Help your students practise using descriptive language with this fun and engaging Christmas-themed activity.

Children will choose a Christmas-themed image from a selection provided (16 images) and think carefully about what they can see. They will then choose three adjectives to describe their chosen image.

This activity encourages children to observe details closely, develop vocabulary, and build confidence using descriptive language in both spoken and written sentences. The visual and structured nature of the task makes it particularly supportive for early learners and children with SEND, including pupils with speech and language needs, ASD, EAL learners, and children developing early literacy skills.

The resource can easily be adapted through verbal responses, adult modelling, reduced vocabulary choices, sentence stems, or colour-coded word banks to support a wide range of learning needs and abilities.
A great way to support early writing skills, oral language development, vocabulary building, and seasonal learning in a creative and inclusive way.

LO: To use descriptive language by choosing and applying three adjectives to describe a selected Christmas image.

Describing adjectives:

• Colours (yellow, green, pink, blue, orange, brown, purple, red, white, black)

  • sparkly
  • shiny
  • bright
  • colourful
  • festive
  • cosy
  • warm
  • cold
  • snowy
  • fluffy
  • sweet
  • tall
  • little
  • tiny
  • big
  • large
  • tall
  • round
  • smooth
  • glittery
  pretty

Christmas images:
• Christmas tree
• Santa Claus
• reindeer
• snowman
• presents
• Christmas lights
• candy cane
• gingerbread man
• stocking
• sleigh
• wreath
• snowflakes
• hot chocolate
• elf
• fireplace
• Christmas pudding

Skills Focus:
• Descriptive Language & Vocabulary Building
• Observation & Attention to Detail
• Writing & Sentence Construction (Early Literacy)
• Oral Language Development
• Critical Thinking
• Seasonal & Thematic Awareness

Contents:
• Christmas
• Winter
• Descriptive language
• Adjectives
• English
• KS1
• Primary

You could also extend the activity with:
• “Can you use your three adjectives in a sentence?”
• “Can you explain why you chose those words?”
• “Can you think of a synonym for one adjective?”

Notes:
More themes coming up!:

• Spring - Pack of resources (Early Years)