My 6 Favorite Christmas Holidays Around the World!
I love celebrating Christmas Holidays Around the World with my first graders! It is so fun to see the light in their eyes to learn about how other countries around the world celebrate Christmas! I love teaching my units cross-curricular so when I teach Christmas Around the World, I teach it in all the subjects!
I have a Theme Center in my classroom where I change out the theme every two to three weeks with Science and Social Studies. In December, it’s all about Social Studies where we are exploring places, learning about different countries and continents, the 4 cardinal directions, and different traditions and cultures from around the world!
My Theme Center has trinkets, books, puppets, felt board characters, and paper doll Santas from around the world with a bulletin board full of children from around the world as well. It’s a holiday festival in my classroom!
Here are my 6 favorite countries to learn about:
1.) United States
2.) England
3.) Mexico
4.) Germany
5.) Russia
6.)The Netherlands
With each country, we read mentor texts, we find that country on the map, we learn their Christmas traditions, what games they play, what food they eat, how they say “Merry Christmas” and how they celebrate the holiday.
We discover that some traditions are the same as ours and some are different. That’s what makes it so fun! My students make a Christmas Traditions Around the World book that shows a map of that country, food, clothes, traditions, and language.
I’m going to go through each country and explain in detail about each one! I typically take 7 days to cover all 6 countries with the first day all about introducing the unit.
Day 1: Introduce Christmas Around the World
I love introducing Christmas Around the World with Jingle Bells by Iza Trapani. This book takes you on a sleigh ride around the world to different countries with the Jingle Bells song! I love it and the students love it too! After we read the story, I have them color the cover of their Christmas book.
I make their Christmas book out of red and green construction paper and staple them together in a pattern. We also glue in our table of contents and a map of the continents and countries. Here’s a picture of the cover:
We don’t write in the table of contents or color the map on the first day. We only add to those pages as we learn about each country. That way it’s more meaningful and they make better connections. I also have a large Christmas Around the World map that we look at as we introduce each country.
Day 2: United States/America
Mentor Texts that I read for United States are:
The Polar Express By: Chris Van Alsburg
How Santa Got His Job By Stephen Krensky
How to Catch Santa By: Jean Reagan
and Santa’s Book of Names By David McPhail
There are TONS of Santa books, but these are my favorites!
We turn and tell about our favorite Christmas traditions. I always like to start with the United States because my students need to make a connection with the traditions they like. That way they can make better connections later when we discuss other country’s traditions.
My students get to eat a candy cane while they are working on their book. We write in our 4 square with the country’s name, how we say Merry Christmas, traditions, and food. Then we color the pictures that have a candy cane, a house with lights, Santa, the United States flag, a turkey, and a stocking. We glue the 4 square on one side and the pictures on the opposite side of the book.
Day 3: England
Mentor Texts that I read are:
The Night Before Christmas By: Jan Brett
The 12 Days of Christmas By Jan Brett
Christmas in England By: Cheryl Enderlein
I give my students a pudding cup to eat while they are working in their book. We write in our 4 square with the country’s name, how they say Merry Christmas (Happy Christmas), traditions, and food. Then we color the pictures that have an England flag, Father Christmas, Mistletoe, Holly Berries, Christmas Crackers, and Plum Pudding.
We also talk about traditions that we have in the USA that are the same as England and that the Christmas Card also came from England.
Day 4: Germany
Mentor Texts that I read for Germany are:
The Gingerbread Baby By: Jan Brett
Christmas in Germany By Jack Manning
I give my students a gingerbread cookie to munch on while they are working on their book. We write in our 4 square with the country’s name, how they say Merry Christmas (Froliche Weihnachten), traditions, and food. Then we color the pictures that have a German flag, St. Nicholas, The Advent Wreath, Gingerbread House, and German Kids.
We discuss the traditions that we have in the USA that are the same as Germany and that the Gingerbread House and Christmas Tree came from Germany. I live in Boerne, Texas which was influenced by German culture, so many of our traditions came from Germany so it’s a real treat to talk about how our city is the same!
We have the oldest German band outside of Germany, we have German festivals, German-named streets, and many German traditions throughout the year! My ancestors also came from Germany, so I have a lot of German traditions in my family as well such as Christmas Eve Candlelight Services, Christmas Trees, Weihnach’s Parade, Stockings, and making Gingerbread Houses.
Day 5: Mexico
Mentor Texts I read for Mexico Are:
The Legend of the Poinsettia By: Tomie de Paola
Christmas in Mexico By: Cheryl Enderlein
I give my students some Mexican Christmas Candy to munch on while they are working on their book. We write in our 4 square with the country’s name, how they say Merry Christmas: (Feliz Navidad), traditions, and food. Then we color the pictures that have a Mexican flag, Tamales, Poinsettia, Pinata, and Candles.
We also talk about traditions that we have in the USA that are the same as Mexico such as Tamales, Poinsettias, and Pinatas.
Day 6: Russia
Mentor Texts I read for Russia Are :
The Nutcracker By: Jan Brett
The Tale of Babushka By: Elena Pasquali
Cultural Traditions in Russia By: Molly Aloian
My students get to listen to the Nutcracker music while they are working on their book. We write in our 4 square with the country’s name, how they say Merry Christmas, traditions, and food. Then we color the pictures that have a Russian Flag, Grandfather Frost, The Elf Maiden, The Onion Domes, and Matryoshka Dolls.
We also talk about traditions that we have in the USA that are the same as Russia such as the Nutcracker Ballet.
Day 7: The Netherlands
Mentor Texts I read for the Netherlands Are:
Sinterklaas By: Kathy Dodson
The Baker’s Dozen By Aaron Shepard
Cultural Traditions in The Netherlands By Kelly Spence
Before we start working on our book, I tell my students to take off their shoes and put their shoes outside in the hallway for Sinterklaas to fill with chocolate. They are so excited about this and cannot wait to see what they got!
I ask one of my office staff to come and put one piece of chocolate in each shoe and try to be sneaky about it. Then, after I get the all-clear, we walk out in the hallway and see what’s in our shoes! Oh my goodness!!! Such excitement!
My students get to eat their pieces of Dutch Chocolate (dark chocolate) while they are working on their books. We write in our 4 square with the country’s name, how they say Merry Christmas, traditions, and food. Then we color the pictures that have the Netherlands Flag, Sinterklaas, Wooden Shoes, Windmills, and Tulips.
We also talk about traditions that we have in the USA that are the same as the Netherlands such as chocolate.
Did you happen to notice that a lot of my mentor texts were by Jan Brett? I love doing a Jan Brett author study during this time. She has so many great stories that go perfectly with Christmas Holidays Around the World! If you’re interested in my Jan Brett Author Study, click HERE.
If you’re interested in checking out my Christmas Traditions Around the World Resource, click HERE. It has all of the booklet pages that you see here in the images plus a passport and ideas for a Christmas Around the World Theme Center!
If you enjoyed this blog post, you might be interested in my 12 Reindeer Day Crafts and Stations!!!
If you’d like FREE Cross-Curricular Lesson Plans for Christmas in Germany, click HERE. Check out my video of what the lesson plans include!
Until next time, let’s take your classroom to the next level!
