“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” -Hamilton Wright Mabie
While diving into the research on Holiday Diversity, I learned that there are many holidays celebrated around the end of the year. Take a journey with us to learn a little about those holidays and how you can share them with your students.
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday also known as the festival of lights. According to Wikipedia “Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.” Families light a menorah each night and children spin a top called a dreidel to get chocolates, coins, nuts, or raisins.
Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth by Christians on December 25th. Many families give one another gifts and set up lighted Christmas trees. Non-Christian families also celebrate Christmas and share stories of Santa Claus coming down the chimney to bring children toys.
Three Kings Day is celebrated on the 12th day of Christmas, usually in Europe, Spain, and Latin America. The holiday began being celebrated after Jesus’ birth to celebrate the day the wise men came to give Jesus presents. In Puerto Rico, children put a bed of straw under their beds to get a present. In Spain, children open their presents on Three Kings Day.
Kwanza is celebrated from December 26th-January 1st. It is an Ancient African Harvest Festival that means first fruits. People decorate their homes with fruits and vegetables and light a candle holder called a Kinara. At the end of the festival, they have a feast called Karamu
Other holidays celebrated around this time include St. Lucia Day, St. Nicholas Day, Winter Solstice, New Year’s Day, and Chinese New Year.
Celebrate holiday diversity by assigning a holiday project. Allow students to select a holiday and present it to the class. Depending on the age of your students they might work in small groups to share a holiday tradition, the clothing worn, the food eaten, or games played during their holiday.
Host a Holiday festival. Reach out to students and families that celebrate each holiday to help create a booth representing that holiday. Hold the festival after school. It would be an opportunity for families to come together and celebrate a variety of Holidays.
Invite students or families to speak about the holidays they celebrate during a convocation, lunch and learn, or a classroom lesson. People love to tell their stories and culture and history come to life when you can learn about it in story form.
Celebrate the Holidays in class. Immerse your students in the culture of a new holiday by eating the foods for the holiday and playing games. Students are highly motivated by food and love to play. Allow them to learn while playing.
Spend time sharing holiday traditions as a class. Even if students celebrate the same holidays they often celebrate them differently. Take 5s are an excellent way for students to share about their holiday traditions.
Talk about Holiday Traditions as a class and create one. Teach students what a tradition is and why it is important to us. Practice communication and teamwork skills by creating a holiday classroom tradition. This is a fun way to practice SEL skills.
Do you want to hear more? Check out the rest of our SEL and the Holidays series on our SEL Unfiltered podcast, wherever you stream your podcasts.
Check out other episodes in our SEL and the Holidays series, including Teaching Gratitude, Ways to Give, Supporting Students’ Holiday Needs, Holiday Fun, and Holiday Self-Care.
Every week on SEL Unfiltered we like to bring you a game or activity. You can use the game with your students, in the classroom, or in a small group. This week Kaitlin and I did a Holiday Take 5 by sharing something that we do over the holidays.
Holiday Take 5s are a great way for students to learn more about one another. They also help students see the similarities between one another. Kaitlin and I both learned that our families were very similar growing up. We both had to sit at the top of the stairs until it was time to go down and open presents and no one could get up before 6 AM. Check out the podcast to hear what we did before 6 AM.