We don’t do a typical American Santa Claus Christmas.

We “did Santa” in the very early years with our daughters, but it never felt right to me. I remember how devastated I was and how I felt lied to when I discovered Santa was just imaginary and my parents did it all. No wonder I never got that pony!

My son has grown up with no deceit. My kids know not to spoil the magic for others who prefer to do things differently.

We can have magic and make-believe and learn about history altogether.

The kids love the idea of Santa so we read about the legend and history of St. Nicholas each year.

St. Nicholas History

Traditionally, Nicholas was born in the city of Patara, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

In one of the earliest and most famous incidents from his life, he is said to have rescued three girls from forced prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house each night for three nights so their father could pay a dowry for each of them. In his youth, he is said to have made pilgrimages to Egypt and the Palestine area. He became Bishop of Myra.

Legend claims that he was temporarily defrocked and imprisoned during the First Council of Nicaea for punching the heretic Arius. We love that story.

While living in Germany, we had lots of awesome options to celebrate St. Nicholas Day!

We look forward to Speculoos cookies, fun chocolate Santas in all shapes and sizes and colors, parades and markets galore! Many German heritage towns celebrate like this in America.

The kids like to do fun Santa crafts, bake cookies to give to friends and neighbors, read books and watch movies and sing carols about Santa and St. Nicholas.

We put out shoes or stockings on December 5 and the kids wake up to chocolates and little gifts.

Celebrating St. Nicholas Day:

• St. Nicholas Tot Pack, Preschool Pack, and Elementary Pack from The Kennedy Adventures
• All sorts of winter printables and activities from iHomeschool
• Saint Nicholas Crafts and Printables from Catholic Icing
• Lesson Plan and Activities from First School
• Activities and Worksheets from Education.com
• Poster from Loyola Press
• Sequencing from PreKinders
• Build Faith activities
• Welcome to Mommyhood Montessori
• Glue Sticks and Gumdrops activities
• Orthodox Motherhood celebration
• A Slice of Smith Life
• Learn about St. Nicholas with fun games and printables at The St. Nicholas Center
• Great art tutorials in A Simple Start in Christmas Chalk Pastels
• Reading holiday books
• Watching holiday movies
• Donating or volunteering

Resources:

• A St. Nicholas Story: The Fiercest Little Animal In The Forest by Terri Reinhart 
• Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins by Jim Forest
• The Miracle of Saint Nicholas by Gloria Whelan
• The True Story of St. Nicholas by Foster Eich
• The Baker’s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale, with Bonus Cookie Recipe and Pattern for St. Nicholas Christmas Cookies by aaron Shepard
• Santa’s Favorite Story: Santa Tells the Story of the First Christmas by Hisako Aoki
• Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend by Julie Stiegemeyer 
• The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving by Dandi Daley Mackall

Do you celebrate St. Nicholas?

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