If you work at a Christian school or facility that permits religious holiday stories, share the tale of the candy cane with your students as they use stencils and construction paper to create their own candy cane replicas. Or, print a sheet with a simplified version of the story for your kindergarteners to read with you. For instance write short sentences such as: "The candy cane is shaped like the letter 'J.' This represents Jesus, who was born on Christmas Day," or "The red stripes on the candy cane are a sign of the blood Jesus shed for us. The white stripes are a symbol of his mother, the Virgin Mary." Purchase satin or velvet ribbon for the children to tie around their paper candy canes, along with a box of mini candy canes in varying colors for the little ones to choose from.
Explain to the kindergarteners that in Sweden, gingerbread cookies are eaten especially during the Christmas season because Swedish people believe that gingerbread makes one kind. Be sure to emphasize that it's important to be kind to others all year round, but especially so during holidays, since many little boys and girls may not have toys or food to enjoy. You can also hand out a worksheet with the story of the gingerbread man, and bring along Popsicle sticks, stencils and construction paper for the children to create puppets of the characters in the story. For instance, help the children trace gingerbread men on brown paper and pigs on pink paper for the puppet show, so the pig can "chase" the gingerbread man in an attempt to catch and eat him.
Give each of your students sepia-colored paper for an antique look, and hot-glue feathers to their pencils or pens so they can write an old-fashioned letter to Santa while you read them the story of "Santa Claus' Letter." The story talks about two brothers who wrote Santa to ask for a sled for Christmas, but fought over who would ride the sled first and the longest. On Christmas day, instead of their sled, they found a note from Santa Claus by their Christmas stockings stating that he left the sled because it was quarrelsome. Help your kindergarteners write down what they'd like for Christmas, and encourage them to remember to share with others this season.
Use toilet paper rolls, markers, tulle and glitter to help the kindergarteners create Christmas fairies with puffy skirts and animated faces. Explain that the job of a Christmas fairy is to make the holidays magical and memorable for someone who may not otherwise have a good holiday. Read the students the story of the Christmas Fairy, when two boys who couldn't go home for Christmas were invited to one of the boy's aunt's house for holiday at the last minute. Share with your students that sometimes "fairies" show up just in the nick of time, and encourage them to be helpful this holiday season.