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Santa Claus
Use stories and games based on Santa Claus to talk about the value of giving and inspire
creative learning opportunities in the run-up to Christmas, suggests Marianne Sargent
Y
oung children’s excitement about Christmas
will be reaching fever
pitch soon as they wonder
about what presents they
will receive, but Santa
Claus and the story of Saint Nicholas
provide a useful reminder about the
value of giving.
photo: Istockphoto
A TIME FOR GIVING
Use the story of Saint Nicholas as a
springboard to talk about the spirit of
giving at Christmas.
The story of Saint Nicholas
Many years ago, there was a kind
man called Nicholas. He lived in the
city of Myra in Turkey where there
were many poor people who struggled to find enough money to buy
food and clothing to keep healthy,
safe and warm.
One day when Nicholas was walking through the city streets, he came
across three sisters who sat crying at
the side of the road. In those days,
when a girl married, her family was
expected to pay for the wedding. This
family had no money and so the girls’
weddings had been cancelled. In fact,
the parents were so poor that they
could no longer afford to have the
girls living at home and so they were
going to end up living on the streets.
Nicholas decided he had to help.
He had no money himself but he
appealed to the rich people of the city
to donate as much as they could. That
night, he visited the home of the three
sisters and sneaked in while the family was asleep. Inside, he found three
socks hanging to dry in front of the
fire. He divided up the gold he had
collected and shared it between the
three socks. Then he crept out of the
house and went home to bed.
In the morning the girls awoke to
find the gold hanging in their socks
in front of the fire. They rejoiced.
All three could now get married and
18 nursery world 2-15 December 2013
there was enough left over for them to
share with their parents too. The girls
never knew who had helped them.
For years after, Nicholas continued
to help people in secret. Even when
Nicholas was discovered, he asked
people not to tell anyone his secret.
Eventually, he became a bishop and in
time, a saint. We call him Santa Claus,
the Dutch name for Saint Nicholas,
and if we are lucky he brings us a
present on Christmas Eve.
UW: Remembers and talks about
significant events in their own
experience.
SANTA STYLE
Show the children how images of
Santa Claus have changed over time.
Adult role
l Do an internet image search of
Santa Claus over the past 100
years or so. Collate the images
Adult role
l Share the story of Saint Nicholas
with the children and talk about
giving at Christmas. What are the
children expecting to receive this
Christmas? What are the children
planning on giving?
l Explain that not everyone will
receive a lot of gifts at Christmas
because some people do not have
as much money as others. Talk
about the value of presents and
help the children to consider the
meaning behind giving. Does it
matter how many presents we
receive or how much they cost?
Does it mean more to make a
present or a card?
l Ask the children if they have any
experience of shopping in charity
shops. Have the children ever been
with their parents to donate goods
to a charity?
l Write to parents and ask for toy
donations. Ask them to involve
their children in choosing a toy
that they no longer play with.
l Involve the children in putting
some toy parcels together to
donate to local charities or take the
children to a charity shop to donate
their toys in person.
Learning opportunities
PSED: Shows sensitivity to others’
needs and feelings.
CL: Is able to follow a story without
pictures or props.
Use pictures to illustrate how the image of Santa Claus has c
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and stick them on a large timeline
for the children to look at and
compare. Add significant events
to the timeline to help the children
gain some understanding of the
passing of time – for example, the
decades when their parents and
grandparents were likely born.
l Show the images to the children.
Draw their attention to the style
and colour of Santa’s clothing. Talk
about how clothing and styles have
changed over time.
l Challenge the children to design
a new uniform for Santa. Provide
a range of fabrics in a variety of
colours for them to choose from.
Help the children to draw out their
design then add their chosen fabric
samples.
l Extend the activity by asking
the children to consider Santa’s
mode of transport. Can they think
of anything quicker and more
efficient than reindeer? Can they
design a new vehicle that is big
enough to carry all the presents?
Books
l Alfie’s Christmas by Shirley
Hughes – Hughes brings
Christmas to life with her
wonderful trademark
illustrations.
l Mr Christmas by Roger
Hargreaves – Father
Christmas enlists the help
of his nephew Mr Christmas
to make sure all the Mr Men
get their presents on time.
l The Night Before Christmas
by Clement C Moore and
Eric Puybaret – beautifully
illustrated classic with
accompanying CD.
l Father Christmas by
Raymond Briggs – comic
strip-style picture story
about a grumpy Santa
delivering his presents on
Christmas Eve. Available as
an animation on DVD, too.
l Topsy and Tim Meet
Father Christmas by Jean
Adamson – the twins go to
Learning opportunities
UW: Develops an understanding of
changes over time.
CL: Uses talk to organise and clarify
thinking and ideas.
EAD: Explores a variety of fabrics,
experimenting with colour and
design.
l When the object is revealed, pass
the hat to the next child and repeat.
Play an alternative version of the
game, called Inside Santa’s sack,
where children can guess the identity
of an object hidden inside a bag by
feeling it and asking questions.
MORE IDEAS
l Set up a Santa’s workshop in the
role-play area with toys, tools and
costumes for Santa, his wife and
the elves.
l Look at a variety of wrapping paper
designs and provide craft materials
for the children to make their own
wrapping paper featuring festive
repeating patterns.
l Download a map of the local area
using Google Maps. Blow the map
up and mount it on a low-level
display board. Help the children
to locate their homes and stick
name labels onto the map.
Pretend to post the map to Santa
to help him find their houses on
Christmas Eve.
l Write letters to Santa.
l Make mince pies to leave out for
Santa on Christmas Eve.
SONGS, RHYMES, GAMES
When Santa got stuck up the
chimney
When Santa got stuck up the chimney
He began to shout,
You girls and boys won’t get any toys
If you don’t pull me out.
My beard is black
There’s soot in my sack
My nose is tickling too.
When Santa got stuck up the chimney
Achoo, achoo, achoo!
changed over the past 100 years
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Under Santa’s hat
Use a large Santa hat to play this
game with up to ten children.
l Sit the children in a circle.
l Take one child at a time out of
sight of the others and give them
a lightweight object small enough
to hide under the hat. Tell them to
take a good look at the object then
put it on their head and put the
Santa hat over the top.
l Take the child to rejoin the circle
and ask them to give the other
children a clue as to what is under
the hat without actually saying
what it is. Help the child by asking
them prompt questions such as
‘What colour is the object?’, ‘What
is it used for?’ and ‘Where is it
usually kept?’
l Invite the other children to guess
what the object is.
the garden centre to buy a
tree and visit Santa in his
grotto.
l Mrs Christmas by Penny
Ives – Mrs Christmas comes
to the rescue when Santa
and his reindeer are too ill to
deliver the presents.
l The Jolly Christmas
Postman by Janet and
Allan Ahlberg – the Jolly
Postman stops off and has
a cup of tea with Santa.
Marianne Sargent is a writer
specialising in early years education
and a former foundation stage teacher
and primary and early years lecturer
Resources
l A time for giving: letter
to parents, boxes for
packing toys, and
information about local
charity collections or
events.
l Santa style: pictures
of Santa Claus over
time, fabric samples in
different colours, styles
and textures, glue, white
card, pencils, scissors.
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