Multicultural winter holiday celebrations
Teach your child to respect other people's traditions and cherish her own with this guide to multicultural winter celebrations.
This past weekend, as my family was trimming the Christmas tree, neighbors down the street were getting ready for Hanukkah while friends across town were fasting for Ramadan. It's winter holiday time, a time when many Americans end the year gathering with relatives, enjoying great food and giving gifts. It's also a great time of year to teach kids about the importance of having an open mind about different cultures and traditions. So in our house, even though we only celebrate Christmas, we also acknowledge the other winter holidays with books, crafts and activities. Diwali
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Santa Lucia Day, an ancient Swedish festival during which blond-haired girls wear crowns of green leaves studded with lighted candles.
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Winter Solstice, the first day of winter and the longest night of the year, is also celebrated with festivals, decorations and ancient ceremonies that honor nature.
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Three Kings Day, also known as Epiphany, marks the day the three kings arrived to visit the newborn Christ child. This day is most commonly marked with festivities in Hispanic countries and cultures.
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Connect your school with schools in Toronto, New York, Chicago, Mexico, Kashmir, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, and Argentina on June 1st to celebrate Peace Tree Day, a festival of peace diversity and fusion through the arts by children and youth! www.peacetreeday.com
Just an FYI, Ramadan is not a winter holiday, it actually moves throughout the year according to the lunar calendar. In fact, it was in August and September this year, and will move earlier into summer for the next few years. I appreciate the article to open our kids minds, just thought if we gonna teach it, we should teach it right.
You left out one of the earliest Pagan celebrations--Yule (your brief reference to Winter Solstice doesn't quite cut it). In fact, most of the Christmas traditions were borrowed from Yule--the tree, the Yule log, lights, etc. Even the date itself was chose because of its proximity to Yule (Dec. 21), in order to try and convert more Pagans to Christianity. Jesus was actually born in the spring.
However, I do appreciate your article and that you are teaching your children to respect.... More
We celebrate Solstice by making candles, wreaths and gingerbread. We also take a walk in our favorite woods, Muir Woods, which the rangers have lit with luminarium. The rangers also set up a stage and tell stories and lead us in songs, using Yuletide or Christmas tunes, but lyrics rewritten to celebrate nature. Over 1,000 people, adults and children gather for this simple celebration. It's so magical to walk through the woods at night, with the chance of seeing the salmon spawn in the.... More
We celebrate throughout December, but our first big night is Solstice. We open a significant present on that day, which helps to diffuse the angst of Christmas. For the last four years, we've used the same live tree which lives in a pot in our yard the rest of the year. It started at 3' and has now grown to 5.5'; it will never get very big, as it is root constrained.
Here's a short video in honor of winter solstice which honors both natural science and the wonderment of the resilient.... More
My wife and I are both Christian, but I am also Wiccan. I was raised in a Protestant family, and only discovered Wicca as an adult. We've raised our children in a diverse community, and taught them appreciation for spiritual diversity. We celebrate Yule with a Yule Log and prayers/blessings for the coming year, then open 1 present under the tree. Then we celebrate Christmas like other Christians (feast and open all of the other presents). One thing we're trying to do is, reduce the focus on.... More
I am currently in my 20s, but I remember back in second grade or so learning a variety of songs about a number of different winter holidays. Though I celebrate Christmas, around this time of year, I still sing to myself this one Kwanzaa song I learned from back then.
