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[my_way]

Hi all.....I have to plan a christmas party this year for three 4-5 y.o's. I'm going to do a craft, decorate cupcakes, and have prepared an easy worksheet. As far as games all I have is, pin the nose on rudolph and bingo.....but the class is 3 hours so I'm trying to think of a few other activities.
thanks

[Rezz]

drill some christmas vocab and play a few card games using flashcards, then make a christmas card using glue and pre cut out shapes?

maybe get them to ask you for the ones they want (eg "a christmas tree please!" - "here you are")

or something with presents might be good but then you have to actually have something to wrap up

[G Cthulhu]

Take them out drinking. :)

[my_way]

can't take them out drinking, but i will certainly have a few after the 'party'
i plan on making a christmas card, but it's game ideas i'm really looking for.....any other ideas???

[pnksweater]

It�s hard to combine a holiday lesson around specific grammar. But if you�re okay with focusing on the fun aspects and fitting in the target language where possible then there are plenty of things you can do. Remember, even something as dull as passing out art supplies can become an opportunity to use the target language. �May I have the scissors, please?� �I want four please.� �Red crayon please.� For kids this young be prepared to do a lot of prep for any craft activities. Anything involving scissors will eat up party time. In addition to Christmas cards, you could also do letters to Santa. Kids this age are probably pre-literate so they�ll have to draw their wishes. They can take turns sharing their letters with the class (good for practicing �I want��).

Aside from Christmas crafts, there�s always reading stories with a felt board or finger puppet role play. You could teach a simple holiday song. The 12 days of Christmas is a mouthful, but it�s a good one for counting. Plus it�s pretty easy to find visuals to go along with the song.

You could also do a holiday spin on some classic games. A game of Simon says becomes a holiday activity when you change the name to Santa says. A blindfolded game of put the snowman/Santa together is good for a few laughs too (and good for practicing body parts). To practice clothing items, buy a couple of cheap DAISO Santa suits and have kids race to put on the clothing items as they�re called out. Bring a Christmas stocking and mystery items and play a game of �what�s this?�

I don�t know if it�s an option for you, but no party is complete without snacks. If you have a moven or gas burner you might also try your hand at cooking something Christmas-y.

[sabina]

Here are some ideas...you could do the cutting beforehand for most of these projects:
Brown bag Santa Craft
What You�ll Need
brown bags
White yarn
Scissors
Cotton ball
Red felt
Black marker or crayon
Glue
Ruler
How to make your Santa bag:
1) Cut the red felt out in a triangle for the hat. Large circle for the nose and a small circle for the mouth.
2) Glue shapes to bag.
3) Draw eyes on bag with marker or crayon.
4) Use ruler to measure 3 inch lengths of yarn for the beard, cut. Then glue to bag.
5) Glue cotton ball to top of the hat and make a beard on bottom of bag.
Paper Plate Snowman
What You�ll Need
3 paper plates per snowman
Stapler
Colored paper
Markers
Scrap fabric
Found objects
Glue
Instructions
1. Staple three paper plates so that they are slightly overlapping.
2. Use markers, colored paper, scrap fabric, and found objects to give the snowman a face, hat, and clothes. For example, raisins can be used for eyes. A piece of fabric could be a scarf. Pipe cleaners can become the snowman's arms.
3. Glue or staple the snowman's features into place.
And a game:
Xmas guessing game:
Start the game by telling each child to think of the one thing they would like to have for Christmas. Be sure to let them know it can be anything their heart desires (a pony, a bike, a brother...). Give them some time to think it over before you start the game.
When your ready to play give each child a piece of paper and pencil. Have them write their choice down, fold it over and place it in a container. Be sure to tell them that no one else can see their choice. (They could draw a picture of what they want as well.)
Now begin the game by having the first child select a piece of paper. Have them open it and read what the gift is. Starting with that person have them try to guess whose gift it is. Play continues around the circle until someone figures it out. If it comes to the person whose gift it is before they have guessed it that person is out of the game. The person who guesses correctly picks the next gift from the container.
The game can actually end one of two ways. If only one person is left due to the elimination process they win the prize. If you have more than one person and have run out of guesses the person who guessed the most correctly wins.

[flyer]

check out genki english, and dream english
they have some good stuff for Christmas

http://www.dreamenglish.com/

http://genkienglish.net/index.htm

[Sweetsee]

If you arrange some small wrapped gifts you could do "pass the parcel". They sit in a circle and when the music stops someone gets to unwrap. You could use several layers of paper to prolong the activity.