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Did you know?
- Christmas wasn’t declared an official holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870?
- The Germans made the first artificial Christmas trees out of dyed goose feathers?
- Christmas trees have been sold in the U.S. since 1850?
- Many European countries believed that spirits, both good and evil, were active during the Twelve Days of Christmas. These spirits eventually evolved into Santa’s elves, especially under the influence of Clement C. Moore’s The Night Before Christmas (1779-1863) illustrated by Thomas Nast (1840-1902)?
- Bolivians celebrate Misa del Gallo or “Mass of the Rooster” on Christmas Eve. Some people bring roosters to the midnight mass, a gesture that symbolizes the belief that a rooster was the first animal to announce the birth of Jesus?
- In Poland, spiders or spider webs are common Christmas trees decorations because according to legend, a spider wove a blanket for Baby Jesus. In fact, Polish people consider spiders to be symbols of goodness and prosperity at Christmas.
You will know even more about Christmas traditions around the world by joining our Christmas in Different Lands celebration!
Christmas in Different Lands from Multicultural Kids Blogs
Multicultural bloggers from different countries and origins are thrilled to bring you a 24 day series of Christmas in Different Lands. Each day one of us will share with you traditions, books, crafts or recipes about Christmas celebrations in their country of choice. Stop by and visit their website on the date listed below to learn more about celebrating Christmas around the world.
- Dec 1 – Christmas in Different Lands Kickoff on Multicultural Kid Blogs
- Dec 2 – USA Traditions by MaryAnne at Mama Smiles
- Dec 3 – Russia by Natalie at Afterschool for Smarty Pants
- Dec 4 – Ukraine by Laura at Laugh And Learn
- Dec 5 – Pakjesavond in the Netherlands by Amanda at Expat Life with a Double Buggy
- Dec 6 – Germany by Alex and Valerieat Glittering Muffins
- Dec 7 – Las Posadas and Mexican Chistmas Traditions by Mari at Inspired by Familia
- Dec 8 – Christmas in Mexico by Becky at Kid World Citizen
- Dec 9 – Australia by Giselle at Kids Yoga Stories
- Dec 10 – Cuban-American Christmas by Vanessa at Desumama
- Dec 11 – UK Christmas Traditions in France by Becky at La Famille Brown
- Dec 12 – Costa Rica by Leanna at All Done Monkey
- Dec 13 – China by Varya at Creative World of Varya
- Dec 14 – Multicultural Christmas Books by Erica at What Do We Do All Day
- Dec 14 – Christmas in France by Maria at Busy as a Bee in Paris
- Dec 15 – Bolivia by Crianza Bicultural at Spanglish House
- Dec 16 – Quebec by Valerie at Glittering Muffins
- Dec 17 – Top 5 Things About Christmas in UK by Jonathan at Dad’s the Way I Like It
- Dec 18 – Brazil by Stephen at Head of the Heard
- Dec 19 – Sweden by MaryAnne at Mama Smiles
- Dec 20 – Finnish Christmas in UK by Rita at Multilingual Parenting
- Dec 21 – Philippines by Julie at Open Wide the World
- Dec 22 – Poland by Olga at European Mama
- Dec 23 – Jamaica by Carrie at Crafty Moms Share
- Dec 24 – Merry Christmas! on Multicultural Kid Blogs
Join Us!
Please link up your own posts with Christmas traditions, crafts, and recipes from your country. We will add them to our Christmas Around the World Pinterest board and share them through our social media. You are also welcome to request to join the community of multicultural kid bloggers on Facebook.
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Latest posts by Natalie PlanetSmartyPants (see all)
- Hanukkah for Kids - December 2, 2014
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- Christmas In Different Lands – 2013 Edition - December 1, 2013
Sounds like a great series of posts ahead!
What a great idea preparing Christmas day by talking about Christmas traditions all over the world! I will join soon (by saturday 7th december) with a video of the reading of the book “Avventura di Natale”. This is an extraordinary story written in 1950 by an italian author and beautifully illustrated by a famous italian illustrator. The story is in italian but I am sure that even those who don’t understand the text, will appreciate the illustrations and therefore understand part of the story!
Michela
Love this!
I’m really looking forward to being part of this and reading everyone else’s posts. At work, I need to organise a Christmas quiz and I might end up creating a series of questions based on what I learn about Christmas around the world here!
How fun! Jonathan, would love to see your quiz if you ended up using these!
I love this idea. Looking forward to seeing what is written about Christmas here in Australia and the Netherlands (where my family is from).
Great idea! I look forward to browsing these posts. I’m also hosting an Expat Christmas series on Thrifty Travel Mama. We’ll have Singapore, Croatia, Ireland, Finland, New Zealand, Germany, and The Netherlands posted between now and Christmas Day. Thanks for the link up! http://bit.ly/IFWIgh
I am so excited! My son’s class is doing Christmas Around the World and I am sharing all info with him. My daughter loves hearing about Christmas around the world, too. Thank you so much!
This is great! Remind me to stay away from Poland during Christmas–I don’t do spiders! Thanks for linking up to the #SundayTraveler this week! 🙂
Interesting read and facts on Christmas! Good compilation!
It looks like you’ve had a great month of cultural blogs! Very cool! I think teaching children about other cultures is awesome! I know it’s shaped who I am today. Wishing you greater success in 2014!
I’m a little late on catching up on these posts, but so grateful to everyone for putting this together and for posting about these various Christmas traditions – it has been so interesting to read!