Christmas Resources For Schools
Christmas Resources For Schools
The Christmas festivities almost upon us and to get in the spirit, here are some sites that cover the History of Christmas celebrations. I’ve tried to ensure a breadth of coverage of Christmas Resources so that they are at least loosely linked to things that are studied within ‘normal’ lessons.
Why December 25th? This site looks at the origins of the festival, taking in Ancient festivities and the discussions that led to Christendom settling on 25th December as the official date of Christs birth. Handy for comparing ancient festivals with modern ones, or for providing a general overview of the way in which early Christians celebrated Christmas. Similarly there’s a great article on National Geographic that explores the origins of Father Christmas / Santa Claus / Saint Nicholas.
This video looks at the History of Christmas and covers the origins of the festival and the reasoning behind December 25th being the date of Christmas:
More Christmas Resources
7 Medieval Christmas Traditions. Does exactly as the title suggests. It’s a useful method of looking at life in the Middle Ages and the examples can be easily built into a study of the life of people in Medieval times.
Medieval Christmas Food. A nice link with the site above.
Did Cromwell ban Christmas? This site looks at the festival of Christmas at the time of Cromwell’s rule. It also outlines the way that Christmas was celebrated during the 17th century.
The Christmas Truce. With the 100th anniversary of this well known event taking place it is a good time to consider taking a look at what really happened. Whilst there are lots of sites around that cover this, and there will be a post about these coming soon, this site is a good starting point. There is a brief narrative and a selection of photographs and ephemera connected to the Christmas Truce. Ideal for giving a snapshot of the events 100 years ago – or as an introduction to a more detailed study of the truce.
FDR and the Christmas Tree order. A few interesting sources from the FDR library.
