Advent calendar of English activities
Free · no ads · no accounts
An advent calendar turns December's countdown into a daily English habit. Every morning a child opens the door for today, and behind it is a short winter activity for the whole class: a chant, a guessing game, a drawing, some counting, a mime. Each one takes two to five minutes and needs little more than the board. Doors open with the date on your device, and a door missed over the weekend is still there on Monday. Teacher mode opens any door early, so you can plan ahead.
- Age
- Ages 3–11
- Format
- Online tool
🗓️ Advent calendar
Preview: the calendar opens on 1 December. Door 1 is open, so you can try it now.
Door 1 · Mime · ⏱ 3 min
Build a snowman
Build an invisible snowman together. Roll a big ball and a small ball, then add a hat, a scarf and a carrot nose — the class names each part as they mime it. Finish with the chant.
🗣️ Say it together
Roll, roll, roll the snow. Big ball, small ball — hello, snowman!
All 24 doors, day by day
Every activity in the calendar, in order — read ahead, get ready the few that need a bell or a sock, or run the calendar from paper on a day without a screen.
Show all 24 activities
1 December · Mime · 3 min
1. Build a snowman
Build an invisible snowman together. Roll a big ball and a small ball, then add a hat, a scarf and a carrot nose — the class names each part as they mime it. Finish with the chant.
The class says: Roll, roll, roll the snow. Big ball, small ball — hello, snowman!
2 December · Guessing · 4 min
2. What's in the gift?
Draw a big wrapped gift on the board and secretly choose a toy. Children ask “Is it a…?” and you answer “Yes, it is” or “No, it isn't”. After each wrong guess, give a clue: it's soft, it's round, it's blue.
The class says: Is it a ball? — No, it isn't. Is it a teddy bear? — Yes, it is!
3 December · Counting · 3 min
3. How many bells?
Children close their eyes. Ring a bell — or tap a glass with a spoon — up to ten times. Eyes open: they hold up fingers and say the number together. Then a child rings for the class.
The class says: Ding, ding, ding! Three bells!
4 December · Drawing · 5 min
4. Decorate the tree
Draw a big empty tree on the board. One by one, children come up and add what you say: “Draw a yellow star. Draw three red balls. Draw blue lights.” The class checks each time: “Is it right?”
The class says: Draw a yellow star on the tree!
5 December · Game · 4 min
5. Santa says
Play Simon says with Santa: the class moves only when the order starts with “Santa says”. Santa says jump like a reindeer! Santa says fly! Turn around! Caught moving? Nobody sits out — everyone laughs and the game goes on.
The class says: Santa says: jump like a reindeer!
6 December · Guessing · 3 min
6. Feel and guess
Hide a small classroom object in a sock — a pencil, a crayon, a little toy. A child puts a hand inside without looking, feels it and guesses: “It's a pencil!” Change the object for the next child.
The class says: What's in the stocking? It's a pencil!
7 December · Game · 3 min
7. Freeze like a snowman
Put on any music and let the class dance. Stop it and call out a shape: “Freeze like a snowman!” “Freeze like a star!” “Freeze like a tree!” Everyone holds the pose until the music comes back.
The class says: Dance, dance, dance… Freeze like a snowman!
8 December · Drawing · 4 min
8. Cookie shapes
Name a cookie shape and everyone draws it in the air with a finger, then on paper: a star, a heart, a circle, a tree. At the end, count together: “How many stars? How many hearts?”
The class says: I'm making a star cookie. Yum!
9 December · Memory · 3 min
9. Find the pair
Draw eight mittens on the board, all mixed up: four pairs in different colours and patterns — red with spots, blue with stripes. Children find the pairs and say why they match.
The class says: These two match! Red with spots.
10 December · Speaking · 3 min
10. Weather report
Look out of the window together. One child is the weather reporter and tells the class: “It's cold and sunny!” or “It's hot!” December is winter in some countries and summer in others, so any answer is right if it's true outside.
The class says: What's the weather like today? It's cold and sunny!
11 December · Calm down · 2 min
11. Candle breathing
Everyone holds up one finger — it's a candle — and the other hand like a warm cookie. Smell the cookie (slow breath in through the nose), blow out the candle (slow breath out). Five times, then whisper: “I feel calm.”
The class says: Smell the cookie… blow out the candle. I feel calm.
12 December · Memory · 4 min
12. What's missing?
Draw five or six winter things on the board, or put real ones on a table. The class looks for ten seconds, then closes their eyes while you erase one or take it away. Eyes open: “What's missing?”
The class says: What's missing? The bell!
13 December · Patterns · 3 min
13. Light patterns
Draw a string of lights on the board and colour them in a pattern: red, green, red, green… Stop and ask “What's next?” — the class calls out the colour. Make it harder with three colours.
The class says: Red, green, red, green… What's next?
14 December · Listening · 3 min
14. Pass the whisper
Sit in a circle or a line. Whisper a winter word to the first child; it travels from ear to ear. The last child says it out loud — is it still the same word? Start the next one from the other end.
The class says: Snowflake… snowflake… snowflake!
15 December · Sorting · 3 min
15. Hot or cold?
Say a word. If it's cold, children hug themselves and shiver: “Brrr!” If it's hot, they fan their faces: “Phew!” Snow, ice, soup, hot chocolate, the sun, an ice cream… then let the children call out words for the class.
The class says: Snow is cold. Brrr! Hot chocolate is hot. Phew!
16 December · Guessing · 4 min
16. Winter animal riddles
Describe a cold-weather animal in three short clues and let the class guess: “It's white. It's big. It lives in the snow.” — “A polar bear!” Then a child gives the clues.
The class says: It's white. It's big. It lives in the snow. What is it?
17 December · Speaking · 4 min
17. Holidays in my family
Ask: “What do you do in the holidays?” Each child shares one thing their family does at Christmas, New Year or another winter holiday: “We eat cake.” “We sing.” “We visit Grandma.” Every family's way is a good way.
The class says: In my family, we watch fireworks at New Year!
18 December · Mime · 4 min
18. Winter fun mime
A child mimes something people do in winter — skating, skiing, sledding, throwing a snowball, building a snowman. The class guesses with a question: “Are you skating?” — “Yes, I am!” or “No, I'm not!”
The class says: Are you skating? — Yes, I am!
19 December · Spelling · 3 min
19. Missing letters
Write winter words on the board with a letter missing: sn_w, st_r, g_ft, b_ll. Children call out the missing letter, then spell the whole word together. For the little ones, leave out only the first letter.
The class says: S-N-O-W. Snow!
20 December · Speaking · 4 min
20. Dear Santa
Around the circle, each child says one wish: “Dear Santa, I want a…, please!” Older children add a reason: “because I like reading.” A wish can be for someone else too: “I want a sunny day for my grandma.”
The class says: Dear Santa, I want a teddy bear, please!
21 December · Game · 5 min
21. Paper snowballs
Each child draws or writes a winter word on scrap paper and scrunches it into a snowball. On “Throw!” everyone throws gently; on “Stop!” each child picks one up, opens it and says the word.
The class says: I've got a snowball. It says… reindeer!
22 December · Chant · 3 min
22. Bell and snow chant
Teach the chant line by line with actions: ring an invisible bell, wiggle your fingers for falling snow, clap, stamp and spin. Say it slowly, then fast, then in a whisper.
The class says: Ring the bell — ding, ding! Snow is falling — swish, swish! Clap, clap, stamp, stamp, turn around — whoosh!
23 December · Drawing · 5 min
23. Draw and guess
Whisper a winter word to a child, who draws it on the board — no letters allowed. The class guesses with “Is it a…?” Whoever guesses right draws next.
The class says: Is it a sleigh? — Yes, it is!
24 December · Speaking · 5 min
24. Thank-you star
The last door! Pass a paper star (or a soft toy) around the circle. Whoever holds it thanks someone in the class for something this year: “Thank you, Sam, for helping me.” Make sure every child is thanked at least once.
The class says: Thank you, Sam, for helping me!
The words behind the doors
How teachers use it
- Morning routine: the day's helper opens the door, you read the activity aloud, and the class does it before the lesson starts.
- Monday catch-up: Saturday's and Sunday's doors are already unlocked, so open them too — three short activities in a row make a festive warm-up.
- Planning ahead: in November, open every door in teacher mode to see which ones need a bell, a sock or some scrap paper.
Questions teachers ask
Why are most of the doors locked?
Doors open with the date on the device showing the page: on 5 December, doors 1 to 5 are open. Outside December the calendar is a preview with door 1 open. Teacher mode opens any door at any time, and from 25 December every door stays open.
What do the activities need?
Mostly just the board and the class. A few ask for something small you already have: a bell or a glass to tap, a sock with a toy inside, scrap paper for snowballs. Every door says how many minutes it takes, and the English the children say is written out in full.
Does it remember which doors we opened?
Yes, on this device only: opened doors stay open until you press “Close all doors”, and each December starts fresh. Nothing is sent anywhere.
All of them on one screen
Need the timer, the name picker and the quiet meter at the same time? The Classroom Screen puts every widget on one full-screen dashboard.
More classroom tools
Word of the day
One picture-word a day — the same for every classroom, changes itself at midnight.
Circle-time board
Today's day, weather and feelings — the morning message, in English.
Classroom timer
A countdown everyone can see, with one-tap presets from 1 to 60 minutes.
Games that go with it
Related resources
Interactive Game · 3–10 min
Letter Forge
The letters come out of the fire scrambled. Strike them onto the anvil in order, and the word quenches in a hiss of steam.
Interactive Game · 10–30 min
Star Quest
Teams sail an island of surprise cards — six kinds of challenge, and a class pet that hatches while you play.