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15 December Holidays Around the World Books Your Students Will Love

Laura — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 22:44:03 +0000

Want to know my secret for surviving the weeks leading up to winter break? December holidays around the world, of course!

Those days between Thanksgiving and winter break are some of the hardest to keep students focused. But I say, when students are so holiday-crazed, why not lean into that? December holidays around the world books are such a fun way to weave the holidays into your school day. Plus, students will love the opportunity to learn about holiday traditions around the world. So I've rounded up 15 of my favorite books about holidays around the world for you to explore with your students this season.

Read on for the best holidays and Christmas around the world books!

Need some December holidays around the world lesson plans and activities? Check out this activity bundle!

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December Holidays Around the World

Celebrating holidays around the world isn't just a helpful way to engage students. It's also an important part of culturally responsive teaching.

So often, this time of year gets hyper-focused on Christmas and our Western ways of celebrating it. Showing students that there are lots of ways to celebrate Christmas helps open their eyes to the diversity of our world. Plus, introducing other December holidays helps them learn about differences that make our diverse world so interesting. It also helps the students in your class who might celebrate some of these holidays feel seen and valued!

I've always found that children's books are probably the best way to show “windows” and “mirrors” to our students. “Windows” help students see perspectives that are different from their own. For example, learning about some December holidays that they may not celebrate. On the other hand, “Mirrors” provide validation for students' own experiences. For example, reading a book about Kwanzaa when you have a couple of students who celebrate that holiday at home.

Holidays Around the World Books

I've divided these books into different categories so you can easily see which holiday they refer to and jump to the holiday you are interested in. However, I recommend choosing a mix of holidays to introduce to your students! The categories I've included here are Christmas Around the World, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the Winter Solstice. All of these are wonderful December holidays that your students will enjoy learning more about.

You can sprinkle these read alouds throughout your school day in the weeks leading up to your winter break. My students always look forward to them.

Christmas Around the World

These books teach students about fun and interesting Christmas traditions from all over the world. I love creating an anchor chart display to show the different traditions as we learn about them!

How Kids Celebrate Christmas Around the World

Fun illustrations show a different country and their Christmas traditions on each page.

A World of Cookies For Santa

This beautifully illustrated book describes all the different treats that are left out for Santa by children in different countries.

Christmas Is Coming: Traditions From Around the World

Another fun book that explores Christmas traditions from around the world. This book has beautiful illustrations that children will love to look at.

Christmas Around the World (It’s a Small World)

This book follows different children around the world as they get ready for their Christmas celebrations.

Hanukkah Children's Books

You can teach your students about Hanukkah history and traditions with these fun books. One fun activity to do with these stories is to learn to play dreidel with your class!

My First Chanukah

A simple board book that explains Hanukkah in easy language for children to understand.

The Story of Hanukkah

Beautiful illustrations and vivid storytelling share the story of the Maccabees and how the Jewish tradition of Hanukkah began.

Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas

A fun story about a multi-cultural celebration of Hanukkah. A great starting point for a discussion of how many families blend traditions.

Elmo’s Little Dreidel

Elmo receives a dreidel. His friends teach him how to play this fun Hanukkah game.

Kwanzaa Children's Books

Kwanzaa has such a fun history and is based on values that are great to talk about in the classroom. I love making a Kwanzaa unity chain with my students as a fun activity to go with this holiday.

Kevin’s Kwanzaa

A fun story about Kevin and his family as they celebrate Kwanzaa together.

Kwanzaa by Lisa M. Herrington

A fact-filled book with wonderful photographs, examples of activities, and information about how Kwanzaa is celebrated.

Together for Kwanzaa

A big snowstorm hits, and Kayla hopes that her brother will make it home in time to celebrate Kwanzaa as a family.

Winter Solstice Children's Books

The winter solstice is a magical time. Students might not understand the science behind the days getting shorter, so it's fun to explore that with them.

The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper

A beautiful poem with lovely illustrations that shares some of the ways people honor the winter solstice each year.

The Shortest Day – Celebrating the Winter Solstice

A book for children that explains the science of the winter solstice and some of the traditions that go with it.

The Tomten

A magical story about a kind troll who visits the people of the town in the middle of the winter to remind them that spring will come again.

The Winter Solstice

This book also explores the scientific reasons for the days getting shorter in the winter time.

Winter Holidays Around the World

Celebrating winter holidays around the world can be such a fun experience for your students. Children love learning about different parts of the world. Plus, holiday celebrations are always a big hit as well.

I recommend pairing these holidays around the world children's books with crafts and other activities. If you want some inspiration, you can read my blog post on How to Celebrate Winter Holidays Around the World With Your Students.

If you want some fun activities that are planned and ready to go, you can get the December Holidays Around the World Activity Bundle right here!

Resources For You

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How to Celebrate Winter Holidays Around the World With Your Students

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The post 15 December Holidays Around the World Books Your Students Will Love appeared first on Love Grows Learning.

How to Celebrate Winter Holidays Around the World With Your Students

Laura — Sat, 16 Oct 2021 18:30:07 +0000

Winter holidays around the world are a hit with my students every year! Celebrating winter holidays from the around the world is such a fun way to get in the holiday spirit, and also a great way to keep students motivated during December. Plus, teaching students about these holidays can help build inclusivity, tolerance, and appreciation of diversity in your classroom. There are so many wonderful winter and December global holidays that your students will love to learn about. And I’ve rounded up some of my favorite activities to help you learn and celebrate!

Read on for fun activities and crafts to celebrate winter holidays around the world!

Want to celebrate holidays around the world with your students, but not sure where to start? This bundle has everything you need!

Winter Holidays Around the World

The best place to start your winter holidays around the world studies is to find out which religions and holidays are celebrated by the families in your class. I love to send out a questionnaire at the beginning of the year to gather information from families. One of the questions asks about major holidays that are important to each family.

Then when a holiday is coming up, you can reach out to families to see if there is anything they would want to share with the class. Families are usually thrilled to be included in this way. We’ve had families share special food dishes, important artifacts, children’s books, and videos for different holidays!

There are so many winter holidays from around the world that your students may not know about – December Jewish holidays, December holidays in India, special new year’s celebrations.. the list goes on and on! For example, some of my favorite winter holidays to teach about are Hanukkah, Diwali, Winter Solstice, Las Posadas, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s, and Lunar New Year’s!

Of course, I love teaching with arts and crafts, so here is a round-up of some of my favorite craft ideas for winter and December holidays around the world!

I love putting a winter tree in my classroom and adding decorations from winter holidays around the world as we learn about them!

Hanukkah Activities

The days of Hanukkah change every year, so be sure to check your calendar so you can plan when to do your Hanukkah crafts. This is a Jewish festival lasting eight nights. It is sometimes also called the Festival of Lights.

Creating an anchor chart is a great way to help students learn new facts about Hanukkah. There are lots of great Hanukkah read alouds that you can use with your students as you are teaching them about the history of this holiday.

I love a flipbook for letting students practice what they've learned. This one uses the information from the anchor chart so that students can apply their new learning independently.

This anchor chart explores some of the different ways that countries like to celebrate Christmas. There are lots of fun books that you can read that explore these different Christmas traditions. As you read the books, you can add the pieces to the anchor chart. This makes such a fun Christmas around the world classroom display!

It also has a cut and paste matching craft activity for students to do on their own. This engaging activity helps students remember what they learned about each Christmas around the world holiday tradition.

Another fun way to learn about Christmas around the world is to learn about the different Christmas tree decorations that are popular in different countries. In this cut and paste craft, students make their own Christmas tree and paste on various popular decorations from many different parts of the globe.

These activities are included in the Christmas Around the World activity pack.

Kwanzaa Activities

If you're celebrating winter holidays from around the world, Kwanzaa is definitely one you'll want to include!

Kwanzaa celebrates 7 guiding principles that honor African heritage: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. The celebration is 7 days long, one day for each of the principles.

To celebrate Kwanzaa, have your students make a unity chain. Add strips of black, red, and green paper every time you notice students honoring principles of teamwork or unity in the classroom. Students will love to work together to see how long their chain can get!

Kwanzaa is a relatively newer holiday, so your students may not know as much about it. This flipbook will help them learn the facts about Kwanzaa. Each page of the flipbook reviews an important aspect of Kwanzaa.

All these Kwanzaa activities and crafts are part of this Kwanzaa activity pack.

Winter Solstice Crafts

The winter solstice celebrates the sun’s rebirth. It is celebrated on December 21st, the shortest day of the year. It is a time to reflect on new beginnings.

These winter solstice activities are perfect to include in your winter holidays from around the world lessons.

This anchor chart is a great activity to help teach your students about the winter solstice. I love pairing this activity with winter solstice read alouds. As facts come up in the books. I add them to the anchor chart.

A crown is always a big hit with my students, and this one is the perfect winter solstice activity for your holidays around the world studies. Students cut and paste little pictures on it that have to do with the winter solstice.

These activity templates are part of this Winter Solstice activity pack.

Not Just December…

Learning about holidays from different cultures and parts of the world is something we can do all year long. Not only does this help all our students feel seen, but it builds tolerance and an appreciation for diversity.

I hope you have lots of fun ideas now for celebrating winter and December holidays around the world!

If you want all these winter holidays around the world activities, check out the Winter Holidays Around the World activity bundle.

Which of these crafts are do you want to try with your classroom?
xoxo
Laura