6 Winter Waldorf Festivals to Celebrate in December

Advent

The period beginning four Sundays before Christmas that is observed by most Christians in preparation for the celebration of Christmas Day. In Waldorf homes, Advent is recognized by representing the kingdoms of our planet each Sunday:

The first Sunday of Advent we recognize minerals and stones.
The second Sunday of Advent we recognize the plant kingdom.
The third Sunday of Advent we recognize the animal kingdom.
The fourth and last Sunday of Advent we recognize humankind.

We have so many beautiful ways to share with you on how to bring this sacred festival into your home or school in our publications:

December Preschool/Kindergarten Book (Ages 3-6)

December Afterschooling Book (Ages 6+, teens and adults)

Advent and St. Nicholas Festival Book (All Ages)

St. Nicholas Day, December 6th

Celebrated on December 6th (December 5th elsewhere) in many European countries to honor the Christian saint as the bringer of gifts. Boys would sometimes dress as bishops to give to the poor. Many children would wait for treats to be left under their pillows or shoes that were left out. In Waldorf homes and schools, this celebration continues with children leaving their shoes out the eve before (December 5th) to wake to small treats inside including chocolate, coins, fruits, nuts and sometimes a small toy. 

Where to find ideas for this beautiful celebration:

December Preschool/Kindergarten Book (Ages 3-6)

December Afterschooling Book (Ages 6+, teens and adults)

Advent and St. Nicholas Festival Book (All Ages)

Santa Lucia Day, December 13th

The Feast of St. Lucia or Santa Lucia is a festival of light, as are many of the celebrations this time of year. In some countries she is represented as a lady in a white dress with a wreath of candles in her hair. Many celebrate this special day by having the oldest daughter in the family wear a wreath in her hair and offer sweet buns or cookies to others. Boys also share a role by wearing star boy caps or dressing as St. Stephen. The procession is said to help all move forward with light into the deep, dark winter days ahead. 

In my Kindergarten class, we often made St. Lucy Buns as well as crowns and star boy hats for the children and had a walk around our playground and school. In the Little Acorn Learning guides we offer complete instructions for these activities as well as some more unique ideas such as planting indoor wheat for St. Lucia Day.

December Preschool/Kindergarten Book (Ages 3-6)

December Afterschooling Book (Ages 6+, teens and adults)

Winter Festivals Book (All Ages)

Hanukkah

This beautiful Jewish festival is often called the Festival of Lights. It is observed to recognize the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem. Often a menorah will be lit each evening for eight nights to represent the rededication of the Jewish faith and to spread the light to future generations. A fun game played during this time is the spinning of a dreidel and sometimes small gifts will be shared each of the eight days of spiritual acknowledgement. While my family is not Jewish, I always recognized this special festival in my classroom as the light of hope reaches beyond all faiths and backgrounds. 

Our Winter Festivals Book includes a beautiful tutorial on making a menorah with found nature items, a Star of David banner, as well as a paper menorah. We also have recipes and songs to share.

The Winter Solstice/Yule, December 21st 

The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year and the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. This day marks the winter season which continues until the Spring Equinox. Yule was celebrated before the conversion to Christianity in many cultures and this ancient festival still holds strong roots in all we see in the Winter Solstice as well as Christmastime. 

Celebrating the solstice is a magical time in Waldorf homes and schools. All of our books bring this warming festival into the lives of your children with warm recipes, songs, crafts and meditations. Creating a Yule Log was always a favorite in my classroom.

December Preschool/Kindergarten Book (Ages 3-6)

December Afterschooling Book (Ages 6+, teens and adults)

Winter Festivals Book (All Ages)

King Winter Celebration Book (All Ages)

Christmas Day, December 25th 

The day that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ in many Christian faiths (Eastern Orthodox faiths celebrate on January 7th). The four Sundays of Advent lead up to this sacred day.

In our home we have a beautiful tradition of an Advent Spiral calendar as well as other advent traditions such a nativity, advent wreath, mistletoe and Christmas tree. Culturally on this day, many children wake up to gifts from Santa Claus who travels the world to bring joy to those who believe. The tradition of Santa Claus stems from the long rooted tradition of celebrating St. Nicholas, the saint of giving. Many non-Christians still enjoy decorating and sharing gifts this time of year to share love and light with one another.

December Preschool/Kindergarten Book (Ages 3-6)

December Afterschooling Book (Ages 6+, teens and adults)

Advent and St. Nicholas Festival Book (All Ages)

Winter Festivals Book (All Ages)

Which of these December festivals do you celebrate? We hope we have inspired you to weave your own family traditions and customs into your winter celebrations and also try incorporating new ideas from some of the examples above.

Celebrate St. Lucia Day on December 13th

Another beautiful festival we love to celebrate at Little Acorn Learning is St. Lucia Day. This year it falls this Thursday. Always on December 13th. 

Each one of our December books gives sweet ways to celebrate this special day in your home or school. Our December Childcare Book (Ages 3-6, Schools & Families) includes songs, recipes, a game and crafts. The December Afterschool Guide (Ages 6+, Schools & Families) includes a beautiful Swedish story of St. Lucia, a special craft and a indoor gardening activity for this special festival. Our Winter Festivals Book (All Ages, Schools & Families) includes even more activities for this time of year. 

Without giving away too much of the goodies in our books, here are some simple ways to help you acknowledge this time with the children. Remember you do not have to do it all on Thursday! You can celebrate any time or a little each day this week.

A lovely recipe to make St. Lucy Buns with the children:

taken from our December Little Acorn Learning Guides

Supplies Needed:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup scalded milk
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
6 packages of dry active yeast
dash of salt
2 eggs, beaten
6 - 8 cups sifted flour
1/3 cup raisins

Mix butter, cream and salt and stir. Mix yeast, milk and 2 tablespoons of the
sugar – leave aside for 10 minutes or more until it foams. Mix both butter
mixture and yeast mixture along with one of the beaten eggs and remaining
sugar. Gradually stir in the flour until a stiff dough forms. Put the mixture
on a floured surface and knead 10 minutes. Add more flour if necessary.
Place dough into a greased bowl, cover and let it rise until it doubles in bulk.
Divide dough into 5” strips about 1” wide. Shape the strips into an ‘S’ shape
and decorate with raisins. Brush with the remaining beaten egg and place on
greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise for one hour. Bake at 400 degrees
approximately 10 minutes (until lightly brown, check buns often)

A sweet book to read for St. Lucia Day (so many more book recommendations in our above publications):

 

A little verse:

Evening Star

Sunset glow is fading

In the western sky

Birds have stopped their singing

Cool winds rustle by

Now the star of evening

Shining clear and bright

With its steady gleaming

Welcomes in the the night.

Time to Breathe and New E-Book Releases!

For the last two months, we have been working feverishly around here writing and creating two wonderful new e-books through Little Acorn Learning.  The children have been helping me with the crafts and in the evenings and on weekends I have been carving out time to write.

My partner in this Festival Series project, Sara Wilson of Love in the Suburbs, is so amazingly talented and organized and it has been a pure pleasure to work with someone who is such a kindred spirit.  We have truly become dear connected friends on opposite sides of the United States and I am so grateful to have her in my life.  I look forward to phone calls, emails and texts from Sara to brighten my spirit when the deadlines are creeping up behind me.  One day maybe we will even meet in person now that we have written a ton of books together.  :)

One of the things I love most about this work I do is that it fully includes my children.  While it is very time consuming to plan, organize, write, create and upload the material - the entire process could not be without  my girls by my side.  They are my testers, my crafters, my assistants, my idea generators and my little person point-of-view go-to team.  They are my loves.  

I hope they will not only remember a mama who worked many hours and needed to spend a lot of time in the evenings on the computer running a business.... but I hope they also remember the special time we shared together as these e-books took form, almost as they were given to us from above - a pure gift.

 My hope is that our labor of love will also be a gift to other families.  I hope you spend time crafting and singing and getting your hands dirty with your children as you work through our books.

I hope you know that we not only do this for an income, we do it with the hope, that in our own little way, we are somehow making the world a better place for children and their caregivers.

As the beauty of the winter season approaches, know that with everything we do - your families are in our hearts and minds and we wish you love, peace and joy with your family and friends this holiday time and always.

So without further ado, we are PLEASED, EXCITED, RELIEVED? to announce the release of two huge e-books (that were supposed to be one winter e-book but grew so big we had to split it in half!):

The Advent and Saint Nicholas Festival E-Book
and
The Winter Festivals E-Book

handcrafted with love from all of us at Little Acorn Learning

xoxo