On Christmas Eve 1914, thousands of German, Belgian, British, and French soldiers agreed to an impromptu truce to celebrate, creating one of the most memorable episodes of the war. Are you looking for a small activity to do during the Christmas break? This short and fun activity was designed specifically for the holiday season. Consisting of a presentation and an accompanying guide for teachers, this activity is an excellent addition to any lesson with little need for additional preparation by teachers or students.
This activity was first designed to accompany our travelling exhibition Regiments on the Ridge. The exhibition is available for free to your school by completing our reservation form. It should be noted that in 2025, we released a new version of our virtual exhibition, now entitled Mobilizing a Country: Canada and the First World War. The latter is also suitable for this activity.
Activity content
The lesson begins with a very short film depicting the Christmas Truce of 1914. Students can watch the video in class, or on their own on YouTube, at home, in preparation for a future lesson. The teacher then uses the presentation document to lead an original presentation on the topic. To this end, the teacher’s guide provides explanations for each slide in the presentation.
The presentation will guide students through the real story of the truce by exploring museum artifacts and eye-witness testimony. Students will learn what the film got right and wrong about the event and teaches students to not always trust everything they see on their screens. They will be amazed to learn that the real story is even better than the film.
Post-holiday option: Want to use the activity after the holiday break, or for distance teaching? Get the students to watch the video on their own over the holidays. Then ask them to reflect on the discussion questions from slide two of the presentation come up with their own questions. Teachers can then use screen-sharing to show the presentation and to answer the students’ questions.
Activity objectives
The goal of these activities is to allow secondary cycle two students to have a greater understanding of World War I and Canada and Quebec’s role in the conflict. More specifically, this activity serves to better understand the importance and impact of the Treaty of Versailles in the 20th century history.
Through this activity, students will practice the intellectual skills required by the Quebec Ministry of Education’s Secondary 4 curriculum by analyzing primary and secondary historical documents. More specifically, this activity is part of the “First World War” section of the Quebec school curriculum. Finally, students will also develop their knowledge of Quebec and Canadian history through the competencies promoted by the Quebec Education Program:
- Characterizes a period in the history of Québec and Canada
- Interprets a social phenomenon
This activity is also suitable for secondary 5 students and the 20th century history course through the following competencies:
- Characterizes a historical turning point
- Interprets a social phenomenon using the historical method
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