Children around the world wait all year for Christmas Eve. It\’s a very magical and special time of year. Santa will soon be here, bringing gifts to all the good boys and girls…which is one tradition. But did you know that Christmas Eve traditions differ in various countries? In this article we will be exploring all the traditions of Christmas Eve. Welcome, we hope you enjoy it…
Santa and his elves have been working all year for this big night. Spanning the globe via sleigh and reindeer can have you working up quite an appetite. Children to the rescue. In both Canada and the United States, children leave some milk and cookies to feed Santa\’s ferocious appetite. In Australia and Britain they prefer to leave mince pies and sherry. The children of Sweden want to satisfy Santa\’s love of chocolate, so they leave brownies.
Sure, Santa needs refreshment, but what about his reindeer? Children love animals, and they are not about to forget Santa\’s little helpers on the big night. Kids from Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States leave a carrot to give those reindeer an extra \”boost of energy\”. The children who follow the Dutch custom of sinterklass go a bit further…they also leave some hay with a carrot. Placed in a shoe before going to bed, it is replaced by a gift.
Another tradition that has become popular in the United States is the reading of the book \”A Visit from St. Nicholas\” by Clement Clark Moore (or similar tale about Santa Claus). Other families watch a Christmas-related video or television show, like: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas or Frosty the Snowman. Singing Santa Claus songs such as Up on the Housetop, Here Comes Santa Claus, or Santa Claus is Coming to Town are also very popular.
On Christmas Eve, children all around the world will put their stockings on the mantel. They are full of anticipation that St. Nick will soon be here, and will fill their stocking with gifts, candy, and \”other goodies\”. Next they will look up the chimney to make sure that the \”Big Guy\” has not arrived yet. They will take a glance out the window to see if they can see a passing sleigh, and then perhaps unlock the front door (just in case Santa has problems getting down the chimney). With all the prep work done, it\’s time to go off to bed…
Parents have their part to play in Christmas Eve as well. There are a lot of gifts that need to be placed under the tree, and they will often be signed \”From Santa\” or \”Love Santa\”.
Christmas Eve is a busy time of year, but a very magical time as well. We hope you enjoyed this little tour of the various traditions. In future articles we will be exploring other Christmas traditions…so stay tuned…
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