We declare the holiday season officially open! Although it’s not Christmas just yet, there’s another holiday in between Thanksgiving and Christmas that’s all about generosity, giving and helping people, as well as eating delicious treats and enjoying family time. Considering the resemblance with Christmas, many people confuse St. Nicholas Day as an alternative to Christmas, but as you’ll see in this article, that’s not the case.
St. Nicholas Day is an important holiday, especially for Christians in Europe. It’s also known as the Feast of Saint Nicholas, and it’s observed on the 6th of December. There are many specific St.Nicholas Day traditions associated with this holiday, which we’ll take a close look at.
If you’re a fan of the holiday season and love creating memories with your family, it might be time to adopt some St.Nicholas Day traditions, or simply up your game and find new activities for your kids during this holiday.
The History Behind The Holiday
According to Biography, St. Nicholas is the inspiration for our beloved Santa Claus. Indeed, if you start looking into the origin of the Santa Claus legend, you’ll end up to a Christian bishop (or monk) who lived sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, Turkey. However, he died in Myra, Turkey (now Demre), and became known as St. Nicholas of Myrna.
Tales of St. Nicholas tell us that he was an exceptional man who used all of his inheritance to help the poor and sick. There are many stories about his good deeds over the course of his life, but the one that changed the world was the one that people kept sharing after his death. St. Nicholas’s reputation was so strong, that once he died, people started remembering him as the protector of children and sailors. Over the course of many years, in many nations and languages, his story transformed into the legendary character of Santa Claus, without who we can’t imagine our culture today.
Aside from Santa Claus and Christmas, many nations actually observe St. Nicholas Day. It’s believed that St. Nicholas died on December 6, 343, which is the day when St. Nicholas Day is celebrated.
The reason why St. Nicholas is somewhat in the shadow of Christmas today is that in the 1500s in the time of the Reformation (a religious movement that created Protestantism) honoring saints was downplayed and neglected.
The Connection with Santa Claus
Not all countries abandoned the celebration of St. Nicholas. One very important country for us didn’t – important in a way that we probably wouldn’t have had Santa Claus without them. The Dutch continued to celebrate St.Nicholas Day traditions which included kids leaving their shoes in front of their doors the night before St.Nicholas Day believing that he will leave them a gift during the night.
Somewhere in the 1700s, Dutch immigrants brought St.Nicholas Day traditions with them to America. And, they had a nickname for St. Nicholas which was Sinterklaas [ˌsɪntərˈklaːs]. In the English-speaking population, Sinterklaas became Santa Claus, and instead of December 6th, the tradition of gift-giving became part of the Christmas holiday, as it fits perfectly with the meaning of Christmas.
We should note that, although St. Nicholas is an embodiment of Santa Claus, these two holidays are separate events, as St. Nicholas deserves to be remembered for its own contributions to society.
Common St.Nicholas Day Traditions
Seeing or reading about different St.Nicholas Day traditions around the world is a great way to get inspiration about the ways in which you and your kids can commemorate the holiday. But, in case you’re still wondering, we’ll also share specific St. Nicholas Day activities for kids.
The Balkans
St. Nicholas is celebrated in the Balkan countries as a religious holiday on the night before the 6th of December. Albania, Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Bulgaria are the countries in which people hold annual feasts.
Albania celebrates St. Nicholas Day by lighting candles and abstaining from meat until midnight when they prepare a rich meal for family and close friends.
In Greece, St. Nicholas is celebrated as the protector of the sailors (patron saint of the Greek navy). In his honor, the Greeks have festivals on ships and boats, both at sea and in port.
For Serbia and North Macedonia, St. Nicholas is an important family patron saint and it’s celebrated as a family feast (Slava).
In Bulgaria, people celebrate St. Nicholas (Nikulden) together with relatives and close friends. They usually eat fish and a loaf of bread that has been blessed at the church.
Sinterklaas (Netherlands, Germany, Belgium)
In the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium the official gift-giving tradition is celebrated the night before or on the morning of the 6th of December as part of the Sinterklaas holiday. Children leave their shoes in front of their doors and sing Sinterklaas songs. The presents are usually treats, but sometimes children receive carrots, which are actually a gift for St.Nicholas’s horse.
Slovenia, Croatia, Ukraine
In Slovenia, St. Nicholas is said to come with an angel and a devil. If the children behaved well through the year, the angel leaves a present. If they were bad, the “Parkelj” leaves a punishment.
In Croatia, similar traditions can be observed. Usually, children leave their boots on the windowsill, expecting to find presents from St. Nicholas the next day.
Ukraine also associates St.Nicholas with gift-giving for the children, but unlike the other countries where the gifts are left in the children’s shoes, Ukrainians believe St.Nicholas will leave the first under the pillow of the child.
France
France traditionally celebrates St. Nicholas by families having a donkey carry baskets filled with presents for the children. Grandparents would tell stories of how St.Nicholas saves wandering children and brings them home – continuing his reputation as the protector of children.
St. Nicholas Activities for Kids
There are so many more St.Nicholas Day traditions that one might write a whole book just by describing the unique traditions, beliefs, and stories that circulate around the world. Fortunately, you don’t have to get so deeply involved in the history of the holiday to celebrate it with your children. Here are some fun and meaningful St. Nicholas Day activities for kids.
Learn About St. Nicholas Day
By now it must be apparent just how interesting it is to learn about the importance and meaning of this holiday. If this is your first time celebrating St. Nicholas with your kids, getting familiar with the origins might be a good idea. Plus, if your children are at the age when they start questioning whether Santa Claus is real, you can use St. Nicholas to help them understand how we came to celebrate Santa Claus, without ruining the whole experience for them.
On our website at KidsKonnect, you can find the Saint Nicholas Day Facts & Worksheets bundle, which consists of 22 pages with meaningful facts, trivia questions, quizzes, and much more.
Alternatively, you can read St.Nicholas books for children, such as The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving or The Story of Saint Nicholas: A Children’s Adaptation, which you can find on Amazon.
Make a Gift-Stocking
Another way to commemorate St.Nicholas Day is to make a DIY stocking. It’s a fun and creative hands-on activity that will help you spend some quality time with your children, creating gift-stockings for the whole family. Best of all, once you make the gift stockings, children can use them twice, on St. Nicholas Day and on Christmas Day. This also means two gifts, which is the ultimate motivation and joy for all kids.
Make a Gift for Your Kid’s Best Friend
St. Nicholas is remembered as the most generous man of all time. A good way to honor his memory and to create a beautiful annual tradition is for kids to make a DIY present for their best friends or close family. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy or expensive, quite the contrary. A simple candy or a chocolate bar will do the trick if it’s accompanied by a heartful message.
Donate Old Clothing to Charity
Going one step further from the previous example, another way to teach children the importance of generosity and to teach them how to be kind to others in need is to ask them to let go of their old clothes and go together to a charity where you can give them to kids in need. You can even associate this with Christmas, telling children that if they’re good and think about other people on Christmas, Santa Claus will be very happy and give them lots of presents.
Before You Leave
All around the world, we’ve seen that people find beautiful ways to honor the memory of St. Nicholas with some amazing St.Nicholas Day traditions. Although some people might still think St. Nicholas is the same as Santa Claus, we believe that this holiday deserves a special day. It’s a great opportunity for children to learn something new and to take part in activities that will make them think about other people.
We really hope that you found this article useful. In case you need some more inspiration on how to spend the holidays, or how to incorporate the holidays in your children’s education, simply head over to our main website and browse through our large collection of worksheets and other teaching resources. Alternatively, you can regularly check our blog, where we’ll be sharing some entertaining information about the upcoming holidays!
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Link will appear as St.Nicholas Day Traditions and Activities for Kids: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, December 5, 2020