Celebrating the Festival of Lights

"St. Nicholas? Are you out there?"

December brings such magic with it. The first snow, the lights on houses, the hopes and wishes of the season, and of course the numerous holidays that we all celebrate. While most of the students at DCP do celebrate Christmas, we feel it’s important to for them to understand that there are different ways to celebrate this festive time of year.

During the first week of December, we learned about the Israeli tradition of Chanukah. We played Dreidel, did scarf dancing to Israeli music,  made latkes and went on a hunt for chocolate gelt.

We also learned about the Swedish tradition of St. Lucia Day. The children went on two parades through Dublin Village Park, the boys with star wands and hats, the girls with candles and our beautiful St. Lucia with her wreath of evergreens leading the way to bring light and the gift of gingerbread cakes and hot cocoa to our neighbors.

We also learned about the German tradition of St. Nicholas Day. While most of us know him as Santa, the children learned about how one culture believes he came to be. After hearing the tale, they all  left a shoe by the door and layed down for a “winter’s nap” in hopes that St. Nicholas would leave them some cakes and clementines. There was a jingle at the door and a “Ho, ho, ho” and when they woke up, their shoes were filled!

Senora Wheeler taught us about where cocoa beans come from and how they get from beans to hot chocolate. With an authentic Mexican batador, the children all took turns churning the chocolate so it would melt in the hot milk.  The modern blender, we found, was a huge help in speeding up this laborious process!  Topped with a few tiny marshmallows and YUM!  What a huge hit and a great learning experience.

As the children here have learned, there are many ways to celebrate such a magical time of year. We want to wish you all a happy holiday season and a prosperous new year, no matter how you celebrate!