Christmas Around the World - Cultural Celebrations
Lesson duration is: 30 minIntroduction
Instructions
Items in this lesson
Ho ho ho! Welcome to this festive lesson!
It's about Christmas traditions around the world. It's intended to be inclusive and slightly deconstruct the typically hegemonic representation perpetuated by American movies!
Which is your favourite aspect of Christmas?
Don't really have one!
Presents!
Food and drink!
Spending time with family and friends
Giving gifts!
Christmas songs!
Gathering baseline student preferences highlights dominant cultural priorities around festive traditions before examining international practices.
Stretch: Challenge students to analyze how geographical location or seasonal climate might alter which aspects of celebration take precedence in different cultures.
Device-Free: Direct students to write their chosen option number on mini-whiteboards and hold them up simultaneously for a quick visual tally across the room.
Learning Objectives
Identify different cultural Christmas traditions around the world.
Explain how historical or environmental factors shape each tradition.
Compare and reflect on the similarities and differences among these celebrations.
Learning objectives page
What words or traditions come to mind when you think of Christmas in other parts of the world?
Gathering initial vocabulary captures baseline student awareness of global diversity before examining specific regional holiday customs.
Stretch: Challenge students to group their submitted terms into geographical, cultural, or religious categories to identify broad regional patterns.
Device-Free: Direct students to write three descriptive keywords on mini-whiteboards and hold them up simultaneously to create a collective classroom view.
Some Christmas Traditions from Around the World
Mapping regional festive traditions introduces the global distribution of seasonal celebrations across varying climate zones and cultures.
Stretch: Challenge students to select two contrasting locations from the map and evaluate how local climate influences their distinct festive practices.
Device-Free: Direct students to list three featured countries on mini-whiteboards and write one geographical factor shaping each country's celebration style.
Do you have any traditions, either cultural or even particular to your family you observe?
Research and share a global Christmas fact!
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Added a timer here to put a bit of pressure on the research activity. You may allow Internet searches on student devices, completely up to you!
Do you have any traditions, either cultural or even particular to your family you observe?
Do you have any traditions you observe at this time of year? They may be cultural or particular to your family.
This should generate some discussion....it may be something culturl or unique to a family, such as the Christmas Eve Pyjama one!
Encouraging students to reflect on personal family customs helps them connect individual heritage to broader cultural celebration frameworks.
Stretch: Challenge students to analyse whether their family custom aligns with broader national norms or represents a unique micro-tradition, justifying their reasoning.
Device-Free: Direct students to write a brief summary of one personal tradition on mini-whiteboards and discuss similarities with a partner.
Put these countries in order of when children receive gifts!
Organising gift-giving dates chronologically across regions challenges students to trace how different calendar systems and historical customs influence seasonal timelines.
Stretch: Challenge students to explain why Orthodox Christian traditions observe Christmas in January rather than December, referencing historical calendar variations.
Device-Free: Direct students to write the five gift-giving traditions in correct chronological order on mini-whiteboards and compare sequences with a partner.
Answers!
5 December – Sinterklaas (Netherlands)
24 December – Christmas Eve (Germany, Poland, Scandinavia)
25 December – Christmas Day (UK, USA, many countries)
6 January – Epiphany / Three Kings’ Day (Spain, Latin America)
7 January – Genna / Orthodox Christmas (Ethiopia, Eastern Europe)
Extra information - you could reorder this slide to quckly show the answers first.
It's not just Santa who delivers gifts!
Mapping distinct global gift-bringers illustrates how regional folklore and historical figures shape seasonal beliefs beyond standard Anglo-American narratives.
Stretch: Challenge students to research one regional gift-giver (such as La Befana or Christkind) and evaluate how its historical origin reflects local religious or cultural roots.
Device-Free: Direct students to write two alternative gift-giving figures on mini-whiteboards along with their associated country or region.
Which aspect or value of global Christmas would you like to try and why?
Asking students to select and explain a global tradition shifts focus from basic recall to assessing the cultural values embedded in international practices.
Stretch: Challenge students to identify how adopting their chosen custom might conflict with or complement local cultural norms, defending their position with clear reasoning.
Device-Free: Direct students to write their chosen international custom and one supporting reason on mini-whiteboards before explaining their selection to a peer.
For more topical lessons, visit the LessonUp UK Spotlight channel!
Thank you for using this lesson and I wish you a happy festive time!