So I broke my own rule. I told myself it would just be ONCE, but I've been breaking it again and again.
I love Christmas music. I have raised a house full of children who love Christmas music. When I was a child, I used to start listening to Christmas music in July. My kids usually wait until September or October before they want to bust it out, but I tell them to wait. I've been telling them to wait this year for the past few weeks now. Really it's because as I've aged I've come to appreciate autumn and autumn-y grateful reflections and I've created a playlist for this time of year that I continue to add to and want to enjoy.
But all heck broke loose when I opened my mailbox and found my pre-sale copy of The Piano Guys' new Christmas album. I just HAD to listen. I was only going to listen once, but...
Here are older videos of the first two selections on the album. Watch the videos if you want, or just close your eyes and listen. They're simply wonderful.
Not sure how much longer I can hold my kids off.
Merry Christmas Anticipation. It's always a good time to think about Jesus.
I love Clement Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas," also known as, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." As you know, there are many, many, many versions out there. The original classic has been illustrated by so many different people there is really no way to count how many times it's been published. But there are also variations; creatively re-written versions such as the popular Cajun Night Before Christmas, A Pirate's Night Before Christmas, Pennsylvania Dutch Night Before Christmas, Mr. Darcy's Night Before Christmas, and on and on. In fact, the the original story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer began, "'Twas the night before Christmas..." and followed the format. So it should be no surprise that in today's mass market society we also have Olaf's Night Before Christmas. The beauty of all of these different versions is the wide world of differences they share and perspectives.
I appreciate the creativity and twist that many of the different versions share. This year, I am really, really in love with the Olaf version. Olaf is the Frozen character my kids really liked and this book is written perfectly in character and from his perspective. It begs you to look at something traditional and familiar with new eyes. Again, I love that it demonstrates point of view. And so, with that in mind, I read this to my kids (who are all over the age of 12 now, mind you, and they loved it) and then tasked them with choosing any well-known character from some other "story" and write "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from that character's point of view, in that character's natural setting.
It might sound like an obvious, cliche, knock-off sort of assignment, but I'm here to tell you it takes thought and creativity, especially to stay true to both your character and the original poem. I love the results! We ended up with "R2-D2's Night Before Christmas" (Star Wars), "Moana's Night Before Christmas" (new Disney movie, Moana), and "Mr. Weasley's Night Before Christmas" (Harry Potter). They were so charming and clever!
Interestingly, a couple of weeks after this, my missionary son sent home a homemade Christmas card wherein he'd independently written his own version relating to his mission that was also smart, entertaining, and informative. Additionally, he mentioned that he wanted to start a new tradition reading Cajun Night Before Christmas because it was his mission companion's favorite and someone had invited them over to read it on Christmas Eve and he loves it. I love it when things coincide like that! (We're going to have to get our hands on that book!)
This is a creative writing activity that you can do year after year with new characters, settings, etc. to keep it fresh.
I love these cookies! They are flavorful, chewy, and festive. I especially like them for Christmas or Valentines because of their color.
Cherry Macaroons
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups shortening
2 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped maraschino cherries
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 cup coconut
Cream shortening and sugar; add eggs and beat until fluffy. Add flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add cherries, extract, and coconut and mix. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
*Sometimes I add cherry-flavored chips to the dough if I have them as well.
We played this game for Family Home Evening tonight. It's a fun little Christmas activity.
To prepare, have some small item for each person participating. I had candy bars, packages of gum, etc. and put each item in a separate brown paper lunch sack and stapled them shut.
Have everyone who is playing sit in a circle and randomly hand out the bags/packages. Instruct everyone that when they hear the word "right" they must all pass their bags to the person on their right, and when they hear the word "left" they must pass their bags to the person on their left. This must be done each and every time they hear these words.
Read the following story aloud as everyone listens and follows directions. When the story is over, open up the bags and see the surprises.
Something was wrong this Christmas. Mrs. Claus could tell RIGHT away that Santa was not his usual jolly self. Things just were not quite RIGHT. Why, just before Santa LEFT for the workshop, he put his LEFT foot in his RIGHT boot and his RIGHT foot in his LEFT boot. He stood RIGHT up and LEFT for work without even noticing what he had done.
Now being the good wife that she was, Mrs. Claus decided she had better find out if all of Santa's good sense had LEFT him. Mrs. Claus LEFT all her Christmas baking until later. RIGHT now Santa needed her help.
As she glanced out the window, she saw the line of elves marching like tin soldiers on their way to the workshop. She fell RIGHT in behind as the elves counted cadence, to the LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT. To the LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT. Turning the corner to the RIGHT, they marched RIGHT into their places and started RIGHT to work.
On the shelves to the LEFT she saw Barbie dolls, baby dolls, porcelain dolls, Cabbage Patch dolls, and on her RIGHT she saw Ninja Turtles RIGHT between Batman cars and train sets. Never had she seen so many toys LEFT to finish. Never had she known Santa to wait RIGHT up to the last minute to finish just the RIGHT toy for each girl and boy. Even if the elves worked RIGHT around the clock and never LEFT for a break, she did not see how they could RIGHT this terrible wrong.
Mrs. Claus LEFT the workshop and headed RIGHT back home. LEFT to herself to think, she LEFT the baking awhile longer when the time would be RIGHT.
When Santa returned he found Mrs. Claus full of questions. Why had he LEFT things until the last minute? Even if they worked RIGHT around the clock and RIGHT until Christmas Eve, did he think they could make it without some child being LEFT out? Santa LEFT Mrs. Claus still talking and sat RIGHT down next to her. RIGHT she was! Things were a terrible mess all RIGHT! He could agree with almost everything she had said. But she was LEFT speechless as she listened to Santa's sad but RIGHTful tale.
Why, children were not being taught RIGHT by their parents anymore. RIGHT after Thanksgiving, Santa would start RIGHT in receiving hug long lists of things kids wanted. He was sure they started on the RIGHT side of Toys R Us and wrote and inventory of the whole store, clear to the LEFT side. Why, kids were asking for so many things he did not see how he could possibly keep his RIGHT mind. LEFT too much to themselves, these little folks never even knew what was RIGHT. Getting RIGHT to the point he said, "These children have become very selfish, never thinking that I am an old man with only so much energy LEFT. Why RIGHT now? I'm so tired. I don't think I can do another thing even if all the toys are LEFT unfinished.
Mrs. Claus's RIGHT eye twinkled. She knew what had to be done RIGHT away. Immediately she called Mr. WRIGHT, the assessor, who knew RIGHT what to do. Early the next morning, RIGHT after feeding their families a wonderful breakfast, all the workers of the North Pole Stake LEFT their homes and headed RIGHT to Santa's workshop to help RIGHT the wrong (of having selfish children) and help Santa finish the toys that were LEFT.
Santa now had renewed faith in parents and he knew RIGHT down deep in his heart that next year parents would help their kids learn what was RIGHT.
Santa sprang to his sleigh and to his team gave a whistle. Merry Christmas to all and everything is all RIGHT.
It has been many years since my family's Christmas Around the World unit. My oldest children were a lot younger and my youngest children weren't with us yet. (We have participated in a couple of one-day group activities of such a nature, though.) I have been wanting to revisit this unit and had planned on doing it this year, but the circumstances of rebuilding our kitchen limited the time I could personally give to it. As I was discussing some ideas with a friend, I came up with a plan. Since my children are now all mostly capable of independent research, and since I needed to be more hands off for the 10 days or so before Christmas, I gave my children the assignment of Project: International Christmas.
Each of them was to choose a foreign country in which to study and create and give a presentation on. They could choose any country they wished, as long as it was one that celebrated Christmas. To guide them in their research and presentations I gave them this:
On Wednesday of next week you will give the family your presentation. It needs to include the following components, and all need to be made/written/colored/created by you--not just found online and printed off.
-A map showing the location of the country in relation to the world
-A good up-close map of the country, with some details marked
-The country's flag
-A graph of some kind
-Share a native story or folk tale that is important to that country's culture
-Exports and natural resources
-Samples of traditional food
-Short biography of someone famous from that country
-Important geographical features or landmarks
-Music from that country
-Type of government
-"Merry Christmas" and some other common phrases in the native language
-Gingerbread model of a traditional or typical dwelling (we'll do these together on M or T)
-Demographic information, including religion(s)
-Christmas customs and traditions, which must include an activity for everyone to do
Before they got started, though, we kicked it all off with a field trip. First we visited a local Fair Trade gift shop with unique handcrafts from all over the world.
Checking out the musical instruments.
Nativity Needlework from Peru.
I did some Christmas shopping as well. I couldn't resist the unique items.
Then we visited other local businesses that hosted the entries for our town's Gingerbread Parade, both for fun and to get some ideas. These were my favorite.
Back home I took every book off the shelves that could possibly help the kids with their research, stacked them all in a pile in front of them, and for a few days had them comb just the books with no Internet. After that they were free to fill in any holes with a Web search.
On December 23 we had a very full day of making our gingerbread structures, eating our International foods, and listening to each other's presentations.
My youngest chose Germany as her country to present. Her gingerbread house was a version of a common half-timbered German house. We had chocolate bars from Germany, bratwurst and sauerkraut, and we made Black Forest brownies. For the folk tale and activity part of her presentation she read a version of the Legend of the Christmas Spider and we put tinsel on our Christmas tree.
My next youngest studied Russia. He proved everyone wrong when he victoriously created a condensed graham cracker and gingerbread version of St. Basil's Cathedral, all by himself. (No one thought he could do it because he's never made a gingerbread anything before and we all thought the cathedral too complicated.) He made Piroshky and Russian Tea Cakes for our meal, and the activity he prepared was for us to make Russian Star Ornaments.
My middlest did his presentation on Greece. His gingerbread creation was the ruins of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. He had plans to make Kok, and we were looking forward to it, but as the day progressed we ran out of time (and clean dishes), so our backup was grabbing gyros and baklava from a local Greek restaurant. We'll make Kok another day.
My second oldest did his presentation on Canada. By the time he got around to making his gingerbread house, our frosting was dwindling and drying out. His creation ended up being a "cabin under construction" in the Yukon. :) For the Canadian part of our International meal he cooked Poutine.
A fun and surprising addition to all of this was that as we were preparing to make our gingerbread houses, my missionary son sent us a photo of the gingerbread house he made. I LOVE the cute gingerbread missionaries! We added this photo to our gingerbread village table.
Our Christmas Presence readings continued with Pamela Kennedy's The Other Wise Man, which is a retelling of Henry Van Dyke's The Story of the Other Wise Man. (I didn't realize I was getting a retold version, but it turned out fine, especially since it made for a nice picture book. Still, I can't wait to read the original.) This is a story of a man set to travel with the other magi to find the Christ child, to present his own gifts of jewels, who ends up never actually setting eyes on Him because every time he gets close, he sees someone in desperate need and he cannot turn away. In the course of his journey he sells the jewels meant for the King in order to help the people he sees in need. At the end of his life he is disappointed that he never actually achieved finding the King, but is told that through his acts of love and service, he actually did.
The day after reading The Other Wise Man I read Carol Lynn Pearson's The Lesson to my children. The main lesson in The Lesson is that life's most important lesson is to teach us how to love. There are other things to learn, as well, and this is a good short read.
I then read some excerpts from Thomas S. Monson's "The Search for Jesus", we had a discussion of all these readings, and then we watched the video below. After that, each child made a small poster on the theme, "Wise Men Still Seek Him" for themselves, using old Christmas cards or graphics from the computer.
"Angels We Have Heard on High" has always been one of my fav, fav, favorite Christmas songs. Nothing feels better to my heart and soul than belting out some gorgeous "glorias!" I just discovered a new rap version and, believe it or not, it really is worth listening to. Even though I don't like the rap/hip-hop genre in general, I can appreciate the poetry of some of it when it's full of well-done rhyme, rhythm and reason. This is such a piece.
Further, the video really, really touched me. THIS is Christmas Presence. THIS is what it's all about. THIS is somebody coupling his talents, passions, and possessions with a desire to do good, and ACTUALLY DOING IT.
Merry Christmas! And thanks for the example, Jamesthemormon.
Harvey Slumfenburger's Christmas Present is a cute story that packs a lot of good examples in a creative way and tied into our Christmas Presence theme nicely.
The story begins on Christmas Eve as Santa is tucking his reindeer, one of whom is sick, into bed. Exhausted from his year's work and night's travels, Santa wearily climbs into bed himself, only to discover that there is still one present left in his bag. The present belongs to Harvey Slumfenburger, a very poor and very good little boy who lives on a mountain far, far away. Santa knows that he cannot let Harvey down, but he also cannot take his sick reindeer out again. He gets out of bed and the rest of the story is a journey of mishaps as Santa tries one mode of transportation after another, each by asking the next person he can find along the way to help him, only to have every plane, motorbike, ski, etc. break in crazy accidents.
Santa does finally reach Harvey's humble hut at the top of the mountain, just before morning. The book has an open ending wherein Harvey awakes, sees his present at the end of the bed, opens it... and smiles... leaving the reader to wonder what the present was.
The first lessons in this book that I love are that Santa demonstrates compassion, responsibility, determination, perseverance, and patience. He understands Harvey's situation and feels a desire to bring him joy. He's tired and feels completely spent, but he's Santa and it's his job to deliver that gift, so he just does it, even though he has his own reasons not to (sick reindeer, etc.) and to make excuses. He overcomes almost insurmountable odds and just keeps going. Many people would give up after the first, second, or third accident, but Santa keeps on going. And he never gets upset.
The second group of lessons in this story are basic generosity and helpfulness. Each person Santa asks for help--on Christmas Eve and in the middle of the night no less--are perfectly willing to use their time and resources to help Santa on his way. When disaster strikes, they are sorry they can't be of further help and offer suggestions for Santa's next journey leg.
Now, this picture book has cute illustrations and is probably supposed to be a simply charming tale of mishaps. I realize that all these lessons could very well be my own projections. Nonetheless, they are there, by example, and I see them. After reading the book aloud, I asked some leading questions to help my children see them also. Then we went to the scriptures.
There is a word that has been on my mind for months: entreat. It was in a scripture I read that has also been on my mind for months. We went to the entry for entreat in the Topical Guide of our scriptures and focused on this: "gentle, and easy to be entreated: James 3:17 (Alma 7:23, Helaman 7:7)."
According to Merriam-Webster, entreat means to ask (someone) in a serious and emotional way; to make an earnest request; to plead. Synonyms include appeal, beseech, beg, implore, petition, solicit. With this in mind, we read the following scriptures and discussed how they applied to the people in the story of Harvey Slumfenburger's Christmas Present, what it all has to do with "being present" and/or giving the gift of presence, and what it all means for us.
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." (James 3:17)
"Oh, that I could have had my days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem, that I could have joyed with him in the promised land; then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of God, and slow to be led to do iniquity; and they were quick to hearken unto the words of the Lord--" (Helaman 7:7)
"And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle, easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive." (Alma 7:23)
After all of this was a creative writing assignment. What was in the box that Santa left for Harvey? What was Harvey's Christmas present? Everyone was supposed to begin their story where the book left off, reveal what the gift was and why Harvey needed/wanted it and/or how it blessed his life. My kids' reveals ranged from a hat and mittens to keep him warm, to a Book of Mormon to bless his whole family, to a toolkit so Harvey could work and earn money to help his family, to a slingshot that managed to shoot a rock through Santa's window far, far away. I loved this book and discussion and the writing!
Our focus for this Christmas season has been Christmas Presence. Many years ago I found Chieko Okazaki's talk-turned-booklet "Christmas Presence" in a Christmas clearance bin and found it so inspiringly instructive. Because the holidays are too often focused on Christmas presents, I pulled this out this year to use as the spine for our December devotionals. It begins:
"As an educator, I was always delighted when children would discover some of the wonderful games you can play with language in the creation of puns, and images, and literalisms--such as, 'Have you ever seen a butterfly?' 'No, but I've seen the lettuce leaf.' Or how about the games you can play with homonyms, such as horse and hoarse? I would like to share some thoughts about another pair of homonyms: Christmas presents and Christmas presence.
"We all know about the first kind. Christmas presents come wrapped in bright paper with beg red bows on them, and we find them under the Christmas tree. The second kind is the awareness that someone else is with us--the Christmas presence of our Savior. The scriptures describe both kinds for us. The first is the present as a gift, and the scriptures refer to us laying our gifts on the altar, kings giving gifts to prophets and other kings, God accepting Abel's gift, and the wise men presenting unto the Christ child their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. In the second case, we find Adam and Eve hiding themselves from the presence of God, Moses coming into the presence of Pharaoh, and the commandment in Psalms to come into the presnece of the Lord with singing. It is this second kind I want to examine--the presence of the Lord, the presence of his love, the presence of his grace."
Sister Okazaki goes on to discuss the importance of each of us giving the gift of our presence to those we love or even just come in contact with--being fully present in our interactions.
One example she uses in her book is the story of Rob's gift in Pearl S. Buck's Christmas Day in the Morning. She quotes some of it and summarizes and analyzes some of it, but later I read the full story to my children. It's a lovely story.
I gave my kids a writing assignment after reading and discussing these. They were to write about an instance or a person wherein they were given the gift of someone's presence and why it was important to them. I loved reading what they wrote! Each one wrote about someone/something vastly different from the others, but they were so meaningful and insightful.
P.S. It is really hard to find this booklet nowadays. I have found it in person only twice, both times in Christmas clearance for just 50 cents. Keep your eyes open! An internet search brings up really rare, expensive copies for sale. It's good, but I wouldn't pay $25 for it!
I am often awed by the rich poetic truths found throughout hymns and carols in expressions of very few words. Half a line carefully articulated has stopped me mid-melody to consider and reflect. Just as an entire sermon can be given on one verse of scripture, a complete thematic unit can be created from one phrase of hymn.
One of the phrases that’s caught my attention in the Christmas carols is, “Let every heart prepare Him room,” from Handel’s “Joy to the World.” I wanted to spend some time with my children focused on this choice of words and tactilely explore all that it could mean to us. I thought I’d share what we did in the event that you could use a “new” Christmas lesson at your house.
We read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and Jacob T. Marley by R. William Bennett. We also watched a few different film adaptations of Dickens’ novel.
I handed each child a copy of "Opening Our Hearts" by Elder Gerald N. Lund and asked them if they knew what the heart maps and this talk had to do with “Joy to the World.” We then read through the talk together.
I wrote the phrase, “Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room” on a whiteboard and we dissected, discussed, and diagrammed each word individually. My kids supplied the ideas, and I include them here just for clarity of the lesson.
Let – invitation; to not keep from doing; agency/free will
Every – everyone; all; each; all that there could be—the Gospel and Atonement for all collectively and personally and individually
Heart – the main or most important part; symbol of mind and will of men; strength and courage; tender, guarded place; can change
Prepare – make or get ready; for a visitor, clean house—for Christ clean self; purify
Him – Jesus Christ
Room – space; place to live; with Christ “moving in” we don’t lose square footage but gain it—our hearts are enlarged to include others when we make room for Him
Then for each word, we also found sentences or paragraphs within Elder Lund’s talk that corresponded to our ideas.
We discussed other ideas found within the talk. We especially talked about Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.” Using a bag of roasted pistachios, we talked about what it means to have a “broken heart.” Just as a pistachio that is sealed tight cannot be accessed, so is a heart that has no “cracks” in it for the Lord to penetrate. You cannot find the pistachio goodness inside if the shell is not pliable, nor can anyone find the goodness in your heart if it’s unbroken. Preparing room for the Lord means having a way He can enter.
We talked more of preparation. Elder Lund’s talk is about being open to the Spirit; we can’t make room for Jesus if we don’t have the Spirit. Referencing the Parable of the Sower, and faith being a seed, we discussed preparing our hearts like we would soil with labor and nutrients.
When Brother Lund began speaking of those whose hearts are set upon the things of the world, I was delighted that my children readily recognized Scrooge and that segued into a writing assignment I’d prepared with the following quotes and questions.
CHRISTMAS PAST: “’There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,’ returned the nephew. ‘Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round—apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the rave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!’”
*What good have you derived from Christmases past, and how has it reflected on Christmas’s namesake?
CHRISTMAS PRESENT: “’Business!’ cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. ‘Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!’. . .
. . .‘At this time of the rolling year,’ the spectre said, ‘I suffer most. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode! Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me!’”
*What can you do now to change how you see and treat other people?
CHRISTMAS YET TO COME: “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
*How can you honor Christmas in your heart and keep it all the year in years yet to come?
We looked over our heart maps to see if everyone had already included Jesus. Then we copied Matthew 6:21 on the backs of the maps.
While listening to Michael McLean’s "The Innkeeper (Let Him In)" from The Forgotten Carols we made personally meaningful collages by cutting and pasting Christmas cards around Neal A. Maxwell’s quote, “Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus.”
Finally, each child chose their favorite artist’s rendition of Christ knocking at the door. Under a printout, they copied Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me.”
All these pages were then bound together in homemade books to be cherished every Christmas!
Tie everything in this mini unit together with this song, "Do You Have Room?"
I have been very blessed to spend four of the last ten Christmases with newborn baby boys. People thought I was crazy, and nowadays December birthdays are hectic at best. But I wouldn’t trade those four magical, wonderful Christmases for anything. Staring at a Christmas tree in the quiet wee hours, rocking a brand new baby boy has brought a special light and understanding into my life that I couldn’t have received or appreciated any other way. My ponderings from those times have evolved into a traditional December Family Home Evening with our Christmas Tree of Life.
Recall with me the visions of the Tree of Life (see 1 Nephi 8 and 11). Picture the dark and dreary waste, the rod of iron, the great and spacious building and the tree with its most desirable fruit.
Now picture yourself in a dark room, with your Christmas tree all lit up and bursting with beautifully wrapped packages underneath, beckoning you.
For our Family Home Evening we make gingerbread cookies, one boy or girl for each family member. We turn out all the lights but those on the tree and take our gingerbread “family” to the Tree of Life (Christmas tree) via the iron rod (reading scriptures). We talk about how the Christmas Tree of Life with all the gifts represents the love of God and all that he has in store for us and wants to give us. We talk about how He is eternal like the evergreen; how the light of Christ penetrates everything, just as the lights of our Christmas tree add a special sparkle to our home and hearts. We discuss what great and spacious distractions keep us from the word of God and thus the tree and the joy found there.
In 2 Nephi 31:20 we read, “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the words of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”
The anticipation of Christmas gifts is the analogy for hope. But real hope is a sure trust. It’s the twin to faith. As the tree lights twinkle with a perfect brightness, we talk of Christ and his love for us and his gift to us. We talk of our hope in him. We pledge anew to press forward with faith and hope, showing love to all men all year (charity) and to feast on the scriptures to hold to the rod, that we will always find ourselves together as a family at the Christmas Tree of Life.
_______________________
I wrote this in 2005 and it was published that same year in The Sentinel. Since then, I have discovered an interesting article, "The Tree of Life in Ancient Cultures", that doesn't go with the lesson per se, but is good informational reading.
I have a long way to go to becoming who I want to be. It's so frustrating sometimes! I've been touched the past couple of days by the following two things, though, and I'm giving them a lot of thought and energy, adding them to the recipe of the future me.
Today (December 4th) is National Cookie Day! Here is a cookie unit study I created and did with my children a few years ago and originally wrote up for The Sentinel.
Biscuits, Biscotti, and Brownies: Cookie Coaching at Christmas
Americans enjoy over 2 billion cookies a year or an average of 300 cookies per person annually.[1] Not only are there countless cookie cookbooks—books dedicated solely to cookie recipes—there are countless Christmas cookie cookbooks. Besides delighting taste buds, however, cookies can serve as a delightfully educational unit of study. And what better time to study them than at Christmas?
The English word cookie comes from the Dutch koekje, which means “little cake.”[2] These treats that we use as snacks or stand alone desserts, and consider a destination, were once just a small part of a journey to something else. Cookies began as oven regulators, literally little cakes to test temperatures. The earliest “cookies” are thought to date back to 7th Century Persia A.D. when luxurious cakes were being made in one of the first countries to cultivate sugar. These were merely test cakes, as it was better to use a little batter to check an oven than to waste an entire large cake.
Begin your unit learning about the history of cookies through the years. (The websites cited below are great places to start.) You’ll find that America’s favorite cookie, the delicious and infamous chocolate chip cookie, came about through an accident at the Toll House Restaurant in Massachusetts. As you learn about this happy accident, it would be a good time to add some geography to your unit with the book All in Just One Cookie by Susan E. Goodman. This book takes children around the world to learn where the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies come from. Add a small journaling assignment where children think of a time when they experienced a “happy accident,” when something didn’t go as planned, but turned out to be good anyway.
Continue your social studies and language studies by learning the words for cookie in other languages and cultures. In England and Australia, they’re biscuits. Italy has biscotti, Spain galletas. Germans call them keks, and they even have a name specifically for Christmas cookies—Platzchen. Of course, bake, bake, bake! And eat, eat, eat!
For the most part, it’s up to you and your excited children to decide which cookies you’ll make. There is one batch of cookies, however, that I specifically suggest you make during this unit, and that is Thumbprint Cookies. Prior to making the cookies, get an ink pad and let everyone experiment with their fingerprints. Make little Christmas pictures by making people or animals out of your fingerprints like these. Talk about how each person's fingerprints are different from everyone else’s. Next take those fingers and thumbs to the cookie dough. As you make the cookies, talk about how each person is unique, and how even with all the many people in the world, Heavenly Father and Jesus know each one of us personally. President Ezra Taft Benson taught, “Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His face is to us.”[3] And just like Jesus had a mission and role to fill that was specifically His, each of us has a mission to complete as well. While there are certainly future events pertaining to each person’s life mission, many elements are in affect now. Learn that our missions in life are now, with each person having a “unique set of gifts, a unique set of challenges, and there are specific needs in the world that the Lord wants us to respond to now.”[4] When you’re done with the pictures and cookies, add a journaling assignment: “What My Fingerprint Means to Me.”
Now, the act of baking cookies is automatically mathematical in measuring ingredients, but you can do more than the obvious. This would be a good time to teach or review not only fractions but systems of measurement and conversions. You can rely on learning by doing, or you can add some extra activities.
Get going with Gallon Man (or Gallon Guy or Measurement Man).
Make it a game using (or creating your own) materials like "Merry Measurement" and Cookie Sums, seasonally festive and educational, from FlapJack Educational Resources. You can even add music to the mix by choosing catchy tunes on YouTube about measurement.
Baking cookies also lends itself to a lesson in following directions. If you can stand it, let your kids experiment with the order in which they add ingredients to see if it really makes a difference. Try substitutions. This is also a perfect time to let kids invent their own recipes. Have a cookie creation contest, with the stipulation that all new recipes must be written out and part of the test is how clearly the directions are written. You could also do cooking shows and practice speech and presentation.
Experimentation is science, and yes, there is science in baking cookies! It’s called Chemistry. You might want to learn about the chemistry of cookies before or after experimenting (or both).[5]
And now for treasured reading. Believe it or not, there are some fantastic cookie books out there that aren’t cookbooks. Amy Krouse Rosenthall has written a wonderful series that teaches important lessons through the medium of cookies. These are brilliant! Read them again and again around the table while you sample your cookies together.
Last but most definitely not least, is the lesson of the unit to tie it all up and make it meaningful.
Read together The Gift of the Christmas Cookie: Sharing the True Meaning of Jesus’ Birth by Dandi Daley Mackall. Make your own Nativity cookies, either by purchasing cookie cutters like these, or by drawing your own silhouette shapes on paper to use as a stencil to cut out of sugar or gingerbread dough. Let your children tell the story of Jesus’ birth with them and then take some to others to share the true meaning of Christmas.
Because of the saturation of senses, the smells and tastes of food leave distinct impressions. Finish your unit with a final journaling activity exploring the importance of traditions and the role that food plays in it. It would be appropriate for you to share your own childhood memories of cookies at Grandma’s or other fond recollections of traditions involving food. Children could even contact extended family members and collect their memories, making a volume of “Family Christmas Traditions and Recipes” to give as a gift for this or a future Christmas.
Merry Christmas! May your hearts be warm, your hands busy, and your heads full of newfound knowledge to ponder and bless.
Have you ever licked a candy cane and wondered how it came to be? If not, you're suffering from a serious lack of curiosity. Learning about the little things we take for granted can provide us with rich educational experiences and really broaden our base of knowledge. Anything can be turned into a lesson (or unit study)--even a candy cane!
Open a box of candy canes and disperse to each family member. As you open the canes and enjoy the sweet, tasty, mint-flavored confection, discuss if anyone knows where the mint flavor comes from. Mint is a plant and we get our mint flavoring from extracting oils from the plant. Here you can see how the process is done:
Once there is mint extract, there are lots of things that can be done with it. Since we're talking candy canes, look on the box that held the ones you're eating and find the location of the factory on a map. You can watch here to see how canes like the ones in your hands are made in factories these days:
Automation is amazing, but it begs the question, how were candy canes made BEFORE all these machines were invented? Watch this to see an old-fashioned candy maker in action:
If you live in a place with a large candy factory, or a small candy-making window shop, it would be worth a field trip for a tour. If you're wanting to go all out, follow this recipe to make your own homemade candy canes. A good discussion would be the pros and cons of candy made by hand versus candy made by machines.
Now that you know how candy canes are made, what can you do with them? What else can you learn?
There is this lovely book you could read, or you could memorize this poem:
Another great short story to read together is "The Candy Cane Queen" by Janice A. Sperry.
Put two candy canes together to make a heart. You could glue these on cardboard, write a note, and deliver to people you love or want to cheer up.
A fun craft is to make candy cane reindeer.
And if, along the way, interest is piqued to learn more about any particulars, follow the interest! Maybe someone wants to know how many kinds of mints there are and experiment with growing mint or baking with mint. Perhaps someone wants to learn more about making other types of candy. Maybe automation/machinery will become a point of fascination. Embrace the curiosity and learn all you can!
May I suggest one last lesson to finish with? Learn the economics of supply and demand. Price candy canes of different brands at different stores before Christmas. Just keeping a list is sufficient. You can add graphs if you'd like. After Christmas, check the stores to see how many candy canes are left and what they cost. Compare the after Christmas price with the before Christmas price and discuss why candy canes went from being, say, $1.00/box to $0.10/box. This lesson will teach not only the basic principle of supply and demand but will also show brand and store differences.
