Given the fact that we live in a fairly monocultural community, I decided to try to broaden my boys' horizons by celebrating various holidays and traditions of other cultures during the month of December. We did a few of these last year and my boys loved it so I expanded into a few more holidays this year. Basically, for each holiday we talk about what it means, do an activity (if applicable) and eat some kind of food related to that holiday.
Here is what we're doing this year:
Dec. 4- Eid al-fatir (Muslim)
-Celebrated at the end of Ramadan (which I know was in the summer this year).
-Talk about how Muslims observe Ramadan (fasting, prayer, giving to the poor)
-Eat shish kebab and shiraz salad
Dec. 5- St. Nicholas Eve (Netherlands)
-Talk about St. Nicholas and Black Peter
-Make a "letterbanket" (cake in the shape of the family's last name)
-Eat beef stew
-Kids put a shoe on the hearth for St. Nicholas to put candy in overnight.
Dec. 8- Immaculate Conception Day (Chile)
-Talk about Mary's role as the mother of Jesus
-Eat empanadas and pastel de choclo
Dec. 13- St. Lucia Day (Sweden)
-Have youngest child in family serve hot cocoa and cinnamon rolls for breakfast
Dec. 17-Saturnalia (Ancient Rome)
-Kids are in charge for the day
-Bake muffins with something extra in one (bean, M&Ms), whoever gets that muffin is the King/Queen of Saturnalia
-Make and wear freedman's (conical) hats
Dec. 18- Posadas (Mexico)
-Act out the Nativity
-Eat tamales and bunuelos
-Possibly sing Christmas carols in Spanish
Dec. 20- Ignatius ceremony (Romania, old pagan tradition)
-Behead a pig (I'm going make a pig-shaped cake for us to behead)
-Eat some kind of pork product for dinner
Dec. 21- Hanukkah (Jewish)
-Talk about the miracle of the oil and how Hannukah came to be
-Eat latkes and applesauce
-Play dreidel (it will be a "droidel" this year if I can get my hands on the pattern!)
Dec. 26-Boxing Day/Feast of St. Stephen
-Read about Stephen in the Bible
-Gather items to give to the poor (via the thrift store or local homeless shelter)
-Feast on Christmas leftovers
I purposely did not include recipes because there are a wide variety available on the internet; you can find ones that suit your family's preferences. If I have made any glaring errors on these holidays (highly possible!) or if you have something to add that you think would make our partying better, please comment!
I'll keep you posted about our celebrating as we go along :)
