12 Days of TEFL: Tips & Teaching Ideas

December is one of the most enjoyable months to teach English, thanks to the endless creative possibilities the season brings. This advent-style guide offers twelve TEFL Christmas tips, each one a small but effective idea you can use to energise your lessons. Whether you teach online or face-to-face, these TEFL Christmas tips will help you keep students motivated and excited right up to the holidays.

Day 1: Start With a Festive Warmer

Begin each lesson with a seasonal question, image prompt or mini-game. Holiday warmers are one of the most effective TEFL Christmas tips for capturing attention quickly.

Day 2: Create a Festive Vocabulary Wall

Use digital boards or classroom displays to showcase Christmas vocabulary. Encourage students to contribute words each lesson.

Day 3: Incorporate Short Films

Short animated Christmas clips make excellent comprehension tasks. This is one of the most engaging TEFL tips for mixed-ability classes.

Day 4: Use Winter Idioms

Teach expressions such as “snowed under” and “break the ice.” Idioms enhance fluency and understanding of natural English.

Day 5: Introduce Christmas Debate Topics

Topics such as “Should Christmas gifts be homemade?” work brilliantly with teens and adults.

Day 6: Add Seasonal Pronunciation Drills

Festive tongue twisters increase confidence and energy—ideal for online classes.

Day 7: Christmas Card Writing Task

A simple yet meaningful activity. Students learn tone, structure and vocabulary.

Day 8: Holiday Role-Play

Shopping for gifts, planning a party or booking travel makes this one of the most practical TEFL Christmas tips.

Day 9: Research Traditions Around the World

Students present how their country celebrates Christmas. This develops speaking skills and cultural awareness.

Day 10: Use Stories to Teach Grammar

Select festive stories to practise past tenses or sequencing language.

Day 11: Incorporate Music

Christmas lyric gap-fills are perfect for listening practice. Learners always enjoy this seasonal activity.

Day 12: Host a Festive Quiz

Round off your advent calendar with a Christmas-themed quiz covering vocabulary, grammar and culture. One of the most fun Christmas classroom activities.

These TEFL Christmas tips will help you bring warmth, creativity and structure to every December lesson.

You may also like: Spending Your First Christmas Abroad as a TEFL Teacher – TEFL Institute of Ireland
Check out our YouTube for more practical tips for TEFL Teachers!