Ho! Ho! Ho! Here are some songs and video resources for your preschool, kindergarten, and pre-K ESL English lessons! Merry Christmas! These resources are primarily intended for ESL learners and focus on teaching and showing simple modern Christmas vocabulary. However, one or two videos explain the biblical story, which you can use if your students have a very high level.
The videos are organized into four categories:
Songs
Educational Videos (Vocabulary with some Biblical Stories)
Educational Games
Stories
"Jingle Bells" is a Christmas classic. This version is perfect for young learners as it is simplified and clear, with some fun actions at the end! Enjoy.
Another clear and simple song for young learners with some fun actions, counting up to five with Christmas vocabulary.
"1 hat..2 boots..3 white buttons..4 bells..5 presents."
Great for young learners!
It's a slightly different version of "Jingle Bells" than the first video. This version includes vocabulary such as snowman, sleigh, Santa Claus, toys, Christmas tree, stocking, presents, candy cane, reindeer, angel, elf, and mistletoe. Another simple, clear, and fun song for young learners.
The third Dream English song! I've included these songs because Dream English offers great, simple versions of Christmas classics that are easier for young learners. This version also includes some family vocabulary.
A fun song set to the tune of BINGO! Bingo is a great song for young kids, with its alternate clapping every chorus. "Red hat, white beard, a twinkle in his eye, SANTA is his name-o."
A nice song with some fun actions. "Shake your head, kick your legs, wave your arms, jump up and down, turn around"
Great fun! "Christmas tree, reindeer and bell" getting faster, and faster and FASTER...!
A challenging song with higher-level sentence structures and vocabulary, but this version is slow, nice, and clear. The video does a good job visually demonstrating what is being sung.
Hokey Pokey is a great, fun song! This version uses hooves, antlers, a tail, and a red nose, so be sure to explain before singing that you are reindeer with these features.
Want to learn some Christmas vocabulary? Then this is video is for you!
Another vocabulary video.
And another vocabulary video!
And another vocabulary video!
Christmas is a Christian festival. Most Christmas lessons for young ESL learners focus on building simple language and vocabulary not related to the biblical story. They typically do not delve deeply into the religious aspects or the Bible story. Here is a short cartoon retelling the Bible Christmas story.
Cartoon retelling of the biblical story of the birth of Jesus.
A fun vocabulary-building game for young learners where they have to guess the vocabulary being drawn before the time runs out!
Another fun game where students have to quickly count how many Christmas items are in the picture before the time runs out. It's a great game for counting, short-term memory, and building vocabulary.
A fun game with a catchy "What is it?" chant, in which students need to guess what is hidden behind the partially covered screen. This video also includes two songs, "Christmas Tree" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," performed with puppets.
Another "What is it?" chant where students need to guess what is behind the screen before it is fully revealed. This video reveals the answer quite quickly.
A higher-level Christmas quiz. Be sure to pause and help explain the questions. The video provides three option answers, which is great for younger learners to try and understand the questions. Some of the questions may be challenging for young learners.
A Christmas quiz where students need to guess the answer from the descriptions. Be sure to pause, read the questions, and explain the descriptions. Use the video and quiz as a lesson guide to demonstrate, talk, and explain the questions and descriptions