{"id":1152,"date":"2025-07-26T05:49:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T05:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/discover.hubpages.com\/education\/Colonial-Christmas-Party-for-Kids"},"modified":"2025-07-26T05:49:45","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T05:49:45","slug":"colonial-christmas-party-for-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/?p=1152","title":{"rendered":"Colonial Christmas Party for Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><time datetime=\"2025-07-26T01:49:45-04:00\" title=\"Jul 26, 2025\">Jul 26, 2025<\/time><br \/><a><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Colonial Christmas Party for Kids\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/9152245937b8a6d6a3eba8ecd8f55152.jpg\" style=\"max-height: 500px; width: auto;\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Colonial Christmas Party for Kids<\/p>\n<p>This is the 12th lesson in a series of 27 hands-on lessons covering American History through 1865. This lesson focuses on Colonial Christmas and Epiphany. Drink wassail and munch on Twelfth Night Pound Cake while caroling and learning about the holiday traditions of the time. This was the lesson I used just before Christmas break. I used this plan while teaching a 45 minute history class for children in Kindergarten, 1st, &amp; 2nd grades. Use these fun lessons with your classroom, homeschool, after-school program, or co-op!<\/p>\n<h2>Colonial Christmas Traditions &amp; Santa Claus<\/h2>\n<p><a><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Traditional German crib (nativity scene)\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/415628969f9e303d76d1954191f0122b.jpg\" style=\"max-height: 500px; width: auto;\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Traditional German crib (nativity scene)<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Ask the children, &#8220;What is your favorite part of Christmas?&#8221;<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>Discuss some colonial (including time of American War for Independence) customs while pointing to the parts on a map of the 13 Colonies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>New England Puritans forbade the celebration of Christmas.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Pennsylvania Quakers didn&#8217;t celebrate Christmas because they said each day was the same as any other day.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Anglicans, Lutherans, &amp; Catholics, mainly in the Southern colonies, celebrated Advent (the time leading up to Christmas) with fasting &amp; prayer. They celebrated Christmas by attending a church service, maybe holding a special meal, &amp; maybe giving a small gift to servants (half a day of work &amp; a coin).<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>The Dutch &amp; Germans were the ones responsible for many of our modern traditions. Dutch = St. Nicholas filling a wooden shoe left by the fire place with fruit &amp; candy. German = Christmas tree with ornaments &amp; giving toys as gifts. [Show a picture from the internet or book if possible.]<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Washington Irving (author of <em>Legend of Sleepy Hollow<\/em>) is kind of responsible for how our current country views a traditional American Christmas. Using Dutch legends, Irving wrote a tale of Oloffe who dreams one night that &#8220;the good St. Nicholas came riding over the tops of the trees, in that self-same wagon wherein he brings his yearly presents to children.&#8221; Irving&#8217;s Nicholas smokes a pipe and places gifts in the stockings that children have hung by the chimney. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.history.org\/almanack\/life\/christmas\/index.cfm\">Source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<p><strong>You will need:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>a map of the 13 Colonies<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>pictures of old German &amp; Dutch Christmas celebrations &amp; traditions (from the Internet or a book)<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li>Read <em>The Story of St. Nicholas: More Than Reindeer and a Red Suit<\/em> by Cheryl Odden, which is my favorite children&#8217;s book about the historic Saint Nicholas to use as a read aloud for classes. The illustrations appeal to children. It is the perfect length. It doesn&#8217;t reveal whether or not Santa Claus is real or not, leaving that discussion for parents.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>You will need:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0882640054\/?tag=hubacct7155-20\"><em>The Story of St. Nicholas: More Than Reindeer and a Red Suit<\/em> by Cheryl Odden<\/a> or other book on St. Nicholas<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<h2>Colonial Christmas Decorations<\/h2>\n<p><a><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Christmas greens\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/3937fecdd65dd58d8183ccee1ae1a284.jpg\" style=\"max-height: 500px; width: auto;\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Christmas greens<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Ask who has a Christmas tree up &amp; decorated at their home. During the Colonial period, there were not many Christmas decorations. They maybe added greens to their church (holly, ivy, mountain laurel, and\/or mistletoe), but they did not really decorate their houses. That means they didn&#8217;t have Christmas trees.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>You will need:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Holly, ivy, mountain laurel, and\/or mistletoe (real or fake) (<em>optional<\/em>)<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<h2>Colonial Singing &amp; Wassailing<\/h2>\n<p><a><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Wassail Toast\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/e01b8b1202f1bae502cf6b19e342ca84.jpg\" style=\"max-height: 500px; width: auto;\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wassail Toast<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>They did have Christmas music. Since Christmas was usually spent going to church, they would sing Christmas carols like <em>Joy to the World<\/em> by Isaac Watts. Let&#8217;s sing the first verse of <em>Joy to the World<\/em> together. [Pass out the words &amp; let the children put them in their history binders.]<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>JOY TO THE WORLD<\/strong><br \/>Joy to the World! The Lord is Come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and heaven and nature sing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You will need per child:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the words to <em>Joy to the World<\/em> &amp; <em>The Wassailing Song <\/em>punched with a 3 hole punch<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li>Wassailing is from old English word, \u201cwaes hael\u201d which means &#8220;be well.&#8221; Sing the beginning of the song.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>HERE WE COME A WASSAILING<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here we come a wassailing among the leaves so green,<br \/>Here we come a wand&#8217;ring so fair to be seen (refrain)<\/p>\n<p>Love and joy come to you, and to you your wassail too,<br \/>And God bless you and send you a happy New Year,<br \/>And God send you a happy New Year.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Taste wassail.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>You will need:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>warm wassail (kept warm in a thermos) using <a href=\"http:\/\/history.org\/history\/teaching\/suggest.cfm\">this recipe<\/a> or simply warm some apple juice with cinnamon sticks &amp; whole cloves<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>cups<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<h2>Foods &amp; Epiphany Parties<\/h2>\n<p><a><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Twelfth Night Pound Cake Bean\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/34f11ba6aad14c1a8ebf455d7902ccef.jpg\" style=\"max-height: 500px; width: auto;\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Twelfth Night Pound Cake Bean<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Ask the children what their favorite Christmas food is. During the Colonial period, there were no main traditional dishes, though they did feast on lots of meats and fish (as fresh produce wasn&#8217;t readily available during the winter months).<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li>In the Southern colonies, their big celebration was not on Christmas. It was 12 days later on January 6, which is when they celebrated the Wise Men finding baby Jesus &amp; giving him gifts. They called this Epiphany or Twelfth Night.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>The time between Christmas and Epiphany was called Yuletide.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Epiphany was the time of parties, gifts, and feasting.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>George &amp; Mary Washington married on the Twelfth Night in 1759 because so many people were already getting together at that time. Martha\u2019s Twelfth Night cake recipe called for 40 eggs, 4 lb. sugar, &amp; 5 lb. dried fruit!<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li>One tradition was to bake a cake &amp; with a dried bean baked into it. The bean represented baby Jesus. Whoever would get the slice of cake with the bean in it would get to be the king or queen (honored guest) of the celebration. Allow children to each try a piece of \u201cTwelfth Night\u201d pound cake &amp; make sure someone gets the slice with the dried bean.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>You will need:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>pound cake with a dried bean baked into the cake (Use your favorite pound cake recipe &amp; simply drop a dried bean into the batter before baking. If you want to use a store-purchased cake, just use a knife to create a slit &amp; slide in your dried bean.)<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>a knife for cutting the cake (or pre-cut the slices)<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>napkins or plates<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<h2>Epiphany Gifts<\/h2>\n<p><a><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Epiphany Gifts\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/4e181340ada37542baa2d2d8dc7dd44f.jpg\" style=\"max-height: 500px; width: auto;\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Epiphany Gifts<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Pass out class gifts as this was the day when gifts were sometimes passed out. Gifts might include little treats such as gingerbread men or dried fruit.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>You will need:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>gifts (I handed out homemade gingerbread men (using the recipe for the Colonial Williamsburg website), &#8220;dried fruit&#8221; gummy fruit packs, &amp; Oriental Trading Company Nativity coloring books &amp; stickers)<\/li>\n<p><\/ul>\n<h2>Colonial Christmas Overview by Colonial Williamsburg<\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Joke: How many gifts can Santa Claus fit in an empty sack?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Only one \u2013 after that it\u2019s not empty any more!<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Looking for all of my American History Lessons?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>(My middle school level<\/p>\n<p>American History lessons can be found at https:\/\/hubpages.com\/education\/TeachingAmHistory .)<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>AMERICAN HISTORY FOR EARLY ELEMENTARY:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/American-Indians-and-Columbus\">Native Americans &amp; Columbus Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Jamestown-Lesson-for-Kids\">Jamestown Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Pilgrims-Lesson-for-Kids\">Pilgrims Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/13-Colonies-Lesson\">Thirteen Colonies Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/French-and-Indian-War-Lesson\">French and Indian War Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/American-Colonial-Period\">Colonial Period &amp; Revolution Rumblings Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Boston-Massacre-and-Boston-Tea-Party\">Boston Massacre &amp; Boston Tea Party Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Declaration-of-Independence-Lesson\">First Shots &amp; Declaration of Independence Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/American-War-for-Independence-Battles\">American War for Independence Battles Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Valley-Forge-Lesson\">Valley Forge &amp; Battle of Yorktown Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/American-War-for-Independence-Review\">American Literature Lesson &amp; American War for Independence Review<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Colonial-Christmas-Party-for-Kids\">Colonial Christmas Party<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Constitution-Lesson\">Constitution Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Branches-of-Government\">Three Branches of Government Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/President-George-Washington-Lesson\">President George Washington Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Jefferson-and-Louisiana-Purchase-Lesson\">Louisiana Purchase Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/War-of-1812-Lesson\">War of 1812 Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Monroe-Doctrine-Lesson-for-Kids\">Monroe Doctrine Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Andrew-Jackson-and-Indian-Removal-Act-Lesson\">Trail of Tears Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Oregon-Trail-and-Alamo-Lesson\">Oregon Trail &amp; Battle of Alamo Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/California-Gold-Rush-Lesson\">California Gold Rush &amp; Pony Express Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/American-Industrial-Revolution-Lesson\">American Industrial Revolution Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Underground-Railroad-Lesson\">Underground Railroad Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Abolitionists-and-Suffragists-Lesson\">Abolitionists &amp; Women Suffragists Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Civil-War-Lesson\">Civil War: The Confederate States &amp; Abraham Lincoln Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/Civil-War-Battles-Lesson\">Civil War Battles Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/US-History-End-of-Year-Party\">Civil War Party &amp; End of Year Review Game<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>BONUS LESSONS<\/strong> (if you have room for a few extra classes):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/reconstruction-lesson-plan-for-children\">Reconstruction Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/wild-west-lesson-plan\">Wild West Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/immigrants-lesson-plan\">Immigrants Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/tycoons-and-theodore-roosevelt-lesson\">Tycoons &amp; Theodore Roosevelt Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/world-war-i-lesson\">World War I Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/roaring-twenties-lesson\">Roaring Twenties Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/great-depression-and-new-deal-lesson\">Great Depression and the 1930s Lesson<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/world-war-ii-lesson\">World War II Lesson<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>ALL MY LESSONS<\/strong>:<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/fun-hands-on-unit-studies\">Fun, Free Hands-on Unit Studies (My Lessons in All Subjects)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a9 2018 Shannon<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Comments<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Shannon (author)<\/strong> from Florida on July 31, 2018:<\/p>\n<p>Thank you! Yes, I really enjoyed researching for this lesson &amp; learned quite a bit in the process.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Liz Westwood<\/strong> from UK on July 31, 2018:<\/p>\n<p>This is a fascinating article.  It&#8217;s really interesting to trace back the history of Christmas traditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jul 26, 2025 Colonial Christmas Party for Kids This is the 12th lesson in a series of 27 hands-on lessons covering American History through 1865. This lesson focuses on Colonial Christmas and Epiphany. Drink wassail and munch on Twelfth Night Pound Cake while caroling and learning about the holiday traditions of the time. This was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shannon.wasmer.app\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}