Holidays Around the World

YIPPIE!! It's officially Christmas break! As much as I will miss my sweet little darlings, I will be soaking up the fact that there will not be 5:30 am wake up calls and I can stay up as late as I want :) Did I mention how happy I was??

None the less, this past week was full of excitement as we counted down the days of Christmas and cut a little bit more of Santa's beard off. (countdown to Christmas Day)

My students are now fully aware of the different ways the world celebrates Christmas. Unfortunately, these past two weeks have been incredibly busy and I did not take as many pictures as I wish I would have. I got most of my ideas from Hubbard's Cupboard, a great resource website for teachers.

First Day:

Africa

Kwanzaa- African-American celebration begins Dec. 26 continues for 6 days:

 I read a book called The 7 Days of Kwanzaa and talked about the colors of Kwanzaa, which are green, red and black. Then we made a kinara (candle holder with 7 candles to represent 7 principles: Faith, Unity, Self-determination, Cooperation, Sharing, Purpose, and Creativity) Every day we lit another candle.

Please don't judge my candle making skills ;)

 Second Day:

Holland

Lucky, I had an expert who was born in Holland, Omah (one of my students Grandparents) to come and share all about Christmas in 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.

Before rest time, I had the students take off their shoes and when they woke up, there was a candy cane in their shoes :)

 Third Day:

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, reenacting 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 lanterns and pots of poinsettias.

We had own own celebration and did the Mexican Hat Dance. We put a hat (didn't have a sombrero) in the middle of the room and danced around it. Then, I had a parent come in and teach us some Christmas words in Spanish. They did better that I did!

Fourth Day:

Ukraine
This legend is found in both in the Ukraine and in Germany. We read the story, Legend of the Christmas Spider.


To read the story visit this website http://www.reocities.com/Heartland/Valley/8004/christmasroundtheworld.html

We hung tinsel on our Christmas tree to represent to gold and silver web the Christ Child made.

 

Fifth Day: 

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.

We made our own Lucia Buns

Ingredients:

Refrigerator biscuit dough

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup white sugar

butter or margarine

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 margarine 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.

They were VERY yummy :)

Unfortunately, I got so distracted I forgot to take a picture :( You will just have to take my word for it!!

 So that's it! Our Christmas' Around the World! To my surprise, I learned probably just as much as they did. I am always so wrapped up in my own world, I forget what others are doing. So with that, I will leave you this final picture and wish you a VERY Merry Christmas from my Prek Classroom!

It's was Pajama Day if you are wondering why I'm wearing that :)