The end of the year is filled with many different celebrations and holidays enjoyed by families in the United States and around the world. You can bring some of these celebrations into your classroom by exploring December holiday activities with the children in your care or by inviting children and families to share their favorite traditions. Creating a space for children and families to share and learn about different practices creates a welcoming and inclusive classroom community.
In this article, we share some holiday songs and books that you might enjoy with the children in your care to celebrate upcoming holidays and festivities.
Kwanzaa is a celebration of African heritage, unity, and culture and is celebrated from December 26th to January 1st. This simple song describes the colors and traditions of Kwanzaa, during which candles are lit each night of the celebration.
This popular song celebrates the dreidel game, which is a Hanukkah tradition. Hanukkah, or Chanukah, is an eight-day Jewish celebration that begins on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar.
This video of the popular Christmas song, Jingle Bells, makes it simple for young children to follow along and sing this fun holiday song.
This book explores Christmas traditions in 13 different countries, using rhyming text and engaging illustrations. The book also includes interesting educational endnotes about the 13 celebrations with additional details for educators to share with young children about each celebration.
This children’s book is an encyclopedia of information about different holidays, written in a child-friendly way. It is a great reference book for educators and includes crafts to celebrate each holiday, traditional food enjoyed during each celebration, and pronunciations for different celebratory words.
This picture book highlights a variety of celebrations around the world, in December and throughout the rest of the year. The text is simple and brief, making it easy for young children to follow along.
