Cayman Islands
Early Childhood Care
& Education Unit
Volume 13
December 2012
Celebrating Christmas Around the World
This Christmas newsletter features traditions of
countries from which our EC staff originate. As
we encourage our young children to be
respectful of other cultures, please take the
time to share this interesting information with
them and their families.
Canada - Canadians may open their presents on
Christmas Eve after a special church service, or
on Christmas Day. The day starts with a cooked
breakfast, such as ham and eggs or pancakes.
Lunch is often a very large meal with a stuffed
or dressed roast turkey, potatoes, a selection of
vegetables and cranberry sauce and gravy to
add flavour. After the savory part of the meal,
plum or Christmas pudding is traditionally
eaten. Some families also eat a large evening
meal consisting of items such as leg of pork or
ham, or re-heated leftovers from the lunch.
During the day, many types of sweet
and savory snacks are served,
including candy, oranges, nuts, and
butter tarts or shortbread.
England - Each year a giant Christmas tree is
set up and decorated near the statue of Lord
Nelson in Trafalgar Square. It commemorates
Anglo-Norwegian cooperation during World
War II. On Christmas Day, gifts are opened in
the morning. Later the family will gather for the
traditional Christmas dinner consisting of
Brussel sprouts, fried potatoes with roast
turkey, roast beef or goose. Sweet mince pie or
Christmas pudding is served for dessert. The
pudding might contain coins or lucky charms for
children. For afternoon tea, rich Christmas fruit
cake with marzipan and icing is offered.
Christmas crackers are a party favourite. These
are brightly coloured paper tubes, twisted on
both ends and filled with a party hat, a riddle
and a toy. The Queen's annual Christmas
Message is broadcasted on the
afternoon of Christmas Day. King
George began this custom in 1932.
Honduras - Christmas is celebrated at the
stroke of midnight on the night of the 24th of
December (as opposed to the 25th in other
countries). The Christmas meal is extremely
important. Usually, it takes several days to
prepare. The typical menu is a combination of
traditional Latin-American foods: tamales,
torrejas, sweet potato puree, eggnog, roast
ham; and items extracted from the North
American Christmas menu, roasted turkey,
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stuffing, and cranberry sauce. A few days
before 31st of December, the children fashion a
life-size doll of an old man, representing the
year that is about to end; the Año Viejo. They
stuff it with fireworks. On the stroke of
midnight on December 31, the doll is light up,
signifying a burning away of bad
memories throughout the past year.
India - Christmas is the most important festival
of Indian Christians. Christians in India decorate
banana or mango trees instead of traditional
pine trees. They also light small oil-burning
lamps as Christmas decorations and fill their
churches with red flowers. As a part of their
celebration they give Christmas gifts to their
family members and give charitable tokens of
money to poor people. Houses and churches
are decorated with poinsettia flowers for the
midnight mass. Churches often have an Evening
Service on Christmas Day and are fabulously
decorated. Caroling processions in
streets and thoroughfares can also
be seen.
Jamaica - Jamaicans celebrate by going to
church, exchanging gifts with their families, and
gathering for a large meal. Dinner on Christmas
Day is the biggest feast for Jamaicans and
includes chicken, roast beef and roast pork,
oxtail, curry goat, roast ham, and rice and gungo
peas. Jamaican-style sorrell and Christmas cake
made of soaked fruit are Christmas specialties.
There is also a traditional Christmas celebration
called Jonkanoo (‘John Canoe’) where revelers
parade through the streets dressed in colourful
masquerade costumes. Traditionally, men
wearing white-mesh masks play the characters
which include the horned cow head, policeman,
horse head, wild Indian, devil, belly-woman,
pitchy-patchy, and sometimes a bride and
house head, which was an image of a great
house carried by the reveler on his head.
Jonkanoo it not as popular in the
cities as it was 30 years ago, but is
still a favoured tradition in rural
Jamaica.
Philippines - The Philippines is known for having
the world’s longest Christmas season
celebration. The four months that end with the
syllable ‘ber’ are considered Christmas months,
which is why stores and households start
playing carols on the first day of September!
And the holiday season extends beyond
December 31st. It does not end until the Feast
of the Epiphany or Three Kings which falls
around January 6. What every Filipino looks
forward to is Noche Buena, the grand family
dinner after the midnight mass. Christmas
morning is the time for visiting relatives.
Filipinos wear new, if not their best, clothes.
Children do mano, which is kissing or bringing to
their forehead the hand of an elderly
person. Families enjoy Christmas
lunch and Christmas dinner.
U.S.A. - People celebrate Christmas Day in many
ways. In the days or even weeks before Christmas
Day, many people decorate their homes and
gardens with lights, Christmas trees and much
more. A special meal is served, often consisting of
turkey, ham and a lot of other festive foods, for
family or friends during which they exchange
gifts. Children, in particular, often receive a lot of
gifts from their parents, relatives and the
mythical figure Santa Claus. Many churches and
communities organize special events including
decorating
the
neighbourhood,
putting up a Christmas tree and
planning a Nativity display, concert or
performance.
Cayman—Christmas in Cayman is similar to
Christmas in the USA, with families exchanging
gifts,
decorating
their
homes
and
neighbourhoods and family gatherings for dinner.
Traditionally, Christmas of yesteryear would see
Caymanians ‘backing‘ new sand from beaches to
put in their yards for the Christmas season. They
would decorate a casuarina tree branch with
candles, apples and tinsel. Christmas beef was
the meal of choice for most families on Christmas
day, with heavy cakes such as cassava and yam
being plentiful. Nylon stockings were stuffed
with apples, handkerchiefs, combs, hair clips and
other little useful trinkets. Families
would attend church together on
Christmas day.
Inside this issue
Christmas Around the World
1
Christmas fun
2
Poem: My Christmas Wish For You
2
Christmas Fun!
Sensory Table/Bin - Children should have opportunity to experience and
manipulate objects of different textures, size and shape. They should also be
able to explore these items in different ways and help make meaning of their
world. Sensory tables or bins are the perfect gathering of resources to
facilitate this opportunity for the children to freely make discoveries. The
objects in the bins should be changed with the children’s interests, and
according to themes or seasons. The bin pictured to the left is an example of a
Christmas sensory bin which is a collection of red and green coloured rice,
textures balls, wooden shaped beads, bells, and Christmas themed signs.
Spoons, tongs, cups, buckets and other equipment could be added to
encourage the child’s fine motor development.
Decorating a tree - A small Christmas tree, unbreakable ornaments and other
child friendly decorations would be a perfect addition to any early childhood
room. The children could decorate and redecorate the tree as they like. Fine
motor skills, creativity, group collaboration and sharing of ideas can
encouraged through this activity. Take pictures with the tree as the children
decorate it and use them for Christmas cards to parents. This form of creative
expression allows the child to tell the recipient of the card about how they
decorated the tree. Always keep safety in mind, and make sure the objects are
unbreakable, large enough to avoid chocking and non allergenic. You will also
need to explain to the children beforehand that the tree is for everyone to
decorate, and that their decorations will be disassembled to give others a turn.
Christmas themed rice crispy treats - Line a baking sheet with waxed paper or
parchment paper. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter and 10 oz. marshmallows in a
large saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the marshmallows
melt completely. Immediately stir in the crispy rice cereal. Spread the mixture
onto the prepared baking sheet, so that the rice crispy treats are about 1/2- to
3/4-inch thick. Spray a sharp knife generously with cooking spray. Use it to cut
the rice crispy treats into large triangles. Break or cut candy canes into 3-inch
pieces. Insert a candy cane into the bottom of each rice crispy treat triangle to
form the trunk for the Christmas trees. Let the rice crispy treats cool
completely before decorating with icing, candies and/or coloured sugar.
From the ECCE Unit
My Christmas Wish for You
By: Ruth Kephart
My Christmas wish for you, my friend
Is not a simple one
For I wish you hope and joy and peace;
Days filled with warmth and sun.
I wish you love and friendship too
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Throughout the coming year,
Lots of laughter and happiness
To fill your world with cheer.
May you count your blessings, one by one
And when totaled by the lot
May you find all you've been given
To be more than what you sought.
May your journeys be short, your burdens light
May your spirit never grow old,
May all your clouds have silver linings
And your rainbows pots of gold.
I wish this all and so much more
May all your dreams come true,
May you have a Merry Christmas friend
And a happy New Year, too.