In Germany and lots of other countries, Christmas is one of the most important holidays – and for many people, easily the best time of the year. An occasion for spending time with family and friends, giving and receiving gifts and, of course, eating all sorts of delicious food.
This week, we are using our last posts before the Christmas holiday to share plenty of seasonal cheer.
We’ll start with a video in which the kids discuss what Christmas means to them.
Enjoy their thoughts and the festive images in the background (plus a bonus clip of some nifty footwork from Noga that I couldn’t resist keeping) 🙂
Finally, we’ve selected a glittering package of Christmas entertainment – holiday music compiled by Juno, plus seasonal viewing on YouTube. Just in case anyone gets bored over the holiday!
Christmas – we love it! But did you know that not all countries celebrate in quite the same way?
For example, in Spain the three wise men (Los Reyes Magos) are more important than Santa Claus. They visit with presents on the night of January 5th, ready for kids to find the next morning.
Also, because Christmas is a Christian festival lots of people in the world don’t celebrate it at all – each religion has its own important festivities. One example is Diwali, the beautiful Hindu festival of light, which millions of people in India and elsewhere look forward to each year.
But even if the Christmas tradition isn’t your own, just about everyone enjoys its special atmosphere… not to mention the fact that we all get a holiday!
Here are some questions about the history of Christmas and its traditions. How many can you get right?*
* In most browsers, you can click on the arrow next to the question to see the answer.
Which country was the first to have Christmas trees?
It’s Germany! Decorated trees were first used here in the 16th century. They then became very popular in England during the 19th century, and now Christmas isn’t complete without a beautiful tree.
What is the traditional Christmas meal in Britain and the USA?
Turkey with roast vegetables, followed by a very rich steamed fruit dessert, known as Christmas pudding.
In the past, British people ate goose for their main course, like many people do in Germany. And hundreds of years ago, the traditional Christmas meal was a roast pig’s head served with a mustard sauce!
What is the record number of Christmas cards sent by one person?
Of course you will just have to guess this, but the answer is 62,824 cards.
They were all sent by an American man called Werner Erhard in December 1975. Imagine how much all the stamps cost!
Which countries have a spider’s web as a traditional Christmas decoration?
Poland and the Ukraine.
A legend says that the spider used its silk to weave a blanket for the baby Jesus, so glittery spider’s webs are often added to the Christmas tree.
Which Christmas song was played in space?
Jingle Bells.
On December 16, 1965, the classic Christmas song was broadcast during NASA’s Gemini 6A space flight.
Which country has a witch instead of Santa Claus?
Italy.
On the evening of 5th December, Belfana the witch comes down the chimney and leaves treats and gifts for the children.
In which country does Santa often come to the beach?
Australia.
December is summer in Australia, and Santa often arrives at the beach on a boat.
Also, because the weather is very warm, many Australian families have a barbecue outside on Christmas Day.
In which country is it a tradition to eat KFC for Christmas dinner?
Japan.
Even though Japanese people don’t really celebrate Christmas, about thirty years ago Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants ran a Christmas advertising campaign in Japan. It was so successful that a KFC meal is now eaten by many people on the 25th December.
Where and when was the advent calendar invented?
The answer – again! – is Germany.
The first printed advent calendar was created in the early 20th century by a man called Gerhard Lang.
When Gerhard was a little boy his mother made him a calendar with 24 sweets attached to cardboard, one for each day before Christmas.
When Gerhard grew up, he worked at a printing company, and he used his mother’s idea to create a calendar with little doors. Everybody loved it, and soon the advent calendar became an essential part of Christmas around the world.
The quiz questions were chosen by Freya, Adeline and Mr Brennan. We hope you enjoyed them!
The kids in my English class were asked to write a short story about a day in the life of a Christmas character or object. Suggestions included a snowman; Santa or Mrs Claus; a Christmas tree or even a gift.
The children produced some really imaginative work displaying plenty of humour as well as a touch of tragedy (snowmen don’t seem to fare very well in these tales!).
The writing was of such a high standard that I only needed to make one or two corrections, and I was pleased that many of the the kids used recently learnt grammar and vocabulary.
In fact, all of the stories featured here are by mother tongue German speakers rather than English natives, which makes the overall quality even more impressive.
Top marks, then, for some super Christmas stories as well as lots of hard work and effort in class.
✻ A day in the life of a Christmas tree ✻
By Sophie
First of all some people moved me to another home; many other trees also moved there.
Every day more and more people came to buy one of us. They had many criteria, like height.
Soon I was bought by an old couple who really loved me. One day before Christmas they decorated me with stars, candles and more decorations. I even got a star on top of my head!
On Christmas morning Santa put presents underneath me. The couple really enjoyed them.
But now I’m standing here and I wonder where they will put me when they don’t need me any more ….
Illustration by Sophie
✻ A day in the life of a snowman ✻
By Silian
I was a snowman. Some kids built me beside a house and I was happy about it.
But you need to know that the life of a snowman was not as good as you might have thought.
The thing was, every day some kids hurt me. It was really not nice for me. But I couldn’t do anything about the children because they were too strong.
One day I woke up and saw a kid running towards me. And I thought: “Oh no, he has a stick”. “Ouch, ouch”.
He beat me. Yes; what I can say is that I was completely broken.
But this was not too bad because I became a little puddle.
✻ A day in the life of a Christmas present ✻
By Gabriel
A moment ago, I woke up because I was very excited. Today Santa packed me in a soft, comfortable gift package. He said, ‘Oh my little gift, you will get a very nice and careful owner. I’ve known him for a couple of years.’
I was so happy to meet my new owner. ‘He’s probably going to like me’, I thought.
When I woke up in my gift package I heard excited voices. They were saying ‘Mummy, Mummy, when can I unpack my gifts and presents?’
An adult voice said, ‘In ten minutes, my dear!’.
I thought ten minutes would be enough to have a quick nap, so I continued sleeping.
When I woke up again I heard a squeaky voice saying, ‘Mummy, look, I’m unpacking the first present!’
My gift package began to move and then a little face looked in the package. ‘Oh, Mummy, I got Optimus Prime!’
He started to play with me and we both had a good time.
✻ A day in the life of a (not very happy) elf – an excerpt ✻
By Kiame
First, I got up at 1am and the Elf Christmas Robot checked if I was awake or not. As an elf, life isn’t easy. Then I went to breakfast at 6am.
Santa came into the machine room with his chocolate milk with beer in it. He screamed a lot, he was talking a lot of nonsense: ‘I have to wear these stupid red suits!’.
At 10 am I am going to the Müller family, I have the ‘Elf on a Shelf’ job. I really don’t like this one kid, Mila, she is super annoying and talks to me all the time.
I hate my life. At 4pm I am going back to Santa – I have to do the gift job again… all I have to do is work, work, work …
✻ A day in the life of a snowman ✻
By Ruben
Hello, I am a snowman. Yesterday some kids built me. Today I will tell you about a day in my life.
I have a very quiet life, I don’t need to eat or drink. The whole day I do nothing else other than stand in front of a little house and look at the snow coming from the sky.
Yesterday I wished that I could walk and speak like other people, but instead of this the sun came out! One hour later I was very hot and I couldn’t go away. The sun didn’t go away either.
From hour to hour I got smaller and smaller, but after a while clouds came and it began to snow, a real snowstorm. Now I was very small and only my head looked out at the snow. I hoped that the kids would come and help me, because in that moment my life wasn’t comfy and relaxed any more!
In the next minute the kids came, but they weren’t kind; they hit me and broke me into twenty little pieces, then they ran away and laughed. And the kids who built me built a new snowman on top of me.
Thanks for reading! We’ve also chosen some movies featuring snowmen for our holiday entertainment page – a great chance to improve your English or just enjoy some Christmas classics. ⛄️
Ho, ho, ho! Today was a very special day for the whole school: we held a sparkly, tinselly, heart-warming Christmas fair complete with tickets, games, prizes and plenty of home-made cakes.
The event was organised by the kids in 4-6, who spent a week preparing for the occasion. The fun yet demanding schedule involved carefully planning the activities, then designing and constructing the games in small teams.
As you can see, the results were fantastic – ingenious works of art with a wonderfully Christmas feel. As an added challenge, the kids were asked to prepare precise player instructions in both German and English, receiving help, if needed, from their teachers.
On the big day itself, all the children from classes 1-3 were given visiting time-slots, with tickets available for just a few cents.
A stamp was added for each game played, and once three stamps had been collected, the ticket owner could help themselves to goodies from the enormous cake and biscuit buffet (thanks, parents, for all your delicious contributions).
Many extra prizes were offered at each stand, so every child left the fair feeling very happy (and full!) indeed.
After a morning of fun, the event drew to a close and the 4-6 students were excited to discover that they had raised a substantial amount of money – a fitting reward for all their hours of careful planning and hard work.
Now they’ll have to decide exactly how to use their earnings, but a visit to the Jump House seems to be a current favourite option.
Continuing our current theme of ‘animals in winter‘ – and coinciding, too, with the gift-giving tradition of Nikolaus day – this week in Art the kids created a tasty snack for birds.
OK – perhaps it’s not the most obvious art project, but there’s definitely a certain artistry involved. And anyway, I think our feathered friends deserve a little extra nourishment during the harsh winter months.
The bird ‘cookies’ consisted of shaped, dried bread generously spread with peanut butter then topped with nutritious seeds. They looked good enough for anyone to eat, and a couple of the kids certainly had a nibble when they thought no one was looking.
Since, at the moment, we’re also focusing on recycling and zero waste, additional materials consisted of scrap paper and cardboard, while the bread itself was gifted by a local bakery because it was too dry to sell.
After preparing the treats, each child arranged them on a card, together with a personal message to the birds.
Although several kids wisely pointed out that birds can’t read (!), my aim was to see what everyone decided to write.
As expected, the messages were lovely; very sweet and often very funny:
Hi birds! Do you want bread? P.S. There’s no kids’ menu and no water. P.P.S. It’s vegetarian, and not for birds with nut allergies.
Dear birds, this message is for you. Although you can’t read this at all, it’s a pleasure to show you this. This bird food has been packed for you with best wishes; it would make me very happy knowing that it made you happy, too.
Dear birds, I made this treat for you, I hope you like it. This is a present from me on Nikolaus. I gave this to you because all of my friends got something, so I made something for you too.
Hallo birds. I know that you want a döner, but Mr Brennan wants you to have toast.
Dear birds, I like your song in Summer, and I like it when you fly south in huge flocks in the Autumn, then come back in Spring. And for those who have stayed behind – here’s a small snack.
Every class from school got cookies, a crystal, chocolate and a small bell in a glass jar.
The 4 to 6 decorated the glass jars to be able to use as little plastic as possible. ☃️
We are not using plastic because in Gewi and Sachkunde we are having a ‘No waste week’ where we are trying not to waste so many things such as money, water, food and more. We are also getting more trash bins to recycle more and better.
Here are some pictures:
We were also sent the lovely photo, below, by Rubin class (years 1-3).
Of course, Nikolaus is particularly special for the younger children, and Rubin’s beautiful arrangement of jars together with twinkly fairy lights made the day even more magical.
Thanks, Frau Häusler, for sharing this!
Das schöne Bild oben wurde uns von der Klasse Rubin (Jahrgangsstufe 1-3) geschickt.
Natürlich ist der Nikolaus für die jüngeren Kinder etwas ganz Besonderes, und Rubins wunderschönes Arrangement der Gläser zusammen mit glitzernden Lichterketten machte den Tag noch magischer.
Vielen Dank, Frau Häusler, dass du das mit uns geteilt hast!
Around us, plants and animals continue to thrive in their usual, miraculous way, even if our own lives feel very different compared to just a few years ago.
With the cold season now upon us, the latest topic in classes 4-6 is ‘Animals in winter’.
As part of this theme, the kids are doing fascinating work to find out exactly how animals prepare for winter, and live (or sleep) through it.
And in art, too, we developed a project dedicated not only to winter animals and their habitat, but with a hint of the festive season besides.
Preparing the panoramas …
This was a multimedia task in the truest sense, combining painting, drawing, collage, photography and, finally, a green screen digital film technique to create a falling snow effect.
The final results, transferred to video.
The kids started by painting a background, then added individually drawn wintry trees.
This was followed by a cut-out of their chosen animal – wolves were a definite favourite – before setting up a miniature film set using props such as tree-like twigs, stones and extra scenery.
The last step was to photograph the result, then import this into a movie app to add an overlay of gently drifting snow.
As you can imagine, the whole project took several weeks of hard, complex work to complete, but the kids did incredibly well and I think the results are truly magical.
Each celebration of animals in winter is as individual as the child who made it – and a reminder that, despite our own problems with Covid, the natural world remains as beautiful and inspiring as ever.
It’s more important than ever to protect the environment, and this week the IMS kids are taking part in an inspiring series of eco-friendly actions coordinated by Frau Dunzer and Frau Ravalico.
Under the motto ‘Null Müll’ or ‘Zero waste’, the activities include setting up a trash-recycling system for each classroom, as well as the chance to make a reusable waxed-cloth wrapper for sandwiches or snacks.
Making a beeswax wrapper, which can be used again and again!
What’s more, with the festive season about to begin, this year’s Sankt Nikolaus gift is also as environmentally-friendly as possible.
The news blog will soon have more chances to report on the ‘Null Müll’ initiative: further waste-reduction plans include a prize for the greenest classroom and, in early January, the construction of a compost container in the IMS garden.
A rare tsunami (Japanese 津 波, literally ‘harbor wave’), formerly known in German as an earthquake wave, is a sequence of particularly long water waves that are able to spread over very great distances and as such, result in a displacement of water or sea.
The largest tsunami in Japan since 2000 occurred in 2011 and had a height of around 9.3 metters. The tsunami was caused by the Tohoku eartquake, also known as the Great East Japan Earthquake.
