Food and Traditions
What do people do under the mistletoe?
Kiss each other
How does Santa Claus travel on Christmas Eve?
On a magic sleigh, pulled by nine flying reindeer.
Christmas is often referred to as Xmas by many people. Why?
The X represents the Greek letter ‘chi’ which is the first letter of ‘Christos’ (Christ). Xmas has the same meaning as Christmas.
In many countries, people eat turkey on Christmas Day. Do you know where turkeys come from?
North America. Sailor William Strickland brought turkeys to Europe in the 16th century.
What do children do with their socks on the night before Christmas?
Leave them at the end of their beds or near the fireplace for Santa to put presents in.
What was special about Christmas in 1644 in England?
An act of parliament abolished the celebration of Christmas and people had to go to work as usual.
After finishing the turkey, the British eat a special pudding. The pudding, which was created by the Celts to honour the god Dagda, traditionally has a special ingredient. What is it?
Money! Yes, eating Christmas pudding is dangerous. You can break a tooth or swallow a pound coin.
At Christmas, lots of men dress up in red outfits and white beards and say, ‘Ho ho ho.’ Where did Father Christmas (also known as Santa Claus) originally come from?
The Santa Claus that we all know today was created by Coca-Cola in 1931 for the company’s winter advertising campaign. The artist, Haddon Sundblom, decided to make Santa’s clothes the same colour as the famous Coca-Cola red.
In Bavaria in 1818, Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr wrote one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time, which was first performed on a guitar. Which song?
‘Silent Night’
What is a Christmas cracker?
It’s a cylindrical object that two people pull. It breaks open and the person with the biggest portion wins a paper hat.
Why does Santa Claus always come down the chimney instead of using the front door?
Santa is from Lapland. People in Lapland used to live in houses under the snow, where a hole in the roof was used both as a chimney and a front door.
The three wise men followed the star to Bethlehem. What presents did they take for Jesus?
Gold, frankincense and myrrh