Actividades para Christmas: (English)

An important part of Christmas in the UK revolves around traditions; carol singing, eating mince pies, visiting Santa’s grotto and pulling crackers are just a few. However, there are also some that are not quite so well-known but just as important. Did you know that in many British homes Christmas is not complete without the whole family gathering together to watch the beautiful, animated film ‘The Snowman’. This incredibly moving piece of artwork is a must for any bilingual class too, from infants until primary (or even beyond). The movie itself has almost no words, only award-winning music, so it could be exploited in any language. Here are some ideas for using this story in your classes this Christmas:

• Film bingo – Are you watching carefully? Choose 10-20 words from the things that you see in the film. Pre-teach them if necessary (you can use pictures for infants and the written form for older learners). The children choose 6 (or 9) and as they watch, they tick them off.
• True or false? As there is practically no spoken language in the story, you need to be creative when it comes to using this story to teach a language. Prepare a list of true or false or simple comprehension questions about the action.
• Order the story – What happens when? Again, you can either use just pictures, words and pictures or just words to order the story. Stories need a beginning, middle and end, so…
• We’re walking in the air! – This is the name of the song (sung originally by choirboy Alled Jones) You will hear it when the boy and the snowman fly to the North Pole to visit Santa. Play just the music and let the children imagine that they are flying in the sky with the snowman. Where did they go? What did they see? How did they feel? Was it scary or exciting? Can they draw a picture of their journey?
• Make a snowman – There are many art and craft ideas. My own favourite is to use paper plates and cotton wool. You can also get the children to do this in groups so that they learn to work together.
• Melting snow science experiment – What happens to the snowman in the boys house? (He’s too hot.) Why does the boy put him in the freezer? (To cool him down.) What happens at the end of the film? (The snowman melts – Prepare for tears here!) Get some ice or snow from the school freezer and let the children touch it. What happens to it in their hands? Where does it go? Where does the water come from? With older children you can talk more about this process. Link it to their science lessons.
• Music – How does the music in the film add emotion? Listen to parts of the story without showing the pictures. How does the music make you feel? Excited, anxious, scared, happy, sad?
• Art – Create winter scenes using cool colours and a range of techniques.

If you carry out any of these activities in class, perhaps you would like to add a comment below?