Christmas at the Beach: Summer Christmas Fill in the Blank Story

Read-aloud example

This year our family had Christmas at the beach. The day was BOILING, so AUNTY MEL packed the chilly bin full of PAVLOVA and we set up under a big pōhutukawa tree. Santa arrived on a surfboard pulled by his friend the CRAB! He tried to DANCE in the waves but lost both of his JANDALS. Then we built a sandcastle 25 metres tall and painted it PINK. By the end of the day my TOES were covered in sand, and Santa said SWEET AS! Best Christmas ever.

Our example words are in capitals. Yours will make a different story every time.

The word types in this story

• Person's name: someone in the room, or anyone.
• Adjective: a describing word: fluffy, enormous.
• Food: any food: spaghetti, sprouts.
• Animal: any animal: hippo, goldfish.
• Verb: an action word: jump, sing.
• Plural noun: more than one thing: socks, puddings.
• Number: any number: 7, 365, a million.
• Colour: any colour: purple, sparkly gold.
• Plural body part: more than one: knees, eyebrows.
• Exclamation: a word you shout: Wow! Yikes!.

How to play

1. Print the PDF at 100% on A4 or US Letter paper. Keep page 2, the story, face down.
2. Ask for each word on page 1 in order, reading the hint aloud for younger children. Write it in the box with its number.
3. Copy each word into the blank on page 2 with the same number.
4. Read the finished story aloud. Then swap readers and play again with new words.

Fill-in-the-blank stories are a fun way to practise adjectives, verbs, plural nouns and exclamations: children have to think what kind of word each one is before they choose it, and hear straight away when a word doesn't fit. For one skill at a time on paper, try the grammar worksheets (nouns, verbs, adjectives, plurals and past tense). More Christmas games for kids: the Christmas word scramble, Christmas I spy and the Christmas colouring pages.