The festive season can be a busy time of year for teachers, parents and especially children. And between all the fun, it’s definitely possible to still continue a child’s learning with Pingu’s English. Teachers of Pingu’s English may like to undertake some of these fun festive activities in school. And parents of Pingu’s English students might also like to try some of these at home with their children too!
🎄 Write cards together for your friends and family. Why not look on a map to show them where they are being posted to, so that they gain a better understanding of the world? If they can write their name great, or if not the first letter of their name or even a mark would be good too.
🎄 When you receive cards yourselves, you could count how many arrive with your child. Or why not sort them by shape and talk about the images on each card? Your children will be so excited to receive these cards, so any learning opportunity you can use around them is great!
🎄 Why not help them write a letter to Father Christmas – even if they are still developing their writing skills, maybe they can draw a picture or squiggle? You could use different colour pens and paper or try cutting out and sticking any festive images you find in newspapers or magazines! 🎅
🎄 Pick your favourite festive recipe and have some fun baking. For example, you could bake some Christmas tree shaped cookies and experiment with different shapes and sizes, whilst working together with your child to weigh each ingredient following the recipe’s measurements! 🥧
🎄 Using an advent calendar, count down the days until Christmas – why not make your own advent calendar together! Or an over-sized one and put it up in class?
🎄 There are lots of Christmas songs you can enjoy singing together, including the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ song, a joyous tune which lists a number of festive items whilst also exercising your child’s knowledge of counting! 🎹
🎄 You can also do Christmas crafts which can help your children with their fine motor skills. Try making this penguin – cut out a black circle, then cut out a white circle to go on the top of the black circle for the penguin’s tummy. Next cut out two feet, two arms and two eyes and glue the hands and feet to the back of the card. Now glue the two eyes onto the white area about one third of the way down. Now cut out a red, triangular beak and stick it in the middle. Now you have your penguin. Be sure to display children’s work in a visible area as this will develop their self-confidence and belief. 🐧
🎄 Make salt dough Christmas decorations to hang on the tree in your school, or around the house. To do this you will need four cups of white flour, one cup of salt and one and a half cups of water. Mix it together and give each child one ball to mould into any shape they want. It is a good idea to have cutters on hand for them to use or they can make their own design.
Why not use some environmentally friendly glitter to add to make it sparkly? Once they have finished make sure to put a hole in the top with a pencil as this is where the string will go once it’s cooked. When everyone has finished one or two decorations put them in the oven. Once cooled the children can paint or decorate further, thread with ribbon and hang at home! ✨
🎄 Depending on the level of English of your children, a great Christmas game is to ask children to write down as many words as they can related to Christmas. This could be one for each letter of the alphabet or a verbal game depending on the level of your students. For example, going around the room/class and asking each child to provide a Christmas item for a, b, c etc.
Remember learning with Pingu’s English is always fun, as well as effective too. We hope you have a wonderful time undertaking some of these activities over the festive season and continuing your child or student’s learning with Pingu’s English. Wishing all students, parents and staff at Pingu’s English worldwide, the very best Christmas and Happy New Year!
Pingu’s English is a global pre-school franchise from the UK that has enrolled over a quarter of a million children into one of their programs in over twenty countries worldwide. For more information visit www.pingusenglish.com
First published on www.pingusenglish.com