Looking for a "last lesson before Christmas" activity to use with your adult or teenage students? Try a Christmas quiz. If you're teaching a very small group they could try an on-line quiz - you'll find a good one here. Otherwise, here are some questions which you could use from intermediate level up.
1. Where was it once illegal to celebrate Christmas?
a. Scotland b. Massachusetts c. Bombay d. Yorkshire
2. Since when has Christmas been celebrated on 25th December?
a. 1AD b. 120AD c. 320AD d. 520AD
3. The historical figure who inspired the Santa Claus myth is St. Nicholas. Where was he born?
a. Britain b. Germany c. Russia d. Turkey
4. When were electric lights first used to decorate a Christmas tree?
a. 1882 b. 1902 c. 1906 d. 1916
5. Who was the first British monarch to have a Christmas tree?
a. Queen Elizabeth I b. King Charles II c. Queen Victoria d. Queen Elizabeth II
6. Which spacecraft was lost on Christmas Day 2003?
a. Beagle 2 b. Enterprise c. Apollo 13 d. Mars Explorer
7. What did Harry Potter get for Christmas the first year he was at Hogwarts School?
a. Nothing b. A magic potion c. An invisibility cloak d. Five pairs of socks
8. The Romans also had a mid-winter festival around the same time as Christmas is now celebrated. What was it called?
a. Invernalia b. Saturnalia c. Solstizia d. Winternia
9. Every year another nation gives a Christmas tree, which is placed in Trafalgar Square in London, to Britain. Which nation?
a. Canada b. Russia c. Finland d. Norway
10. Who was the author of the novel A Christmas Carol, in which a miserly old man called Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of Christmas?
a. Charles Dickens b. Jane Austen c. J.K. Rowling d. D.H. Lawrence
11. Where does Father Christmas live?
a. Iceland b. The South Pole c. Lapland d. Alaska
12. Which of the following is not the name of one of Father Christmas' reindeer?
a. Blitzen b. Prancer c. Rudolph d. Bobtail
1b 2c 3d 4a 5c 6a 7c 8b 9d 10a 11c 12d
Photo (of this year's tree in Trafalgar Square) provided under Creative Commons Licence by Click! via flickr