Christmas vocabulary in Spanish. Learn it in a fun way

Today you are going to learn a lot Christmas vocabulary in Spanish. 🎄

Believe me, after reading this article you will want to put the typical Christmas decorations and to carry out each of the celebrations What I'm going to explain to you. 

Pay attention to everything Christmas vocabulary What are we going to see because at the end of the article there is two activities for you to practice.

Let's start! 😊

Holidays and important dates at Christmas

We begin this list of Christmas words by talking about the holidays and the key dates of Christmas in Spain. 

Don't miss any!

The Draw of Christmas lottery

The Christmas Lottery Draw takes place on December 22. 

Did you buy your ticket? 

If you get the highest prize, The Fat Man, you will win four million euros! 😮

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is celebrated on the night of December 24. 

It is one of my favorite Christmas dates because it marks the first family meeting with a great dinner.

The typical food at this dinner is lamb and seafood.

Christmas Day

The next day, December 25, it finally arrives Christmas.

I've always gotten the feeling that people strive to be kinder on this day.

Will it be because of him christmas spirit?

If you want to learn Spanish and you like Christmas, you can see Christmas movies in Spanish. There are a lot!

The Day of the Holy Innocents

The December 28 you may suffer some joke from a family member or friend, since it is theDay of the Holy Innocents. 

The most prankster people love it do innocent things to his innocent friends. 

Will you be one of those who make the jokes or those who receive them?

New Year's Eve or New Year's Eve

The New Year's Eve It's the end of the year, December 31.

Once again, families gather to celebrate the last night... How?

Well eating and drinking delicious food and in large quantities, of course.😁

The most special thing about this night comes right at the end, with the moment of the 12 grapes. I'll talk to you about this later.

New Year's Day

New year, new life.

It is already January 1 and people excitedly begin their new projects for next year: 

"This time I will definitely join the gym and lose weight."

"I'm going to try to be kinder and more social with people."

"I'm going to sign up for those dance classes I've always wanted to learn."

"I'm going to sign up for those Spanish classes to improve or learn Spanish."

And you? ¿What plans do you have for next year? 2023?

Twelfth Night

We arrived at the most characteristic party of Christmas in Spain: Twelfth Night

It's the day January 5 and is celebrated with the parade of the three wise men.

Three Kings Day

the day January 6, the children receive gifts that the Three Wise Men had left them the night before.

In Spain, it is the Three Wise Men who give gifts and not Santa Claus, although some children are lucky and receive gifts from both. 😄

do you know what are they called the Three Wise Men?

Their names are Gaspar, Melchior and Baltasar.

Christmas decoration

Now that you know what the important days of Christmas in SpainYou'll have to have your house well decorated for visitors, right?

If you want to decorate your house properly on these dates, write down these words about Christmas and decorative objects in spanish.

Christmas tree  

The christmas tree It is the most important decorative object. And there is nothing as nice as having a fir very green inside the room.

Gives you a magic touch to the house, right?

If you want to practice Spanish with friends, I can think of a game you can play.

Write little papers on the Christmas tree with words in Spanish without them being seen, and then each one has to define one of those words so that the rest can guess them.

A Christmas tree can do many things!

Christmas tree balls

But the Christmas tree wouldn't be so magical if it weren't accompanied by the Christmas balls. 

You already know that these balls can be of various colors: red, yellow, blue, green...

They can also be placed separately from the tree to decorate other parts of the house.

The tinsel

The tinsel are those colored ribbons that can be put around the tree.

Many people put it around their neck as a scarf.

Few objects manage to give a more festive look than the tinsel.

tree decorations

You can put more ornaments to the tree to make it look better:dried pine cones, dolls, socks, wool stars, flowers…

 Be creative and create a christmas tree May it be the envy of your friends when they see it.

The Star of Bethlehem

In Spanish homes, during Christmas it cannot be missed the Bethlehem.

There are all types: large, small, classic, modern...

However, the Star of Bethlehem is a essential element which should be in all nativity scenes, since it was the star that guided people to the place where Jesus was born.

The nativity scene

The christmas nativity scene is a representation of the birth of Jesus with sculptures small. It is usually placed on a table in the living room of the house.

Do you like crafts? 

Demonstrate it by creating a nativity scene full of details.

The Angel

Did you know that the Star of Bethlehem used to be an angel?

The Christmas angel He became this Star so that people would know where Jesus was born.

It can be represented as a decorative figure and hang it on the Christmas tree.

The Christmas wreath

The Christmas wreath It is an object that is used during the weeks of Advent, time of preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ.

The length of Advent is usually 22 to 28 days.

The usual hanging place the wreath is on the front door of the house.

The holly

The holly It is a plant that grows red fruits round and very small.

At Christmas, these fruits represent the blood of Christ and the leaves symbolize the crown of thorns.

The Christmas boot

The christmas boothangs on the Christmas Eve day on the tree so that Santa Claus I filled her with gifts.

If you want a lot of gifts, you better buy a big boot. 😁

Christmas candles

Christmas candles they have a religious symbolism: represent the four weeks of Advent.

A candle is lit every Sunday and each one has a specific color.

Although the truth is that many people usually put more than four candles with many colors as a decorative element.

Christmas lights

Another object that serves to give a evocative light are the christmas lights. 

If we put the lights on the Christmas tree, the effect will be even more magical.

The bells

The bells They sound in churches when an important event happens.

On Christmas Day, they ring for the birth of Jesus.

You can put small bells to decorate the house or the Christmas tree.

Christmas characters

We continue with more words related to Christmas.

Now it's time to talk about the most representative characters of Christmas, which are not few.

Santa Claus 

Santa Claus He is the king of Christmas and the character that all children love. 🎅

In other countries it is called Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas.

Here is the traditional red clothes and white beard.

Bring gifts on Christmas Eve and children open them on Christmas.

The reindeer

And how does Santa Claus come from the Arctic Pole?

He does it by flying through the sky with his reindeer magical 🦌

The three wise men 

In Spain, the Three Wise MenThey are even more adored than Santa Claus.

They come on January 5 with their magician's clothing and their crowns, ready to give gifts to the children who they have behaved well.

the camels

The Three Wise Men come to Spain on the backs of their camels.

In the night of January 5, children leave containers of water for the camels to drink if they are thirsty. 🐫

The pages of the Three Wise Men

The pages are the helpers of the Three Wise Men.

Did you think they would be able to deliver gifts to all the children in Spain in a single night without help?

The pages of the Three Wise Men have a very important job, although the poor never get the recognition.

The elves of Santa Claus

The elves They are not only characters of The Lord of the rings or of harry potter.

They are also the Santa's helpers.

The snowman

How lucky are those who live in cities or towns where it snows!

If you pile up a mountain of snow and put the scarf, the hat and the carrot on its nose, you already have your snowman ⛄

The Virgin Mary

Another fundamental character in the Christian religion is the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus of Nazareth.

Saint Joseph

We cannot forget Saint Joseph, husband of Maria and putative father of Jesus.

the ox

The ox was one of the animals that witnessed the birth of Jesus in the manger. 🐂

His mission was to warm with his breath the cradle of Jesus.

The mule

The other important animal is the mule. 

It represents the most humble animal in the creation of living beings.

The shepherds

The shepherds They are the people who raise, guide and care for the cattle. 

They were the first to go to see Jesus of Nazareth when he was born in the manger in Bethlehem.

Typical Christmas foods and sweets

Are we talking about typical Christmas food and sweets?

I know you're looking forward to it. 😋

The nougat

In Spain we eat a lot sweets during Christmas. The most typical is the nougat

The original nougat is made with a cooked sweet dough with honey or sugar to which are added almonds. It can also have egg white.

The Polvorones

If you don't like the hardness of nougat, you can try the powders, that are much more soft, although also cloying.

They are made of flour, butter, sugar and almond. Although there are also many other flavors such as chocolate, wine, lemon...

gingerbread cookies

The funniest of these ginger flavored cookies It is the little person appearance that they usually give them.  

There are people who even decorate them with clothes or accessories.

Creativity to power!

The roscón de Reyes 

The roscón de Reyes It is the typical sweet for Three Kings Day, January 6.

It is a bun filled mainly with truffle or cream. 

It also has candied fruit.

Inside there are two surprises: the bean (gives bad luck ☹) and the figure of the king (gives good luck 😊)

The 12 grapes

Before I mentioned the 12 New Year's Eve grapes. 🍇

They must be taken in the last 12 seconds of the year toHave good luck in the prosperous New Year.

Be careful and don't choke!

I recommend buying peeled grapes so that it is more convenient to eat them quickly.

He digs

He digs It is a sparkling wine that is widely used at Christmas parties to toast with family or friends during and after the most important meals or dinners. 🍾

Christmas classics

How much Christmas vocabulary in Spanish you are learning with this article! 😊

Surely you will have already learned more than 100 Christmas words, at least.

Well, in addition to everything seen, we have this last section called christmas classics. 

Let's learn more essential vocabulary which we have not included before.

The carols

The traditional christmas songs they are called christmas carols: ‘Silent Night’, ‘The Drummer Boy’, ‘Bells of Bethlehem’… there are many.

If you are interested in this topic, we have a very recent article on the 20 best Christmas carols in Spanish.

The invisible friend

The Christmas spirit makes people feel more generous and want to distribute gifts among his acquaintances.

To do this, a good way is to play invisible friend.

Each person in a group writes their name on a piece of paper, then all the papers are put together. Randomly, when taking one of the pieces of paper with the name, each participant will get the name of a classmate and will have to give them something.

In this way everyone gives and everyone receives a gift.

Christmas shopping

The christmas shopping They are, possibly, the main attraction of Christmas for many people. 

In January they start the discounts and people take the opportunity to go to the shopping centers and purchase products at a good price.

Christmas gifts

What would Christmas be without gifts?

Everyone (or almost everyone) loves to receive a gift.

There is something magical in that feeling of uncertainty when someone gives you a wrapped package and you don't know what's inside.

"What will it be?" 😄

The letter to the Three Wise Men and Santa Claus

In order for children to receive gifts from the Three Wise Men or Santa Claus, they must meet two requirements:

• Have been good all year.
• Write the letter to the Three Wise Men or to Santa Claus.

In the letter they must argue why they deserve the gifts they ask for.

Christmas cards

The sending of christmas cards to family or friends may have become obsolete in recent years.

However, there are surely still some romantics who like to do it, especially when they can't spend Christmas with their families.

Sending postcards at Christmas can be a nice way to show appreciation to your loved ones.

Coal for bad children

Good children receive gifts.

And what about the bad children?

These receive coal. 

Nobody gets a gift here if they don't earn it.

The consolation is that at least charcoal has sugar and can be eaten. 😅

The Christmas sweater

Put on a christmas sweatercan be a great way to show your love for christmas.

When I see people with these red sweaters, with reindeer and printed trees or other images related to Christmas, they make me want to hug them.

I can't think of anything else cozyPlus they are very warm.

Interactive Christmas Activities

Now you know all the necessary vocabulary about Christmas. I hope it helps you. 😊

If you want to study more things related to Christmas and learn Spanish, I recommend that you come to Hispania, Spanish school.

We are in Valencia, here you can have classes in our face-to-face Spanish courses with expert teachers and spend Christmas with new friends.

If you prefer to spend Christmas in your country, but you also want to learn Spanish, we have online Spanish courses designed for you.😉

And now, let's go with activities to practice Christmas vocabulary!

Activity 1:

In this interactive Christmas activity you must turn the cards and find the pair in the image with its word. You have to put your memory into practice to be able to do it well. 🤓

Activity 2:

In this activity you have to Write the correct word missing in each sentence. 

You have the solutions in the exercise itself in 'show solution'. 

I hope you liked the activities and they help you review all the content seen. 

With this article you can become an expert in Christmas vocabulary in Spanish. 

Do you know more words that I haven't said? Write them to me in comments! 😉

Article written by Carlos Martinez for Hispania, Spanish school 

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