What Do People Around the World Do On Christmas Eve?

Children around the world wait all year for Christmas Eve. It\’s a very magical and special time of year. Santa will soon be here, bringing gifts to all the good boys and girls…which is one tradition. But did you know that Christmas Eve traditions differ in various countries? In this article we will be exploring all the traditions of Christmas Eve. Welcome, we hope you enjoy it…

Traveling around the world can work up quite the appetite, and even Santa needs to have a bit of refreshment now and then. In America and Canada, one popular Christmas Eve tradition is to leave Santa a glass of milk and a plate of cookies. In Australia and Britain they prefer to leave sherry and mince pies. The children of Sweden are aware that Santa has a love of chocolate…so they leave brownies.

Now that Santa has been fed, attention must be turned to the reindeer. After all, who can pull a sleigh full of Christmas presents around the world and not work up a big appetite? Children to the rescue one more time. Kids from Canada, Australia, Britain, and the United States leave a carrot to help give Santa\’s reindeer a \”bit of a push\” as they span the globe. Children who follow the Dutch custom of sinterklass go a bit further. They will leave a carrot and some hay in a shoe. When they wake up the next morning it will be replaced by a gift.

Another tradition that has become popular in the United States is the reading of the book \”A Visit from St. Nicholas\” by Clement Clark Moore (or similar tale about Santa Claus). Other families watch a Christmas-related video or television show, like: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas or Frosty the Snowman. Singing Santa Claus songs such as Up on the Housetop, Here Comes Santa Claus, or Santa Claus is Coming to Town are also very popular.

On Christmas Eve, children all around the world will put their stockings on the mantel. They are full of anticipation that St. Nick will soon be here, and will fill their stocking with gifts, candy, and \”other goodies\”. Next they will look up the chimney to make sure that the \”Big Guy\” has not arrived yet. They will take a glance out the window to see if they can see a passing sleigh, and then perhaps unlock the front door (just in case Santa has problems getting down the chimney). With all the prep work done, it\’s time to go off to bed…

Parents have their part to play in Christmas Eve as well. There are a lot of gifts that need to be placed under the tree, and they will often be signed \”From Santa\” or \”Love Santa\”.

We hope you liked this little tour of the traditions on the night before Christmas. In future articles we will be examining other aspects of the Christmas tradition. Hope you will join us…

Learn more about Christmas Gift Giving. Stop by Emily Latimer\’s site where you can find out all about completing that Christmas List.

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