"Holiday Customs Around the World"

Mexico
Los Posadas- Mexican celebration -9 days preceding La Navidad (Christmas Day).
For each of the nine nights before Christmas, families walk in groups going from door to door, reencacting the search made by Mary and Joseph for shelter in Bethlehem. After going to several houses, the groups arrive at the home where the evening's fiesta, or party, is to be held. Celebrations are usually held outdoors on patios, which are decorated for Christmas with laterns and pots of poinsettias.

Art project - Reproduce a ponsettia pattern once for each child. Have children color the poinsettias red or pink and cut out. Help children punch holes on the top of one leaf. Help children thread a 36" length of yarn
through the hole and tie the ends together to complete the necklace. If desired, leaves and stems made from green construction paper can be attached to the flowers, and the poinsettia can be hung around the classroom as decorations.

Luminaries:
small lunch bag
sand
votive candle
scissors
design to trace and cut out
Trace a design onto a lunch bag and cut it out.
It is best for the traceable object to be a bunch of little lines (get a template for sponge painting at a hardware store).
Put some sand into the bottowm for stability and place candle inside to lite your path up to your front door.

Cooking project - Mexican Christmas Cookies yields 4 dozen small cookies
1 cup butter or margerine, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
wax paper
Help children mix butter or margerine with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and the vanilla.
Tell children to add the flour and salt and mix throughly. Dough will be stiff Have children shape dough into small balls Bakd the balls at 375 for 10-12 minutes (The cookies shouldn't become too brown)
Let cookies cool slightly then have the children roll them in the remaining powdered sugar which is spread on wax paper.

Ukraine
This legend is found in both in the Ukraine and in Germany.

Legend of the Christmas Spider

 Once upon a time, long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year..... the day on which the Christ child come to bless the house. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling to avoid the housewife's busy cleaning. They finally fled to the fartherest corner of the attic.
 T'was Christmas eve at last! The tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it. But the poor spiders were frantic,for they could not see the tree, not be present for the Christ child's visit.But the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door to see him. Silently, they crept out of their attic, down the stairs, and across the floor to waait in the crack in the threshold. Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit and quickly the spiders scurried into the room. They must see the tree closely, since their eyes weren't accustomed to the brightness of the room. So they crept all over the tree, up and down, over every branch and twig and saw everyone of the pretty things. At last they satisfied themselves completely of the Christmas tree's beauty.
 But alas! Everywhere they went had left their webs, and when the little Christ child came to bless the house he was dismayed. He loved the little spiders, for they were God's creatures too. But he knew the mother, who had trimmed the tree for little children, wouldn't feel the same, so he touched the webs and they all turned to sparkling,shimmering silver and gold. Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel onour
 Christmas trees and according to the legend, it has become a custom to put a spide among the decorations on the tree........

Christmas Spiders
Make them out of many different things.......For children the easiest would be take a round styrafoam ball for the body and a smaller one for the head.........Use glue and put either gold or silver glitter all over it and use the same color chenille stems for the legs.....Make a hanger to hang to the tree........Also can make them out of gold or silver pompoms (two sifferent sises one for body annd one
 for head and add the same color chenille stems for the legs.........Can cut the stems in half and make two out of one..........

Holland
In Holland, children put out wooden shoes to await the arrival of St. Nicholas, who comes by ship on December 6. After leaving the ship, St. Nicholas rides a white hourse to children's homes. The children fill their wooden shoes with straw for St. Nicholas' horse. the horse eats the straw and St. Nicholas fills the shoes with treats for the children.

Art project - Make a wooden shoe pattern out of oaktag. Help the children trace it on their oaktag and cut it out (you need 2 for each child). Have the children place the two shoes together and staple around the edges of the shoes, leaving an opening along the top. Tell the children to pull the shoes slightly apart so that they may be filled with treats. Get some inexpensive treats and fill their shoes.

Sweden
On December 13 in Sweden, families celebrate St. Lucia's Day. Girls dress in white and wear candle wreaths around their heads. The girls serve breakfast, consisting of Lucia buns, to their parents. "Star boys," who also dress in white and wear pointed caps with stars on them, follow behind the St. Lucia girls.

Art project - reproduce a candle and have children color them. Then put them on a band to go around the children's heads with the candle in the front. If you want them in white you can drape a sheet over their shoulders.

Cooking project - Lucia Buns yields 24-30 buns

refrigerator biscuit dough
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup white sugar
butter or margerine

Unroll and arrange the biscuit dough according to the directions on the package. Help children mix the cinnamon and sugar together Bake for 3 minutes less than the recommended directions for the package
Take the biscuits out of the oven and place a pat of butter or margerine on the top of each biscuit As the butter melts ask the children to sprinkle the tops of the biscuits with the cinnamon-sugar topping. Return the biscuits to the oven for the remaining three minutes of baking time


Germany
My family lived in Germany from 1976-1980. December 6 is St. Nicholaus Tag (day).
The pronounciation is (SANCT NIKOL-AOS TAUG).
On the night before, you would leave our boots outside on the front step. When we awoke next morning, they would a few goodies or a small gift (like hanging your stocking at Christmas time). BUT....if you were naughty you woulld get cool or a few sticks.
The myth was that St. Nicholaus came through the night to deposit the goods. It was like a warning to the naughty kids to straighten up.
Then Christmas Day came on December 25, just like here. Christmas trees were extra special. Instead of electric lights they used little candles that they only lit on Christmas eve. Very beautiful Every child has there very own advent calendar.

A glass pickle ornament is traditionally hidden in the tree and the person who finds the ornament gets to open their Christmas package first.

Scandinavia
(Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland): Straw ornaments, traditional Tomte figurine (the Tomte is a Christmas Gnome which is considered to be Sweden�s Santa).

As soon as I can figure it out... I have a Scandinavian basket weave heart ornament. I will scna the pattern and try to explain.....

Stockings, shoes etc... around the world

There was a kindly nobleman, with a lovely wife, and three pretty, young daughters and lots of money. But the mother became very ill and died. The man, in his great dispair, wasted away his money on silly projects and useless inventions. His family was forced to move out of their castle and into a little cottage. His daughters continued to grow up and eventually fell in love and wished to marry. They couldn�t get married, however, because their father was too poor to afford a dowry for even one of them.

Saint Nicolas lived in the same area, and because he had dedicated his whole life to doing good deeds and was always looking for someone in true need, he came riding into town on his white horse one night to find the nobleman�s cottage. That same night, the daughters had washed their clothing and hung them to dry by the fireplace. Their three pairs of stockings were hanging right on the chimney. From his pouch, he took out three little bags of gold coins and dropped them into the stockings.

The nobleman heard a small disturbance and rose to hear the horse trotting away. He only got a small glimpse of the stranger. The next morning, the daughters found their stocking full of gold, enough to easily allow a generous dowry and increase their family�s general comfort.

Children all over the world now hang their stockings ... at least in the British Isles, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

France
Children in France put their shoes out on the hearth, a tradition that dates back to when French children wore wooden peasant shoes.

Holland
In Holland, children fill their shoes with hay and a carrot for the Saint�s white horse. In the night, Sintirklaas slides down the chimney, gathers the hay for the horse and puts a little present in each child�s shoe.

Before the circle time, have children help set up an obstacle course using the equipment and furniture in the classroom. At circle time talk about how St. Nicholas travels from house to house leaving goodies in
each childs shoe.

Drink hot chocolate while opening the St. Nick gifts.. and each person that gives a gift.. writes a little poem about the person or the gift they are giving.. can be short or long.. whatever the giver wants to do... they always have a good time with that... and Manizpan candy (candy made from almond paste) is what goes into the wooden shoes..

Italy
In Italy, youngsteres set out their shoes for La Befana, the good witch.

Christmas Around the World Activities

Shoe/sock scramble
Put all the childrens shoes on a pile in the center of the circle. Mix the shoes up. Call the children one by one or a few at a time to quickly go to the pile and find their shoes. Once found they return to their spot and put shoes back on.

Gift hunt
Get or make the same small present for each child. A large batch of playdough divided into smaller portion is the suggestion. If the children recognize their names bag the dough and label with each name. If not, write Happy St. Nicholas Day Hide the gifts. Play some festive music and let the hunt begin.