Christmas classroom games are a great way to bring the festive season into the classroom so that the students and the teacher can have some fun. Sometimes Christmas classroom games can be created simply by adapting traditional games. Here are a few favorites that you might like to try this festive season.

Santa’s Hat

This game is a Christmas version of the game The Minister’s Cat. Both games are great for reinforcing the concept of adjectives and also challenge the children to be creative and think quickly.

The players sit in a circle and slowly clap a four beat pattern. Try – Clap hands, Clap hands on knees, Clap hands, Clap hands on knees (repeat). The first player says, ‘Santa’s Hat is an (adjective starting with A) Hat.’ The adjective could be awesome. This is said to the four beat pattern.

The four beats are then clapped again then the next player gives an adjective starting with B, e.g. beautiful Hat. Play continues with each person having a turn and keeping to the pattern – clap four beats, say the sentence (while the clapping continues), clap four beats, next person says the sentence. See how far through the alphabet the group can go without breaking the pattern.

Perfect Present

This game is a version of Celebrity Heads. Three children are selected to wear a Santa’s hat. The names of three presents – are written on cards and taped to their hats so everyone can see them except themselves. CD, train set, book, teddy, toy car or doll could be used. Each player then asks questions that can only be answered with yes or no, about their present. For example, Am I made of metal? Do you use me in the garden? When they receive a No answer, the next player starts their turn. The winner is the first player to guess the present.

Christmas Categories

The game of Scattegories can easily be adapted to a Christmas classroom game as described below.

Each player is given the list of 5 categories:

1. Christmas Presents 2. Christmas Food 3. Christmas Decorations 4. Santa’s Clothes 5. Christmas Songs

Players are told a letter of the alphabet. Within the specified time – 3 minutes is ideal – the players write down as many things as they can for each category. Each thing must start with the given letter of the alphabet, e.g. B – Presents – Bike, Blocks, Book.

When time is up, players count up the number of items that they have, scoring 1 point for each. An additional 5 points is given if they have at least one answer for each category. The player with the highest score tells the others their answers so they can be checked. This player is the winner of the round. Players can also team up and play in pairs or teams.

If you are looking for Christmas classroom games, those above are ideal but it might be even more fun to have the children pick their favorite games and then see if they can adapt them to give them a Christmas theme. Here are a few other ideas for Christmas classroom games. Why not try Christmas bingo with Christmas words, Christmas dominoes making the tiles with Christmas pictures or even Christmas Tic Tac Toe? Happy Christmas!