Monday, December 17, 2012

Mexico, Sweden and Germany

We learned so much on our travels last week! 

On Monday we traveled to Mexico. We read a fun book about all the many celebrations they have in Mexico during the month of December. (After which, I think I may move. They have so many fun holidays!) The kids' favorite was The Night of the Radishes. Kids in Oaxaca, Mexico picked amazingly huge radishes and carved them into Christmas decorations. They were truly amazing! Here is an example:


We made our own Mexican Christmas decorations, but we went the simpler route and made paper poinsettias, which are also popular in Mexico. 

For snack time, we made bunuelos (fried tortillas with cinnamon sugar). They were delicious!

On Wednesday, we headed back across the ocean to Sweden. We talked about St. Lucia day, the traditional costumes that boys and girls wear, the foods they eat and the parades they have. We practiced cutting by making our own pictures of St. Lucia.

On Friday we moved south to Germany. We talked about some of the many Christmas traditions we have the originated in Germany (Christmas trees, candy canes, and many songs such as Silent Night and Oh, Christmas Tree). We also learned about another holiday that is celebrated in Germany on December 6th. St. Nicholas Day. I talked with St. Nicholas before preschool and he said that he would stop by and fill the kids' shoes with treats, just as he does for children in Germany. We put our shoes under the tree to await his delivery! While we were waiting, we took part in another German tradition, making ornaments out of Christbaumgeback (salt dough).  The kids got to help mix and knead the dough, cut out shapes and then painted them after they had been baked!




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