Holiday Traditions

By Gina Pangione

The December holiday season is all about sharing honored family traditions with our children. Here are some crafty ideas to help cultivate an understanding of treasured cultural customs.

Christmas

Dec. 25

WREATH Criss-cross the ends of large craft sticks, one after another, gluing them as you form a circle. This will form the foundation of the wreath. Cut large squares with the red and green tissue paper, and glue them alternately one on top of the other. Ball and unfurl to give them a crinkled look, and then glue each one around the wooden frame until covered. Make it as sleek or as fluffy as you like. Children can also use silver and gold glitter for a fancier look.

 

CHRISTMAS TREE Children can use the small or large craft sticks, depending on the size of the tree. Glue the sticks, overlapping end to end, to form an elongated triangle, on top of a piece of green construction paper. Cut the paper to fit the tree. Glue one craft stick to the base, and color or paint the “trunk” brown. Glue crinkled green tissue onto the craft sticks and construction paper to give a leafy effect. Ball up different colored tissue paper, roll them in glue and glitter, and then glue the “ornaments” to the tree.

 

Kwanzaa, meaning “first fruits”

Dec. 26 – Jan. 1

MKEKA (placemat) Fold largest piece of construction paper in half. Draw straight lines with the ruler from the fold to within an inch of the edge on either side, and cut along each line. Unfold. Cut uniform strips of the other colors an inch wide. Weave them alternately through the cut lines, placing them close to the last strip woven. Tape or paste to secure the strips, and then crop them around the edges if too long.

 

KINARA (candle holder) Cut seven cups from an egg carton and glue the large side onto a sheet of construction paper. Cut a slit into the small top of each cup; color them brown. Color three large wooden craft sticks green, three red, and one black. Slide one stick into each slit of the egg carton cups to look like lit candles in a holder, three green on one side, three red grouped on the other, and the black in the middle. Cut seven small squares of yellow and orange tissue paper; ball up the paper then unroll for a crinkled effect; glue or tape one yellow on top of one orange to look like a flame. On each of the seven days of Kwanzaa, the child may glue or tape one flame on top of another craft stick.

 

Hanukkah (Chanukah)

Begins Dec. 22

DREIDEL Glue a sheet of cardboard to blue construction paper. On the cardboard, draw four equilateral triangles, from top to bottom, pointing to the left side. Directly beside them, using the bottom of the triangles as their left side, draw four squares, from the top of the cardboard sheet to the bottom. Using the right side of the top square, draw an identical square next to that one. Decorate the dreidel with the silver glitter pen, using the traditional symbols on each of the four middle squares. Poke a hole through the last remaining square. Cut along the edges of the dreidel. Fold along the edges, forming the shape of a top, and then glue or tape to retain the toy’s shape. Gently insert the straw through the small hole in the top until it touches the other end to make the spinner.   HOW TO PLAY “SPIN THE DREIDEL” Each player begins the game with 20 tokens (coins, raisins, nuts). On each turn a player donates two tokens to the center and spins the dreidel, obeying whatever the symbol facing up requires. The winner is the person who ends up with the most tokens. The symbols will tell players what to do. Nun means do nothing, gimel means take everything, hey means take half; and shin means put one in.