Make a poinsettia fan craft with your preschooler. The poinsettia traces its roots back to the birth of Jesus and is a special gift in Latino communities. The poinsettia is native to Mexico, but is named after an American man who introduced the plant in the United States. The poinsettia fan combines the tradition of the Christmas plant and the Latino tradition of hand fans. The First School website offers fan templates and a story about the Mexican poinsettia legend.
In Denmark, the prankster Nisse is a mischievous elf who has his fun on Christmas eve. Legends say that Nisse lives in old barns and, while generally helpful, he gets one night a year to play pranks. Families leave him rice pudding or porridge on Christmas eve to prevent elaborate pranks. Make a bowl of rice pudding with your preschool class to celebrate this Danish tradition. A "magic" almond is typically placed in the bowl of pudding, according to tradition. Whoever gets the almond receives a special gift.
In Africa, Christmas falls during the summer months and many families take to the beach or parks to celebrate. On Christmas eve, families travel through their villages singing carols and proclaiming "Christ is coming!" Africans don't use traditional pine trees for their gifts, they use oil palms, which are decorated with golden bells. Print a bell template and ask your preschool children to color the bell while telling them of Christmas in Africa.
Every year children listen for the sounds of reindeer approaching, signaling that Santa is bringing new toys. Make a "shoe" reindeer for preschoolers to hang on the fridge in anticipation of Christmas morning. Read a story about reindeer while the children are making their reindeer. Trace the child's bare foot on brown construction paper and cut it out. Ask the kids to color faces on their reindeer. Trace each of the child's hands on brown construction and cut them out for antlers. Glue them onto the back of the reindeer's head. Glue on a red or black pom-pom nose to complete the craft.
For an added activity, have children make fingerprint holly. In many Christian traditions, holly is used to depict the crown of thorns that Jesus wore during his crucifixion. The green branches represent the thorns and the berries symbolize his blood. Give your kids a piece of white butcher paper to make their fingerprint wreaths. Set green and red paint in different trays. Instruct your children to use their fingers to make green dots in a circle pattern to make the wreath. Fingerprint dots of red make the berries.