Teacher Guide
To Christmas Holidays
Christmas is a holiday that occurs every December 25th. The holiday has roots in Christianity as it celebrates the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem after a miraculous journey by his parents to find a safe place to have their son. The day of Christmas is not believed to be the same day that Jesus was born, but most people think that the two events happened around the same time period. Most people do not celebrate Christmas only as the birth event of Jesus, but rather as a holiday filled with joy and the giving spirit.
Christmas is celebrated in Christian churches through the use of nativity scenes, where figures or real people dress up. The scene is placed in a animal barn, called a manger, and has the characters from the story that is told in the Bible, including Jesus, his mom Mary, his dad Joseph, as well as the shepherds, wise men and farm animals that were at the animal manger during Jesus' birth. The story of Jesus' birth is retold to celebrate the religious meaning of Christmas for the Christian people.
Christmas is a joyous time filled with giving gifts and time with other people. The main character of Christmas is Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, and Kris Kringle, who is believed to make gifts in his hometown of the North Pole with the use of elves according to the wish lists of children all over the world. Santa Claus delivers all the gifts that are made at the North Pole by using magical flying reindeer to pull his big red sleigh through the skies during the night before Christmas. Then on Christmas morning children wake up to find that Santa Claus has left all the presents they asked for underneath the traditional Christmas tree, which is decorated with ornaments, lights and figurines. Children often leave out treats and milk for Santa Claus to eat because they believe he must be extremely tired and hungry from making all those deliveries. People also hang stockings, which are oversized socks that are decorated for Christmas, above the fireplace for Santa Claus to fill with presents.
Christmas has traditional colors of red and green, and most decorations include these colors. The traditional plants that are used to decorate for Christmas are mistletoe, cedar tree branches, poinsettias, and holly. Many people exchange Christmas cards to friends and loved ones, and children often hand make Christmas cards in school to send to soldiers overseas. Christmas hymns, including "O Christmas Tree," "Jingle Bells," and "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer," can be heard on radio stations during the whole month of December. Many homes will be decorated with Christmas lights, red bows and holiday scenes displaying the Nativity scene or Santa Claus. It is fun to drive by houses that are decorated and look at the beautiful decorations, and it gets people in the spirit of Christmas.
The giving spirit of Christmas is spread all around, and many people hold parties where gifts are exchanged, have big dinners that are filled with delicious meats and desserts reserved for this time of year, and give out homemade cookies and cakes that are decorated just for the Christmas holiday. Gifts are a big part of Christmas, and as it is the best practice to give instead of always wanting to get the presents for oneself, may stores have huge sales starting at Thanksgiving to get people to buy lots of stuff for other people. The true gift of Christmas, however, cannot be bought in any store. The best gift to give another person at Christmas is in the form of time. Spending time with family and friends is very popular during the holidays, and many people develop traditions that are very special during the Christmas season.
Most of the world celebrates Christmas. However, certain countries, such
as Japan, Saudi Arabia, Korea and Turkey, do not have a large amount of
Christians, and therefore they do not have many traditions built around
Christmas.