take fun photos with Santa hats, reindeer ears, or signs like:
“Happy TEFL-mas!”
“Best Class Ever ”

Perfect for end-of-term memories—and great for your social media too!

Final Thoughts: Bring Joy to Your TEFL Classroom This Christmas

Christmas lessons don’t need to be complicated to be memorable. With just a few creative ideas, you can transform your classroom into a festive, fun, and educational environment that your students will talk about long after the holidays.

Whether you’re teaching abroad or online, these Christmas lesson games and decorations are guaranteed to bring laughter, learning, and a little holiday magic into your lessons.

If you want to continue growing your teaching toolkit, gain new skills, or prepare for a TEFL adventure in the new year, explore our internationally recognised TEFL courses.

Start your TEFL journey and give yourself the gift of opportunity this Christmas!