Last week, our homeschool group got together over here to do a Christmas Around the World activity. Each mama prepared a little “speech” about their country, an easy craft to do with the kids, & a dish to share. There were three mamas who participated out of our group and the countries represented were: France, Germany, and Sweden. So, we didn’t quite get around the world, but the kids greatly enjoyed this!
ALuv helped me with the prep work. I incorporated it into his Social Studies as well as writing leading up to the event.
Learning about Germany, then writing a “book”:
Decorating a gingerbread house (an annual tradition)
& Making Christmas tree-shaped gingerbread cookies
CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD: The things we learned
FRANCE:
First, we learned about France. The kids were asked to collect their shoes and place them by the fireplace. Then, we went into the schoolroom.
We learned where France was located on the globe, the capital of France,
a few famous landmarks in France and how they celebrate Christmas. We learned that the French say, “Happy Christmas” instead of “Merry Christmas”.
The kids each decorated a card, writing “Happy Christmas” on the inside.
While they decorated their cards, their shoes were filled with chocolates (and a cool Christmas pencil), a French tradition.
GERMANY:
The kids then rotated to the kitchen to learn about Germany.
I read a portion of The Legend of the Christmas Tree and talked about Martin Luther cutting down a Christmas tree and lighting it with candles. I read through the “book” that ALuv had compiled and he added on as I shared. We also learned how to say “Merry Christmas” in German as well as learned “O Tannenbaum”.
As a craft, each child decorated a foam Christmas Tree with foam stickers to hang on their Christmas Trees at home.
SWEDEN:
On to Sweden!
On the globe, we learned how Sweden is very close to the top of the Earth and that they can have sunlight or darkness all night and all day sometimes. This was a new concept to some of the kids. Then, we learned about St. Lucia Day & “Santa” riding on a straw goat as well as about the Swedish flag.
The kids colored a goat, glued on some straw, then made a flag.
Food, Yummy Food!
For each country represented, we ate some food. I wish I had some pictures to go with this, but I was too busy stuffing my face!
- FRANCE: Quiche Lorraine and fresh fruit
- GERMANY: Gingerbread Christmas Tree Cookies
- SWEDEN: Ris a la Malta (like a rice pudding)
Here are a few great links for a Christmas Around the World theme:
- Homeschool Share
- Christmas Around the World Powerpoints
- Making Learning Fun: this has more than Christmas stuff, but there are a couple of Christmas ones on there
Thank you for joining This Reading Mama on a trip around the globe–well, almost! 🙂
~Becky
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