What Do People Around the World Do On Christmas Eve?
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…
Traveling around the world can work up quite the appetite, and even Santa needs to have a bit of refreshment now and then. In America and Canada, one popular Christmas Eve tradition is to leave Santa a glass of milk and a plate of cookies. In Australia and Britain they prefer to leave sherry and mince pies. The children of Sweden are aware that Santa has a 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 more and more popular in America is the reading of the book “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clark Moore, or similar books about Santa Claus. Other families prefer to watch videos or television to reading. Popular titles are: How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas or Frosty the Snowman. Singing Santa Claus songs like Here Comes Santa Claus, Up on the Housetop, 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…
Up til now it seems that children have been doing all the work, but not it’s time for mom and dad to join in on all the action. There are plenty of gifts that need to be placed under the Christmas tree. Many times these gifts will be signed “From Santa” or “Love Santa”.
Did you enjoy this little tour of “The Night Before Christmas”? Christmas Eve is certainly a magical time of year…but we are not done yet. In future articles we will be exploring more aspects of Christmas, so stay tuned…
Want to find out more about Christmas, then visit Emily Latimer’s site on how to choose the best Christmas gifts for those special people on your list.
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