Overview
The purpose of Christmas Card Exchange Project is to have students create physical holiday cards or letters for other participating students around the world. The project aims at helping students become global citizens by studying the culture and traditions of and interacting with students from partner countries.
Important: Please read the FAQs thoroughly before signing up.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN THE CHRISTMAS CARD EXCHANGE PROJECT?
Students from 8 -16 years old who are in primary, middle or high school.
HOW SHOULD THE STUDENTS MAKE THE CARDS?
Students can be as creative as they’d like. There is no “set” size for cards so students can use their best judgment. They can personally design and decorate cards by drawing, coloring, or painting. Construction paper, cardboard, markers, crayons, colored pencils, ribbon, etc., are all great to help make the card as special as possible.
Please keep postage in mind when deciding about the card size to save money. Based on experience, an 8.5″ x 11″ (21.59 cm x 27.94 cm) sheet of paper folded 2 ways to a total size of 4.25″ x 5″ (11.43 cm x 12.7 cm) works perfectly.
WHAT SHOULD STUDENTS WRITE IN THE CARDS?
Students may explain their own culture and Christmas traditions and other topics such as traditional Christmas dishes, attractions and sights of the country. The goal is to bring a bit of holiday cheer to their peers so it is important to be cheerful and respectful. Be sure to include holiday greetings!
SOME OF MY STUDENTS DON’T CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS, CAN THEY STILL JOIN?
They can still participate, of course! You may ask them to write letters or make a card based on his/her culture’s most important holiday!
CAN THE STUDENTS USE CHRISTMAS CARDS PURCHASED FROM A STORE?
Yes. Store-bought cards are great for Christmas Card Exchange Project. However, teacher-advisers should encourage students to add some artistic flair by drawing on the inside of the card or using color to brighten up the presentation.
HOW MANY CARDS SHOULD WE SEND?
Based on the final list of participants, the project facilitator (yours truly) will create groups of four based on age levels of the students and/or your school location. So, that means you will have 3 partner schools/countries.
You should send a minimum of 15 Christmas cards to each of your partner school. If you do the math, that’s a total of 45 Christmas cards at the very least. If you only have a few students, you may ask each student to create two or three Christmas cards in order to meet the requirement.
Can you send more than 15 cards to each of the school in your group? Absolutely! The more, the merrier!
HOW MUCH IS POSTAGE FOR SENDING CARDS ABROAD?
The teacher should check local prices as costs vary from country to country. Some schools cover the cost but students may do a fundraising activity to pay for the materials and postage.
Before you sign up for this project, please make sure that you will be able to cover the cost of sending the parcels to 3 different locations. In our previous projects, some teachers sent digital cards instead for lack of budget. Please don’t get me wrong but this is highly discouraged as it kind of forfeits the purpose of this project which is to “create and send physical cards to partner schools”.
WHEN IS THE TARGET DATE FOR SENDING THE CARDS?
Ideal time would be by the end of November so that cards could make it to the other countries before Christmas break. Teacher should check local post office for types and speed of delivery.
WHAT OTHER POSSIBLE CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES CAN WE DO WITH THIS PROJECT?
The following activities are optional. Teachers should talk in their groups what extra activities they want to do, or other goals they want to achieve.
Suggested Date | Suggested Activities |
November 1 – 30 | Students prepare Christmas cards and may organize fundraising activities. |
November 1 – 15 | Concurrently, students send information about their school, country, cultural activities, recipes and photos related to their celebrations in December through PowerPoint presentations. |
November 14 – 30 | Concurrently, students may post messages to each other in a forum or online groups such as Edmodo or Schoology; and ask questions about their new friends in the partner schools. Teachers may arrange video conference with partners via skype. |
December 1 – 30 | Students receive cards from other countries and prepare display in home school or classroom. |
SUMMARY
- Registration (ends October 25, 2019). See Registration form below.
- Receive contact details and info of partner schools by November 2, 2019 (I need at least a week to sort things out).
- Collaborate. Talk to your assigned group. Send each other emails right away. Say hi! Plan extra activities. The success of the project is communication.
- Inform students about the project and partner countries.
- Make the cards.
- Prepare and send PowerPoint presentation; communicate online with peers (if your group decide to do these).
- Send the handmade cards to your partner schools by post.
- Receive Christmas Cards from partner schools.
- Show/discuss cards with students.
- Make exhibition at your school
HOW TO JOIN THE CHRISTMAS CARD EXCHANGE PROJECT?
REGISTRATION FOR THE HOLIDAY CARD EXCHANGE 2019 IS NOW CLOSED.
GROUPS WILL BE ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 5TH
- Click here to see group list for 2017 (1240 downloads)
- Click here to see group list for 2018 (1043 downloads)
IMPORTANT
If you have registered already, you should have received a confirmation email from me within 72 hours. Please check your spam folder. If not, it is a must that you register again using a valid email address.
Last minute registrants who did not receive confirmation email 3 days after the deadline may consider registration unsuccessful. Thank you!
Disclaimer:
- I am just a facilitator of this project. I will be in one or two groups only as I only have 2 classes which can only make so many cards.
- Once you received your group details, I will be out of the equation. I can still offer support though. I might also send follow up emails to check how’s the project going in your group.
- I will try my best to make sure that all participating teachers are reliable and team players. However, if they go M.I.A (meaning they don’t reply to your emails), I hope you won’t lay that on me.
If you have further questions, you can reach me via Twitter or Facebook.
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Polina G.
October 16, 2016 3:34 pmHi Melchor! This is an awesome idea! I have 60 middle school students from Minsk, Belarus who are willing to share their Christmas traditions to the world! I also sent you an email. Let me know if you need more information.
Conchi Quesada
October 24, 2016 12:51 amHi, Really excited about the project,
My name: Conchi Quesada, I ‘ll enroll some of my 14 year old students in this exchange, We are a small secondary school in south of Spain:
IES La Soledad Villafranca de Córdoba.
How can we know which our partnet school will be? Ready to start
Cathy Priest
October 24, 2016 6:00 amHi Melchor, I would love to have my 11/12 year old students (100) join the Christmas card project! Here’s my school info:
McPherson Magnet School
333 South Prospect Street
Orange, CA 92869 USA
Anna Hagood
October 24, 2016 11:10 amHello Melchor Bernando,
I would love for my students to get involved! I have 36 students between 12-13, and 16 students between ages 14-16.
Here is my school info:
Madame Ché (French Teacher)
BASIS Flagstaff
1700 N. Gemini Dr.
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
USA
Melchor Bernardo
October 24, 2016 12:45 pmNoted. Can I have your email address? Thanks
Melchor Bernardo
October 24, 2016 12:38 pmHello Conchi,
I will create groups of four. I will take into consideration the age levels and locations. Thanks
Melchor Bernardo
October 24, 2016 12:41 pmHi Cathy,
Thanks for your interest on this project. I need your email though so I can contact you directly.
ToffeeTheFox
November 2, 2016 8:55 pmI am super excited for this! Yay! 🙂
Ketanie_Lundy
November 2, 2016 9:19 pm+ToffeeTheFox Me tooo 🙂
ToffeeTheFox
November 2, 2016 9:26 pmWelp, lets see what will happen! :3
Profr. Emanuel Salvador Reyes Gómes
November 10, 2016 9:31 pmHola Melchor Bernardo:
Buenos días desde la Ciudad de México, soy profesor de secundaria y mis alumnos de primero de secundaria (32) estamos muy motivados a participar en tu proyecto y nos gustaría empezar desde ahora.
Los datos del plantel son los siguientes:
SECUNDARIA
CUMCH (Colegio Universitario Marcelino Champagnat)
Once Mártirers No. 53
Col. Cuevitas de Caramaguey
Código Postal: 14400
Ciudad de México
Alexis
November 12, 2016 7:09 pmsounds fun!!!!
Emanuel Reyes
November 17, 2016 11:20 pmHello Melchor Bernardo
Good morning from Mexico City, I am a high school teacher and my first high school students (32) are very motivated to participate in your project and would like to start now.
The data of the campus are the following:
HIGH SCHOOL
CUMCH (Marcellin Champagnat College)
Eleven Martyrs No. 53
Col. Cuevitas de Caramaguey
Postal Code: 14400
Mexico City
I received your email but I need more information and how to get in touch with you, the boys are already preparing materials and making some cards.
We wait for your reply.
Have a good Friday.
Melchor Bernardo
November 17, 2016 11:36 pmHi Emanuel,
I’m sorry for the late reply due to the high volume of emails that I receive everyday. I’m sending you a private message in a bit. Thanks
Ely Rojas
November 26, 2016 8:36 pmHi Melchor,
I know, I am late, but I would like to participate in your project maybe next year. I am from Ecuador. Let me know news about you and your interesting idea!!! ??
Melchor Bernardo
November 26, 2016 11:30 pmHi Ely, actually someone from Mexico is currently looking for a partner school. Would you be interested?
Cathy Priest
February 8, 2017 6:29 amMy students, age 11/12 and I participated in this wonderful project from our school in the US. It was so terrific to see the excitement on the part of my students as we opened the packages from other countries. We also enjoyed the exchange of power point presentations describing our schools and communities! Learning about traditions from other countries is so important and our students loved it. We will definitely participate next year! Thank you, Mel.
Patricia Tobin
February 9, 2017 7:37 pmMy students from a language school in Spain also took part in this project.
It was a wonderful experience for both students and teachers. We all learnt something about other countries, their traditions and culture. The oldest students enjoyed making the power point presentations explaining our Christmas traditions.
Kids were thrilled every time I turned up with an envelope full of Christmas cards. They were excited to read every single card that arrived.
Motivation in the classrooms grew fast and all my students hope to repeat the experience next Christmas.
Thanks for your hard work Mel!
Chiara Bernardinello
February 23, 2017 1:58 amMy middle school students in Italy took part in this project, too.
It was a fantastic experience for both students and teachers. We learnt about other countries and their traditions and it was really interesting. For the first time my students realized that they could do something interesting using English. They enjoyed making and seeing power points and they were really excited every time we got an envelope full of cards. We also had a little exhibition at school and parents liked the project, too.
It was a really motivating activity and my students definitely want to repeat the experience next year. We will certainly participate next Christmas. Thanks for all your hard work and for making all this possible, Mel!
Melchor Bernardo
March 4, 2017 4:00 amMy students enjoyed reading your kids’ letters and they were so thrilled to know that some of them come from a Vietnamese family! It was amazing!
Melchor Bernardo
March 4, 2017 4:07 amTrish! My kids had fun learning about Basque Country’s Christmas tradition! Some of the now prefer to call Santa Claus as “Olentzero” ha ha! Thanks for sending the cards and ppts!
Melchor Bernardo
March 4, 2017 4:09 amThank you Chiara! We would love to do it again with you! You’re students are so creative! Great job!
Debra C Palmer
September 15, 2017 7:03 pmI teach Health Science to 45 students ages 15-18 in Laurens SC. We would love to participate in the Christmas card exchange and look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Debra Palmer
Debra C Palmer
September 15, 2017 7:05 pmI failed to leave school name and address!
Laurens District High School
5058 Hwy 76 W
Laurens, SC 29360 864-682-3151
Mari Carmen
September 19, 2017 10:44 amHi, Melchor.
We took part in the project last year, and I am very happy to do it again!!!
Melchor Bernardo
September 19, 2017 10:52 amHi Debra! Thank you for your interest in this project! Please fill out the registration form. The link is found under “HOW CAN WE JOIN THE PROJECT?” in the FAQs above.
Melchor Bernardo
September 19, 2017 10:53 amAwesome! I’m so excited for this year’s exchanges! 🙂
Summer Brannon
September 19, 2017 12:26 pmHello from Elkview, WV, USA. I have 73 students on my middle school Panther team that are excited to participate! This will be our first year in the Christmas Card Exchange. We will be using this as a cross cirricular project by involving English, social studies and math. We can’t wait to get started.
Glenda
September 19, 2017 7:58 pmHey Melchor, let me just say that my students were excited to create the power points and the cards. They were the same age as the students who sent the cards to them but enjoyed learning about other cultures! I would be happy to participate again and thanks for the timeline.
Glenda
keith bussom
September 20, 2017 5:25 pmHey Melchor,
This is an awesome idea, I have 131 middle school students from Pennsylvania, USA , (ages 12/13)
Melchor Bernardo
September 23, 2017 4:54 amWow, that’s a great idea! Thanks for signing up Summer!
Melchor Bernardo
September 23, 2017 4:55 amWe loved the PowerPoint you sent us Glenda and also the cards and letters! I’m so excited to work with you and your students again!
Chiara Bernardinello
September 28, 2017 12:32 pmHi Melchor! My older students have already asked me if we are going to take part in the Christmas card project this year!!! They are eager to start!!! and I’m sure the younger ones will have as much fun as we had last year. I would be really happy to participate again.
Melchor Bernardo
October 8, 2017 4:06 pmThanks for joining again Chiara! We really loved the cards you sent us last year! I’m so excited for another round of card exchange!
Doyoon Kim
October 14, 2017 3:49 pmI submitted my information, but I also wanted to let you know that while my school is located in Canada, all of my students are Chinese. So I was hoping that my school wouldn’t be partnered up with a school in China as I think it’ll defeat the purpose of cultural exchange.
Thanks!
The school is Ontario International College
Melchor Bernardo
October 14, 2017 3:54 pmNoted. Thanks for joining!
Kacie Sandbrook
October 1, 2018 1:52 pmHello,
I am very interested in participating in the Christmas card exchange project, but I want to know about how much money I will need to gather/fundraise for the postage. How much do they typically cost? Is there a price range you can mention to point me in the right direction?
Thanks!
Anonymous
October 2, 2018 2:22 amHi Kacie, postage varies from country to country, but I’ve seen $15-$25 stamps in the package sent by my partner schools from the US to Vietnam. But remember also that you are going to send your cards to 3-4 different schools/countries.
Iryna
October 16, 2018 11:42 amHELLO,my name is Iryna,I’m a teacher from Ukraine.I’ve just learnt about your project.Can I register yet or should I wait till next year?
Melchor Bernardo
October 16, 2018 12:14 pmYes you still can! Please find the link to the registration form near the summary in the post above
Iryna
October 20, 2018 11:38 amHello,I registered,but I didn’t get the confirmation letter.What should I do?
Melchor Bernardo
October 20, 2018 2:37 pmHi Iryna, when did you register? Kindly provide me your complete name so I could check. Thanks
Iryna
October 21, 2018 10:53 amI registered on Thursday or Friday evening.My full name is Iryna Shevchenko,I’m from Ukraine,Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi town.Thank you in advance.
Melchor Bernardo
October 23, 2018 3:47 amLast minute registrants who did not receive confirmation email 3 days after the deadline may consider registration unsuccessful. Thank you!