Description
Up to your eyeballs in end of year testing, term 4 report writing and beach trip organising? Then this is the resource for you!
This 46 page booklet pack is a great way to support your classroom discussions about what makes Christmas time special in NZ (no snowmen and wintery Christmas trees in this book!) The booklet contains a wide range of activities – perfect for independent work or as an early finishers activity pack – mix and match the pages to suit the ability levels in your class.
“Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te Tau Hou!” ~ Season’s greetings for Christmas and the New year!
46 page ‘Kiwi Christmas’ Booklet ~ page topics include:
- A timeline of Christmas events in Aotearoa starting in 1642 when Abel Tasman’s crew celebrated the first Christmas dinner in New Zealand! (It was a meal of freshly killed pork from the ship’s live stores, all washed down with ‘extra rations of wine’)
- A selection of true or false Kiwi Christmas questions (plus answers)
- Kiwi Christmas number facts – e.g. what’s the average cost of a Kiwi BBQ Christmas Dinner? On average, how many Kiwi babies are born on Christmas day every year? (plus answers)
- Mmmmm! What’s that smell? What are your favourite Christmas smells? Pine needles? Salt air? BBQ?
- Kiwi Christmas scavenger hunt (e.g. touch both a ‘real’ Christmas tree and an artificial one, see someone wearing a Santa hat, see a pohutukawa tree in bloom etc.)
- Things to think about….e.g. some people worry that Christmas these days is becoming to ‘commercial’. What does ‘commercial’ mean? Do you think this is a problem?
- Decorate the Christmas ornaments to reflect the key words (Summer, pavlova, koru & beach)
- Details for 4 little Christmas activities (Design a container to hold a reindeer snack, make a Christmas stocking tree ornament, share your family’s Christmas traditions with a buddy, and design a menu for a ‘Santa-snack-pack’)
- Graphic organiser – Christmas can/Has/Is
- Draw or illustrate a page from your favourite NZ Christmas book
- Find 3 people who…..Who will go camping or travel over the Christmas holidays; Who have had a photo taken with Santa! Who have done an anonymous kind deed for someone this holiday season etc.
- Use your imagination to change the wintery pictures (snowman, snowflake etc.) into illustrations more suitable for Christmas down under
- 10 Christmas challenges (e.g. create some actions to match a Christmas song with a friend, then share it with an audience! Stay up late and visit a local street that is filled with Christmas lights etc.)
- Something’s a foot…. Have a go at copying the reindeer footprints and then use your imagination to draw some Santa & Elf footprints
- A selection of Kiwi Christmas themed colouring pages
- A Santa acrostic poem template
- A selection of kiwi Christmas themed writing sheets
- Why do so many of our Christmas decorations have a wintery theme? What does this have to do with planet earth and the seasons? Share your ideas with a friend and record your thoughts.
- Design your ultimate Christmas dinner menu
- Alphabet Challenge! Can you think of a Christmas themed word for every letter of the alphabet?
- Do some research to find out what Christmas events are happening in your local community this year. Rank the top 3 events that you’d most like to attend in order of preference.
- Wohoo! Let’s celebrate! Record your favourite party foods and music
- Facts about our Christmas tree – the Pohutukawa
- Christmas isn’t just about spending money and getting presents! Think about something kind you could do for another person that doesn’t involve spending money. Brainstorm some ideas below, then pick the best one. See if you can complete your act of Christmas cheer anonymously…
- Translate these key words in Te Reo Māori
- Kiwi Christmas themed word find (plus answers)
- Compare and contrast – talk with a friend about their family’s Christmas celebrations. What is the same? What is different?
- Design an outfit for Santa that better suits our climate!
- Elf me! Complete the elf picture by adding a drawing of you and a friend
- My Christmas wish list
- Measure me – use a ruler and some string to measure the Christmas themed objects in your room
- Add the vowels to complete the Kiwi Christmas words (plus answers)
- Silly Christmas jokes!
- Create a maths word problem involving your friends names and Christmas bikkies
- Use a digital camera to take a photo of something that represents Christmas to you. Glue it into your booklet.
- Choose from the correct sentence ending to complete your Christmas greeting in Māori
- Find and sketch….a Christmas ornament, a candy cane etc.
