Whether you teach student in the United States, China, Canada, or another country, there are many shared holidays on the calendar. Incorporating festive activities into your lesson plans is a great way to keep learners engaged, as well as teach them new, niche vocabulary. There's something magical about a holiday that makes students retain new things and find interest in more than just surface-level celebrations like food, decorations, and games.
Use these holiday worksheets to celebrate all year long with your students. We've included a roundup of activities from January to December with ideas and suggestions for you to make them applicable to your class, no matter where they are from. Cheers!
Holiday Worksheets January - December
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1
January - New Year's Resolutions
January can be a tough month in the classroom because kids are just coming off winter break and the weather is dreary in many places, so getting students to focus may be a challenge. However, it's a great opportunity to work with students on their New Year's resolutions and goals for the rest of the semester, as well as remind them that they have a fresh start. This New Year's worksheet is the perfect way to kick things back into gear and prime students for a new year of learning. The activity covers reading, matching, and writing and gives students the chance to practice phrases like "I will," "I won't," "I hope to," and "I would like to."
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2
February - Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day is one of the most fun holidays of the year, no matter what grade level. Oftentimes, students associate the day with candy, cards, games, and of course love. And while there are plenty of Valentine's Day activities you can choose from, this worksheet gives students a background on the holiday, from its cultural meaning to its historical context. Students will fill in the blanks of a story, then answer multiple choice questions, and fill in vocabularly words that go along with holiday-themed images. This activity is a great way to start out the class before you begin to play festive games or pass out Valentine's cards.
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3
March - St. Patrick's Day
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Most students know very little about the origins of St. Patrick's Day, other than the fact that they are supposed to wear green that day or they may get pinched. This holiday worksheet will help young learners gain a better understanding of the history of St. Patrick's Day, as well as learn some holiday-themed vocabularly. It's a three part assignment, including a fill-in-the-blank section, a matching section, and a word search. You can use the fill-in-the-blank part as a speaking activity, as well.
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4
April - Easter
Easter is a fun, meaningful holiday for those who celebrate. This particular worksheet focuses on what Easter means from a religious context for those who celebrate in England and France. There are a few activities for students to work on here, including fill-in-the-blank, reading, vocab, matching, word search, and grammar lessons. The worksheet wraps up by having students listen to the famous nursey rhyme Humpty Dumpty. There are also sections that are meant for students to color if they want to/have time.
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5
May - Mother's Day
Mother's Day is a special holiday and can be the perfect opportunity to introduce new vocabularly to students, as well as practice grammar, writing, and reading. With this worksheet, students will be asked to match words with images, do a word search, color an image, do a cross word, and do a word search. It's an excellent worksheet to use as a warmup before class starts, and you can let students do it on their own time since there are multiple activities.
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Parents can also use this Mother's Day worksheet at home as extra practice for beginner ESL students.
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6
June - Father's Day
Young learners may know Father's Day as a day to honor their dads, spend time with family, and present homemade gifts, but this quiz tests their knowledge on the origins of the holiday. Teachers can use it as a fun, non-graded activity, as students will likely not know many of the answers. Or, you can prompt students to do some research online to find the answers. Either way, they will love getting to know fun facts about the holiday, and they will surely share some of them with their dad.
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7
July - Independence Day
Fourth of July activities do not have to be exclusive to students that live in the United States. If it makes sense for your class, you can present the holiday as a day of learning about the country's independence with this worksheet. It's in the format of a quiz with fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice questions. You can have students work in groups to answer the questions or do some research on their own to find the answers. Then, go over the correct answers as a class - students will be surprised by some of them!
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8
August - Back to School
Back to School isn't technically a holiday, but it's an exciting time of year that ought to be celebrated. There are countless activities teachers can use to get students eager about the start of a new school year. If you have beginner ESL students or elementary-level learners, this Back to School board game is the perfect way to present new vocabulary that will be applicable in the coming months, such as actions, instructions, telling the time, and months. You may want to have prizes on hand, as there will be a winner!
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9
September - Grandparent's Day
Students expect to celebrate Mom and Dad each year, but what about their grandma and grandpa? Grandparent's Day is celebrated the Sunday after Labor Day and is a fun, unique holiday to honor the loved ones in your life. While your students may not have any special plans for the day, this activities guide lists eight ways you can celebrate in your classroom, from writing a song for Grandma and Grandpa to creating a family tree to saying "grandmother" and "grandfather" in their native language if they are an ESL student. There's so many ways to incorporate the holiday into your lesson plans!
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10
October - Halloween
- Halloween is celebrated differently all around the world, but students will love this festive song worksheet no matter where they are from. It's built around the famous theme song from the Addam's Family, showing the lyrics to the song with missing words throughout. First, have students use the word bank to attempt filling in the blanks. Then, play the song for them and have them listen closely to double check their work.
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11
November - Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is all about food, family, and fun, but it's important for students to learn about the history and meaning behind the United States holiday. In this history lesson/reading comprehension activity, students will read all about the first Thanksgiving, as well as answer questions and watch videos about the Natives view of the holiday. Teachers can use the videos to promote discussion between classmates and how Thanksgiving's original meaning has been translated over time. This activity is best suited for more advanced learners in middle and high school.
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12
December - Christmas
Christmas is another international holiday that is celebrated many different ways across the world. For some, it's the celebration of Jesus' birthday and a time to reflect on faith. For others, it's a light-hearted season to give gifts, decorate the house, and get together with loved ones. This activity presents a funny Christmas story with The Three Little Pigs and Santa. Students will watch an adorable animated film and complete a fill-in-the-blank worksheet with a word bank.
Looking for a holiday worksheet that's not on this list? Check out our other holiday and celebrations worksheets. There are hundreds of them!
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