Looking for engaging Christmas activities that reinforce figurative language instead of just filling time? These creative Christmas figurative language activities will have your middle school students writing, collaborating, and strengthening their understanding of figurative language while celebrating the holiday season.
Let’s be honest. The closer we get to holiday break, the more students are counting down the days until vacation.
When things get a little disorganized, I always feel like it’s a good time to reinforce figurative language because figurative language work goes well with most topics.
Holiday traditions, decorations, music, and memories naturally lend themselves to vivid imagery, comparisons, exaggeration, and descriptive language. Instead of introducing brand-new concepts, use the excitement of the season to review and strengthen the figurative language skills your students have already been developing.
Have students who don’t celebrate Christmas? Don’t worry. We’ve included some ideas for expanding beyond Christmas as well, including options for other winter holidays.
Here are a few of our favorite Christmas figurative language activities for middle school.
One of our favorite ways to review figurative language before winter break is through a collaborative escape room.
Students work together to solve five holiday-themed challenges while practicing important figurative language concepts including similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, idioms, alliteration, and onomatopoeia.
Rather than completing another worksheet, students discuss answers, solve puzzles, and apply their understanding of figurative language in an engaging format.
This activity works well as a whole-class review, small-group competition, or learning stations.
A decorated Christmas tree is full of inspiration for figurative language.
Display a photograph of a beautifully decorated tree or project one onto your classroom screen.
Then challenge students to find as many opportunities for figurative language as possible.
Some prompts might include:
Encourage students to share their favorites and discuss which examples create the strongest imagery.
Other Non-Christmas Options: Feel free to bring in imagery from other holiday celebrations around the world. As long as there is a lot of detail in the image, students can work on their figurative language.
This fast-paced activity is one students always enjoy.
Write several Christmas-related words across the board:
Then provide each student with a page of unrelated nouns such as:
Set a timer for five to eight minutes.
Students race to connect the words by creating as many original similes and metaphors as possible.
For example:
Afterward, students vote on the strongest examples and discuss what makes figurative language vivid and memorable.
This activity naturally strengthens descriptive writing and encourages students to think creatively about word choice.
Non-Christmas Option: We always have students who celebrate different holidays or maybe don’t celebrate holidays at all. Don’t worry. This activity can easily be adjusted simply by changing the list of words to something that your students can connect with. Also, not every student has to work from the same list. Consider creating lists for different holidays (i.e. Kwanza, Hanukkah, Winter, etc.) and letting students choose which list they work with.
Christmas figurative language activities that inspire a little competition can also be fun. This next activity blends writing a letter to Santa with a bit of a challenge.
Have students write a letter to Santa from any perspective they choose. They might be writing as themselves, an elf, a reindeer, or even the Grinch.
The challenge?
Their letter must include examples of every figurative language device you’ve studied.
Students work to naturally include:
When everyone finishes, students exchange letters with a partner.
The partner’s job is to become a figurative language detective by identifying every example they can find.
This turns revision into a collaborative review activity while helping students recognize figurative language in authentic writing.
Have students who don’t celebrate Christmas? Don’t worry. You can always write a letter to a relative or even a celebrity instead.
Holiday music is packed with figurative language.
Choose a few familiar holiday songs and have students read selected lyrics. Ask students to identify examples of figurative language and discuss why the songwriter chose those words instead of more literal language.
Then challenge students to rewrite one verse using different figurative language devices while preserving the overall meaning.
Non-Christmas Option: Most songs include figurative language examples. You can choose other non-holiday-specific songs instead. The activity will still work the same.
By combining holiday themes with meaningful figurative language practice, students continue strengthening their reading and writing skills while enjoying activities that feel fresh and engaging.
Whether your students are racing through a Christmas Escape Room, searching a decorated tree for figurative language inspiration, writing creative letters to Santa, or searching song lyrics for examples, they’ll be reviewing important language skills and developing their ELA skills!
For more Holiday activities for your middle school classroom, check out some of our other posts!
