Our Family Christmas Letter: Funny Fill in the Blank Story

Read-aloud example

Dear friends and family,
What a truly WILD year it has been for the PICKLES family! In January, Dad took up JUGGLING and has only broken 6 LAMPS so far. Mum ran a marathon in her favourite ONESIE. The kids grew 3 centimetres and learned to WHISTLE at the same time. Our TORTOISE is still in charge of the house and was voted the most DRAMATIC pet on our street. In the summer we went on holiday to ANTARCTICA, where it rained every day and we ate nothing but JELLY BEANS. We hope your year was full of SPARKLY SOCKS and that your Christmas is MERRY.
With love from all of us

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

The word types in this story

• Adjective: a describing word: fluffy, enormous.
• Silly last name: real or made up: Pickles.
• Verb ending in -ing: an action + ing: dancing, sneezing.
• Number: any number: 7, 365, a million.
• Plural noun: more than one thing: socks, puddings.
• Clothing: something to wear: hat, socks.
• Verb: an action word: jump, sing.
• Animal: any animal: hippo, goldfish.
• Place: anywhere: the moon, the bathroom.
• Food: any food: spaghetti, sprouts.

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. 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 ending in -ing, plural nouns and verbs: 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 for a Christmas party: Christmas trivia, would you rather, Christmas bingo and every Christmas party game.