The Christmas Season

Christmas is a time for families to come together and for fun to be had by all! There are lots of festive things to do. Try some of these tips to add to the holiday cheer. You will learn some fun facts about real reindeer, can share some Christmas jokes with friends, or read your family a story. Baking cookies or making Christmas crafts can keep you busy all day. Learn about some of the fun traditions that make it such an exciting time of year!

Interesting Reindeer Facts

• Reindeer live in cold climates in North America and Northern Europe.
• Caribou and Reindeer are related. Caribou are wild and a little lighter than the reindeer of Northern Europe. Europe's reindeer are domesticated and herded by arctic people. These people depend on reindeer for food, shelter, and clothing. Sometimes they are even kept as pets.
• Reindeer have large hooves that spread apart when they walk and act like snowshoes.
• Male reindeer can grow up to 46 inches tall and can weigh up to 300 pounds.
• Both male and female reindeer grow antlers, which they shed during the winter.
• Reindeer are herbivores and they eat things like mushrooms, grass, moss, and lichens.
• Reindeer cannot really fly, but they can run at speeds up to 50 miles per hour.
• More about Reindeer
• Reindeer Information and a Fun Game
• Reindeer Facts

Christmas Jokes

• What do elves learn in school?? The Elfabet!
• What do you get if you deep-fry Santa Claus?? Crisp Cringle!
• Why does Santa have three gardens?? So he can ho ho ho!
• What is white and goes up?? A confused snowflake!
• What do you call an old snowman?? Water!
• What does a cat on the beach have in common with Christmas?? Sandy claws!
• When does Christmas come before Thanksgiving?? In the dictionary!
• Why do reindeer wear fur coats? They look silly in polyester!
• Where does Santa hide his gift to Mrs. Claus. In the Clauset of course!
• What does Santa write on his Christmas cards?
  ABCDEFGHIJK_ MNOPQRSTUVWXYZ (No-L , No-L)!
• Christmas Jokes for Kids
• Some Fun Christmas Jokes
• Jokes sent to Santa and his Elves
• More Christmas Jokes!
• More jokes!

Recipes, Yum!

• Lots of cookies and gingerbread houses
• Colorful holiday fruit punch
• Make a red and green Christmas cake
• No-bake White Christmas Krispies
• Christmas Cornflake Wreaths

Creative Crafts

• A Reindeer Candy Cane: Leave the wrapping on the candy cane. On the curve of the cane, glue eyes and a red pompom for a nose. Tie a ribbon into a bow on the straight part of the candy cane. Cut a pipe cleaner in half. Wrap a full pipe cleaner around the crook of the candy cane to begin the antlers. Use the cut pipe cleaners to manipulate into antlers.
• Pine Cone Christmas Tree: Paint a pine cone with glue and sprinkle it with green glitter. When it dries you can glue on sequins or tinsel. Stand it on a base for a mini Christmas Tree or hang it as an ornament by adding a tie. You can put a star on top or little beads as decorations.
• Beaded Ornaments: Put a pipe cleaner through some metallic colored plastic beads. Bend the tips of the pipe cleaner to keep the beads from falling off. Bend the pipe cleaner in any design to make an ornament.
• Picture Ornaments: Put a juice can lid on a picture and use it to draw a circle on construction paper. Cut out the circle and glue the paper onto the lid. Then glue a picture onto the lid. Have an adult hot glue a paperclip hook onto the back.
• Glitter Stars: Tape some plastic wrap onto a tray. Make sure it is tight and smooth. Make star shapes on the plastic wrap with a glue bottle. Fill in the center with glue as well. You can hang the stars if you put a yarn loop in the glue. Sprinkle the glue with glitter. Make sure it is completely covered. Leave to dry for 48 hours. Gently peel the plastic wrap away from the back, working in from each point.
• Christmas Crafts for Kids
• Creative Crafts for Children
• Fun Printable Christmas Activities

Books

• 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Matt Tavares - An Account of a Visit by St. Nicholas; A Christmas classic.
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss - The Grinch tries to ruin the holiday, but learns a lesson.
• The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg - A young boy is lying in bed when he is swept onto a train bound for the North Pole.
• Cat in the Manger by Michael Foreman - The nativity story told through the eyes of a cat.
• Cookie Angel by Bethany Roberts and Vladimir Vagin - When the clock strikes twelve, all the presents under the Christmas tree come to life and start a ruckus!
• Carl's Christmas by Alexandra Day - A family's faithful dog and the baby left in his care enjoy an adventure-filled Christmas Eve.
• Yoon and the Christmas Mitten by Helen Recorvits - As Christmas Eve approaches, Yoon learns more and more about this exciting holiday.
• Gus and Grandpa and the Christmas Cookies by Claudia Mills and Catherine Stock - Gus and Grandpa bake cookies together.
• Rock-a-bye Christmas by Matt Novak - Barnyard mayhem disturbs a quiet Christmas Eve.
• Cool Christmas Stories by Elizabeth Holland - A collection of short stories.
• The Willows in Winter by William Horwood - The characters from Wind in the Willows return for a Christmas story.
• Over the River and Through the Wood by Lydia Marie Child - A funny spoof of a holiday song.
• Father Fox's Christmas Rhymes by Clyde Watson - A collection of Christmas poems.
• The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming - A search for things that will make the best snowman ever!
• My Christmas Scratch and Sniff Book by Editors of Kingfisher - This board book features vibrant color photographs and five festive fragrances to scratch and sniff.
• The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown - A little tree is in a field far from the other trees.
• If You Take a Mouse to the Movies (A Special Christmas Edition) by Laura Numeroff - The mouse is back!
• The Christmas Bears by Chris Conover - The Bear family prepares for Christmas.
• 12 Dogs for Christmas by Roger Priddy - Dogs and puppies at Christmas time.
• Shall I Knit You a Hat? by Kate Klise - Mother Rabbit knits a present.
• Where Does Joe Go? By Tracey Campbell Pearson - Every year Joe closes his snack bar in the fall and disappears. Could he be Santa?
• Running the Dogs by Thomas Cochran - A young boy runs his dogs the day before Christmas Eve.
• This Is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten - A poetic version of the Nativity story.
• A Houseful of Christmas by Barbara Joosse - Grandma's family comes together during a blizzard.
• Bear Noel by Olivier Dunrea - The animals celebrate the holidays.
• More Christmas Books!

An American Christmas

• Christmas Trees - Many American Christmas traditions came from other parts of the world. Christmas trees did not become popular in the United States until about 1850. German immigrants brought this tradition and now we think of pine trees when we think of Christmas.
• Gifts - Originally, only parents gave gifts to their children at Christmas time. Now it is very common for anyone to give gifts to each other when they celebrate the holiday.
• Santa Claus - Santa Claus is an American legend. He comes from a mixture of the English Father Christmas and the Dutch Saint Nicholas. The round, jolly look that Santa has today was made popular by a Coca Cola advertising campaign.
• Garlands, Wreaths, and Lights - The tradition of decorating with garlands, wreaths, and lights goes all the way back to ancient times. The Romans used to decorate this way for their Saturnalia festivities. The church continued this tradition at Christmas time.
• Christmas Cards - The Christmas card that you know today did not come about until the 19^th century. Now they are popular every year.
• The Origin of American Christmas
• Christmas Customs