Top 5 back-to-school activities after winter break

Category: Teaching

Coming back to school in January after the winter break can be challenging for students and teachers. Everyone is used to sleeping in, and eating and doing whenever they want to, so the school day routine may be a bit hard to get adjusted to again. The last thing anyone wants to do is get right back to work the first day back.

Teachers should try to avoid diving right into the schoolwork after the break. Instead, make the adjustment a little bit easier by welcoming students back with fun classroom activities that incorporate what they did over their holiday vacations.

Here are a few ideas and classroom activities to get your students back on track and motivated to learn once again.
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1. Create a holiday memory book

The students have probably accumulated a lot of great memories of their holidays. Maybe some of them went on trips or visited their relatives. These are stories that can be shared with the class on a holiday memory book. When students came in for the first day in school, ask them to describe their holiday experience and prepare short narratives that can be added to this book. They can also draw or bring in pictures about their favorite holiday memory.

Here are some prompts for the book:

• I went/visited...
• I ate...
• I played...
• My favorite part was...
• The weather was...
• The people were...
• The only thing I would change would be...

During the winter break

2. New Year resolutions
Returning from holiday break is the perfect time to teach students how to reflect upon the past year and to make positive changes for the new year. Tell students that the new year means a fresh start and they can make promises to themselves that are positive and realistic. You may brainstorm with the students about the resolutions and help them to make the best ones.
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The resolutions generally start with:

• My goals for the new year are…
• In the new year, I want to get better at…
• In 2022 I want to learn…

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Here are some resolutions:

• Exercise: do more exercise / join a gym 
• Health: lose some weight / eat more fruit every day / go on a diet / eat less "X" / give up junk food
• Hobbies: start a new hobby / join a club/ learn a new skill (how to draw, play an instrument)
• Friends: make new friends / spend more or less time with friends
• Studies: study more / do more homework / listen to my teacher / practice English
• Money: save more money / spend less

New Year's Resolutions

123 Goal Setting

3. Writing prompts
Provide students easy topics for a writing activity to share their holidays experience.
Here are a few ideas or prompts:

• During these holidays I have done several things. First, I…
• The best place I visited during this vacation was…
• My favorite holiday food is…
• During these holidays, the person who I spent most time with was…
• The best gift I have ever received is...

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My holiday experience

4. Review of past tense
Ask students to describe what they did during their Christmas holidays using the worksheets provided. 

Christmas - Past simple

Christmas activities

Christmas - Crossword

5. Find someone who
Students will practice asking and answering questions about Christmas.
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Find someone who - After Christmas

Did you eat turkey at Christmas?
No, I didn't. I ate baked ham. It was delicious. ​

Did you drink Mexican Christmas punch?
Yes, I did. I drank too much punch.

Did you have a Christmas tree at home?
Yes, I did. We spent many hours decorating it.

Extra activity: Have a party
Bring some cookies and hot chocolate and have a conversation with the students about their holidays. Try having students guess what gift or present they received. ​​
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Do you have any back-to-school activities that you would like to share? Please share your ideas in the comment section below, I would love to hear your comments.  ​