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Roast Turkey
The whole family enjoy a largedinner together on Christmas
Day.It is traditional to cook roastturkey, roast vegetables
andsometimes bacon and sausages.
ChristmasPudding
Mince Pies
Father Christmas /Santa
Children leave stockings out onChristmas Eve for Father
Christmasto come and fill with presents.
Christmas Crackers
Traditionally people pull crackers atthe dinner table on
Christmas Day.The cracker makes a loud ‘crack’sound normally
contains a paperhat, a joke and a small gift.
United Kingdom
Bauble
ChristmasGreetings
Cards
Christmas Tree
The family usually decorate a pinetree at home with tinsel,
baublesand lights.
Some people have real trees andothers have an artificial
tree.
Cracker
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RoscónA cake traditionallyeaten at Epiphany.
‘TheMagic Kings’
La Misa Del Gallo
Many people go to a midnightmass called ‘The Mass of
theCockerel’ because it is said acockerel crowed the night
thatJesus was born.
Los Reyes Magos
In Spain, the largest Christmascelebrations don’t happen
untilJanuary 6th. This is when theycelebrate ‘The Magic Kings’.
Thismarks Epiphany when the kingsbrought gifts to the baby
Jesus.Children receive some presents onChristmas Day, but most
gifts areopened on Epiphany. The familygather for a large dinner
too.
¡Feliz Navidad!Spain
Nativity Scene
It is very common for people tomake ornate and detailed
Nativityscenes in their homes, called‘Belénes’. Most churches also
havelarge and impressive Belénes.
Christmas Eve Dinner
Most families have the main mealthe evening before Christmas.
Ittraditionally includes turkey stuffedwith mushrooms, but in the
northof Spain it is common to eatseafood.
BelénNativity Scene
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Advent
Many people in Argentina areCatholic and celebrate Adventwhich
marks the 4 Sundays andweeks before Christmas.
¡FelizNavidad!
Argentina
Fireworks Christmas Eve
The main celebrations happen onChristmas Eve when the
familygather for a large meal together.The weather is usually warm
sopeople will often eat outside,sometimes with a barbecue.
Atmidnight fireworks are traditionallyset off along with ‘globos’
whichare paper lanterns that float intothe sky when lit.
Barbecue
PaperLanterns
Christmas Decorations
House are decorated with lightsand wreaths coloured green,
gold,red and white flowers. Red andwhite garlands are also hung
onthe doors of houses. Christmastrees are also very popular.
NativityScene
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FroheWeihnachten!
Germany
Christmas Tree
Decorated fir trees are a very oldtradition in Germany.
Christmastrees were first used in the MiddleAges.
Das Christkind
Das Christkind translates as ‘TheChrist Child’. In some parts
ofGermany children write to theChristkind to ask for gifts
whileothers write to Santa. TheChristkind isn’t baby Jesus
butusually a young girl with Christ-likequalities.
Advent
At home it is common to havecardboard advent calendars or
awreath made from fir tree brancheswith 24 boxes or bags
containingsmall gifts hanging from it.Another type is called an
‘AdventKranz’ which has candles for the 4Sundays leading up to
Christmas.
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The Netherlands
Peppernoot
Saint Nicholas’ Eve
On 5th December people oftenhold parties to celebrate thecoming
of Sinterklaas. Treasurehunt games are held where childrenfollow
clues to find small gifts leftby Sinterklaas.
VrolijkKerstfeest!
For most children in TheNetherlands, the most importantday is on
5th December when‘Sinterklaas’ (Saint Nicholas) bringstheir
presents. The English name‘Santa Claus’ comes fromSinterklaas.
Dutch tradition says thatSinterklaas lives in Madrid, Spainand
travels with his servants called‘Zwarte Pieten’ (‘Black Peters’) on
asteam boat to bring the presents ifthey have been good all
year.
Saint Nicholas’ Day
St. Nicholas Day is on 6thDecember and is Sinterklaas’birthday.
Traditionally, Sinterklaasleaves on his steam boat to returnto
Spain for another year.
Sinterklaas
‘Letter Blanket’ Biscuits
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Greece
Carol Singing
On Christmas Eve children often goout singing ‘kalanda’ (carols)
in thestreets. They play drums andtriangles as they sing. They
mightalso carry a model boat decoratedwith nuts and painted
gold.Carrying a boat is a very oldcustom in the Greek Islands.
KalaChristougenna!
Christmas Decorations
Nowadays Christmas Trees arepopular in Greece. But an
olderdecoration is a wooden bowlcontaining some water. A piece
ofwire is suspended across with asprig of basil wrapped around
awooden cross hanging from it. Thewater helps keep the basil
fresh.Each day someone dips the crossand basil into some holy water
anduses it to sprinkle water in eachroom of the house. This is to
keepcertain bad spirits away duringChristmas.
Christopsomo‘Christ’s Bread’
or ‘Christmas Bread’
MelomakaronaCookies
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AustraliaAt the Beach
In Australia Christmas comes atthe beginning of summer. It
iscommon for people to go to thebeach for a barbecue on
ChristmasDay or Boxing Day.
Barbecue
Fireworks
Christmas Decorations
Small statues of sleighs pulled bywhite kangaroos are popular
aswell as Australian animals wearing‘Santa’ hats and baubles
andwooden ornaments featuringAustralian wildlife.
ChristmasTree
Crackers
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CroatiaAdvent WreathIt's traditional to have an Adventwreath
with four candles, made ofstraw or evergreen twigs. Thewreath
symbolizes eternity and thefour candles symbolize the
differentparts of history and life:
1st Candle (purple): creation -hope;2nd Candle (purple):
embodiment -peace;3rd Candle (pink): redemption - joy;4th Candle
(purple): ending - love.
Saint Catherine’s Day
In Croatia, 25th December is St.Catherine’s Day and this is
whenthe main Christmas celebrationsbegin.
Saint Lucia’s Day
St. Lucia’s Day is marked on 13thDecember. On this day
peopleoften sow wheat onto small plates.The grassy sprouts that
grow(‘Christmas Wheat’) are putunderneath the Christmas Tree
onChristmas Eve.
BadnjakYule log traditionallybrought in and lit on
Christmas Eve.
Sretan Božic!Saint Nicholas’ Day
On 6th December St. Nicholas’ Dayis celebrated. The evening
beforechildren leave out their shoes orboots for Saint Nicholas to
bringthem chocolates and leave them intheir shoes/boots if they
have beengood. If they have been naughtythen Krampus will come and
leavegolden twigs to remind them to begood.
Krampus
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NacimientoNativity Scene
MexicoPosadas
From 16th December to ChristmasEve, children often perform
the‘Posada’ processions or Posadas.Posada means ‘inn’ or ‘lodging’
inSpanish. There are nine differentPosadas. These symbolise
whenJoseph and Mary looked forsomewhere to stay in Bethlehem.People
decorate the outside of oftheir houses with evergreens, mossand
paper lanterns.
The children process through thetown calling at neighbours
andfriends houses to sing a song. Thechildren are told there is no
roomin the house and turned away untilthe final house when they
areinvited in for a party.
Piñata
It is common to play piñata atPosada parties. A piñata is
adecorated clay or papier-mâchécontainer filled with sweets andhung
from a tree branch or theceiling. The children are blind-folded and
take turns to hit thepiñata with a stick until it splitsopen and
the sweets fall to theground. Then all the children rushto pick up
as many sweets as theycan!
¡Feliz Navidad!
Piñata
PoinsettiaKnown as the ‘Christmas Flower’
because it flowers duringthe winter in Mexico.
Los Santos Inocentes
On 28th December the ‘Day of theInnocent Saints’ is celebrated
tomark when King Herod tried to killthe baby Jesus. The
celebrationsare very similar to April Fools Daywhere people play
tricks and jokeson each other.
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Czech RepublicSaint Nicholas’ Day
On 5th December St. Nicholas(Svatý Mikuláš) arrives. Henormally
comes with an angel anda devil and asks if the childrenhave been
good all year. Theysing a song or recite a poem to himand he gives
them a basket ofsmall presents, often containingchocolate and
fruit. If someonehas been naughty, the devil mightthem a lump of
coal!
VeseleVanoce!
It is traditional to have a largedinner on Christmas Eve and
this iswhen Ježíšek (‘Little Jesus’) comesto bring the children
presents. Thedinner is eaten in a different roomto where the
Christmas tree is.
Near the end of the meal a bell isrung and the children know
thatJežíšek has been and left presentsunder the tree. They open
theirpresents right after the dinner.
Ježíšek
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GhanaChristmas Eve
Christmas in Ghana is celebratedfrom 20th December to the
firstweek of January, but the biggestcelebrations begin on
ChristmasEve. People go to church and havecelebrations with
drumming,singing and dancing. The childrenoften put on a Nativity
play.
Christmas Day
Many people go to church onChristmas Day dressed in their
bestcolourful clothes. After themorning service everyone goeshome
to share presents.
Food on Christmas Day
Traditional food that is eaten onChristmas Day includes stew
orokra soup, porridge, rice and meats,and a yam paste called
‘fufu’.
Fufu
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Norway
Rice Porridge
This is eaten on Christmas Eve. Ifyou find an almond in your
helpingyou’re traditionally given a pink orwhite pig made of
marzipan.
Gledelig Jul!
Nisse
Christmas Eve is the time whenpresents are given. The gifts
aresometimes brought by Santa Claus(‘Julenissen’ in Norwegian) and
alsobrought by small gnomes called‘Nisse’.
Julekurver
A traditional Norwegian ChristmasTree decoration are small
paperbaskets made in the shape ofhearts. They are called
called‘Julekurver’.
RisengrynsgrøtRice porridge eatenon Christmas Eve
Julekurver
Nisse
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Haiti
Straw-Filled Shoes
On Christmas Eve, children placetheir newly cleaned shoes,
filledwith straw under the tree on theporch. They hope that
Santa(‘Tonton Nwèl’) will remove thestraw and put presents in
andaround the shoes!
Joyeux Noël!Jwaye Nowe!Anisette
A traditional drink at Christmas isAnisette. Children of all
ages areoften allowed to drink it eventhough it is slightly
alcoholic. It ismade by soaking anise leaves inrum and sweetening
it with sugar.
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Russia7th January
Christmas is normally celebratedon 7th January. The date
isdifferent because the RussianOrthodox Church uses the old‘Julian’
calendar for religiouscelebration days.
Food at Christmas
Some people fast during the dayon Christmas Eve until the first
starappears in the sky at night.
It is then traditional to eat ‘kutia’,a porridge made from wheat
orrice served with honey, poppyseeds, fruit and chopped
walnuts.Kutia is sometimes eaten from thesame bowl to symbolise
unity.
Sauerkraut is a main dish in theChristmas Eve meal.
SauerkrautKutia
Grandfather Frost
The New Year celebrations are veryimportant to Russians. This
iswhen Grandfather Frost (known inRussian as ‘Ded Moroz’)
bringspresents to children. On NewYear’s Eve children hold hands in
acircle around the Christmas treeand call for him to come.
Thelights on the tree light up when hearrives with their
presents.