4 Time to Celebrate Switching the calendar to December means it’s holiday time Christmas Hanukkah Kwanzaa and New Year’s Day are all holidays to look forward to at the end of each year Everyone celebrates the holidays a little bit differently Your family customs the region where you live and your religion may all play a part in the traditions you enjoy You might decorate the halls with Christmas decorations You might eat potato latkes for Hanukkah or light the kinara for Kwanzaa You might even stay up until midnight to ring in the New Year Families light candles on the menorah during the eight days of Hanukkah
5 The holiday season is a time to enjoy parties games and feasts It is also a special time to spend with friends and family Gifts also play a part in the celebrations Making crafts is a personal way to share your creative gifts with others Many people give gifts during the winter holidays WHEN DO YOU CELEBrATE Christmas December 25 Hanukkah 25th day of the Hebrew month Kislev in November and or December Kwanzaa December 26 to January 1 New Year’s Eve December 31 New Year’s Day January 1
6 The Winter Holidays The Christmas tree tradition began in Germany Christmas Christmas is a religious holiday On this day Christians remember the birth of Jesus Christ more than two thousand years ago Many Christians and non-Christians enjoy the holiday by giving gifts singing carols and decorating evergreen trees Many children await the arrival of Santa Claus a jolly man from the North Pole who brings gifts while everyone is sleeping
Hanukkah Hanukkah is also a religious holiday This festival of lights lasts for eight days Jewish people use this time to remember what their religion stands for During Hanukkah families light candles in a candleholder called a menorah It has nine candles one for each night of the celebration plus one that is used to light all the others Kwanzaa Kwanzaa is much newer than the other major winter holidays It was first celebrated in 1966 as a way to bring African Americans together as a community It celebrates ideas such as unity creativity helping each other working together remembering one’s past and sharing responsibility To celebrate families set a table with holiday symbols such as fruits corn a candleholder called a kinara and a unity cup New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day People have been celebrating the New Year for centuries It wasn’t until 1582 that the Western calendar officially made January 1 the start of a new year Some cultures have their own new year celebrations based on their traditional calendars Many people ring in the New Year late at night on December 31 with parties feasts and loud celebrations 7
