As we go into the 12th year of Christmas Jumper Day, it’s easy to forget about the meaning behind it. Many secondary school students could be donning their jazzed-up jumper for the third, fourth, or even fifth time. But do they really know much about the day, the charity behind the event or where the money they raise goes?
We consulted with the education experts at the Education Company to share some ideas to incorporate into your day. These ideas will remind students of the reason we get dressed up and get down to the important business of helping others. Equipped with this knowledge, ideas for making sure everyone can get involved, and a whole load of fun activities, you can make sure that this Christmas Jumper Day is the best yet!
Share an assembly with examples of children that Save the Children helps, and remind children where the money goes
We have created two fantastic ready-to-go assemblies that explore the work of Save the Children in a meaningful way, suitable for secondary-age students. One is for use before the day and the other can be used on Christmas Jumper Day itself!
These resources have been created by fellow educators and look at where the money raised goes. They also feature some children who Save the Children has worked with.
Watch age-appropriate videos of the work Save the Children does throughout the year
Explore videos on our website outlining the important work Save the Children is involved in and select a few key examples to show your class. These could be a springboard for a drama piece or a practical project, like making posters or creating leaflets.
Raising awareness about the charity and those we help is just as important as raising the funds!
Share a story of a child Save the Children has helped
We have a variety of children’s stories from the UK and around the world that could really help contextualise the work we do for young audiences. This is especially true when we have photos and key examples of where money has been spent. Why not have a look at our interactive stories and our Christmas Jumper Day-specific stories?
Create a drama piece exploring Save the Children’s work
After looking at children’s stories and videos, set your students the challenge of creating a drama piece about Save the Children’s work. Freeze-frames or short, whole-class productions could work well.
You could then plan to show off the drama piece to children in other classes or year groups, perhaps during a form or assembly time. This will spread the word about why the work we do at Save the Children is so important.
Create a storyboard or comic strip exploring Save the Children’s impact
As with the drama piece, your students could create a storyboard or comic strip exploring the experiences of a particular child or the work of a particular group working with Save the Children. Students can base their storyboard/comic on a story or a video you have shared with them from our website.
Encourage them to explore the impact Save the Children has had on the children we’ve supported. Students might even like to write their storyboards or comic strips from the perspective of a child they’ve learnt about.
Encourage children to make a poster or leaflet promoting Save the Children’s work and exploring what different donations can pay for
You could use the following key facts to encourage children to create a leaflet or poster explaining Save the Children’s work. Target audiences could be their families, school governors or members of their local community:
- £2 could pay for a pair of shoes to keep a baby in Afghanistan warm through winter.
- £5 could pay for a maths pack to make sure a child in the UK is ready for school.
- £8 could buy a blanket to keep a child in Ukraine warm in freezing temperatures.
- £10 could buy a supermarket voucher, so a child in the UK has enough brain fuel to thrive.
- £15 could pay for two weeks of superpowered peanut paste to help a child beat hunger.
- £30 could buy gardening tools and seeds for a family to grow their own healthy food so they don’t go hungry again.
- £35 could buy a baby kit for a newborn – with a bowl, nappies, towels, a wrap, soap and a snuggly baby cap.
- £45 could give a family who’ve escaped war in Ukraine enough food for a month.
- £80 could buy two goats, so children can have healthy milk to drink and their family can earn money.
- £160 could give a child a place at school and the chance to become who they want to be.
Use the lesson pack with your class
The lesson pack created by teachers this year is designed to be used with any KS3 or KS4 class to remind them of Save the Children’s work – and the impact of their donations – while they have fun!
Your students can think about what they’re grateful for in their lives and how they can help others. They’ll learn about Save the Children’s aim to ensure all children, everywhere, can fulfil their potential and experience a brighter future. They’ll learn a bit about the children who Save the Children works with, and compare those children’s live with their own.
Learn about Save the Children in history or geography lessons
Save the Children has a long history running back to 1919, right at the end of the First World War. Why not incorporate this into your history lessons?
Students could create a timeline, detailing big moments in history and Save the Children’s involvement over the years. This could be done individually, in pairs, in groups or even as a whole class. They can also polish their historical skills by comparing the work Save the Children has done in the past with the work they’re doing now.
Students can look for similarities in the situations that lead to children needing help around the world (such as wars or natural disasters) and the type of support children need (such as education, food and medicine) in these different circumstances.
They could carry out their own research and create fact files on specific projects, countries, communities or individual children who the charity has supported around the world.
Use globes or atlases to locate countries where Save the Children has worked. There are 118 countries to choose from, but some examples of places Save the Children has done a lot of work are: Syria, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Somalia, Yemen, and – of course – the UK!
Encourage every single student to get involved in Christmas Jumper Day 2023
Christmas Jumper Day is designed to be a fun, inclusive day that everyone can take part in. It’s really important that all students know before the event that there are different ways to get involved.
Firstly, we’re really keen to make sure everyone knows there’s no expectation to go out and buy a brand-new Christmas jumper. In fact, it can be a lot more fun getting creative and fashioning a Christmassy top out of something you already own. Why not lead by example and show students how you’ve created your own festive fashion to wear on the day?
Share these tips with students and families well ahead of the day so they can prepare, too:
- Buy a jumper, sweater or cardigan from a charity shop
- Swap with a friend/family member
- Add some sparkle with glue and glitter.
- Decorate it with homemade paper chains
- Embellish it with tinsel
- Attach baubles to it
- Illuminate it with a string of LED lights
- Pin on images cut from Christmas cards
- Use scraps of material to cut out shapes and sew them on
Other ways to get everyone involved (which might include students who just really don’t want to wear a Christmas jumper for the day) might include the following ideas:
Why not run a competition for the best Christmas jumper design and request donations alongside entries. All the designs could be displayed in school and there could be a small prize for the winner(s) – or even just a certificate. This could be organised in forms, year groups or house teams.
Older children may not want to decorate a Christmas jumper for themselves to wear, but they might really enjoy decorating a Christmas jumper for someone younger, such as younger siblings or children at the local nursery or primary school. This could even be a project for them to work on in Design & Technology or Textiles.
These are just a few simple ideas to kick off thinking about the magic of Christmas Jumper Day at a deeper level, get everyone on board and have some fun.
We would love to hear other ways you have incorporated teaching the importance of helping others in your school or setting. Tag us and share what you and your students have got up to!
