This document provides information about Christmas traditions in the UK and other countries. It discusses typical Christmas food, activities, and customs in Britain such as families eating dinner around 3-4pm and having a 62% chance of snow in Scotland. It also covers traditions in other places like Spain, Germany, and Costa Rica, and includes a quiz about Santa Claus, reindeer, and Christmas trees. Boxing Day traditions of sales and gift giving are explained as well as New Year's Eve celebrations of singing Auld Lang Syne at midnight.
3. Christmas in the UK
• Most British families are out of bed before 8am on Christmas Day.
• Only 13% of families always go to church on Christmas Day.
• 27% of families watch the Queen’s Speech.
• The first alcoholic drink is drank at 11.48am on average.
• Christmas Dinner is usually eaten at 3/4pm
• There is usually a white Christmas in Britain every 4 to 5 years. There is
normally only ever heavy snow in Scotland.
• There is a 62% chance of snow in Scotland during the Christmas holidays.
• The coldest Christmas day ever in the UK was in Altnaharra, Scotland,
where it was -18.2°C
• It was illegal to celebrate Christmas in Britain between 1647 and 1660.
4. Traditional Christmas Food
• It’s traditional to eat prawns or salmon as the starter.
• The main meal usually includes turkey with stuffing, different types of
potato (roasted, boiled or mashed), carrots, Brussel sprouts, parsnips,
pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings, gravy, bread sauce and cranberry
sauce.
6. British Christmas Traditions
• Children hang stockings above the fireplace or at the end of their beds to
be filled with small gifts.
• They leave a mince pie and milk or brandy on a plate for Santa Claus and a
carrot for the reindeer.
• Christmas crackers are pulled at the dining table before everyone eats.
Inside them is a paper hat, a joke and a small toy.
• Mistletoe is hung around the house and if two people are standing
underneath it they must kiss.
• It’s traditional for families with young children to go to the theatre to see a
pantomime. Pantomimes are normally fairy-tale stories such as Cinderella
and Peter Pan.
• Christmas trees and decorations go up 12 days before Christmas and they
are taken down 12 days after Christmas.
7. Match the traditions to the correct country
• St. Nicolas brings presents on December 6th to
good children and a bag of sticks for bad children.
• December 26th is called Boxing Day and was
traditionally a day to give presents to the poor.
• Tropical flowers are used as Christmas decorations.
• The three Kings arrive on the night of January 5th
to give presents to children. Most towns have a
carnival style parade.
• On January 6th a special almond cake with a toy
crown inside is eaten.
• Wooden decorations and candles are put in
windows of homes.
• The Christian population is between 4-6% and big
cities put up Christmas trees.
• China
• Spain
• The UK
• Germany
• Czech Republic
• France
• Costa Rica
8. Christmas Quiz
1. Santa Claus is also known as: A) Saint Christopher B) Saint Michael C)
Saint Nicholas
2. Where did this Saint live? A) Finland B) Turkey C) Italy
3. In the UK, what do children hang for Santa Claus to put gifts in? A) Hats
B) Socks C) Shoes
4. Which country started the Christmas tree tradition? A) Germany B)
Russia C) Norway
5. When were Christmas lights first used? A) 1785 B) 1895 C) 1935
6. What did Tom Smith, an English sweet-maker, invent in 1847? A) Tinsel B)
Advent Calendar C) Christmas cracker
7. Indiana, in the USA, has a town called…? A) Father Christmas B) Santa
Claus C) Saint Nicholas
9. Christmas Quiz
• What is the name of the red-nosed reindeer?
• What form of transport does Santa use?
• Who were Balthazar, Melchior and Caspar?
• Which plant do people kiss under at Christmas?
• Which country provides the big Christmas tree that’s in Trafalgar
Square? A) Norway B) Canada C) Russia
10. Boxing Day
• 26th December is called Boxing Day because people used to fill up Church
boxes with gifts for poor people on this day.
• Nowadays people give small gifts of money to their postman and others
who help them on Boxing Day.
• In the UK Boxing Day is known as a shopping holiday.
• It’s the time when shops have their biggest sales.
• For many shops, Boxing Day has also become the day of the year with the
biggest number of returned items.
• In 2009, around 12 million shoppers were at the sales in the UK.
• Many shops open very early, usually between 5am and 6am.
11. New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day
• New Year’s Eve is not a public holiday. In the evening, many people
have parties in their homes. Others celebrate in pubs or clubs with
their friends and families.
• Just before midnight everyone holds hands and sings a traditional
song called ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Then they count down the seconds until
New Year’s.
• New Year’s Day is a public holiday so most shops and businesses are
closed.
• Most people simply stay at home and relax with their families.
• A traditional food to eat on New Year’s Day in Scotland is steak pie.
12. A Year in Review
• Discuss the following questions in pairs/groups:
• For you, was this year better or worse than last year?
• What was the happiest thing for you this year?
• What was the best movie you watched this year?
• What was the best place you visited this year?
• What was the most useful thing you bought?
• What was your biggest achievement this year?
• What are you looking forward to next year?
13. New Year’s Resolutions
• People often make New Year’s resolutions at the start of a new year.
Resolutions are things that people have decided to do to make their
lives better, such as stopping smoking or losing weight.
• In pairs talk about what your New Year’s Resolutions would be and
why.
14. Discuss in pairs or groups
• If you could change something about Christmas time what would it be
and why?
• Will you travel abroad during the Christmas vacation?
• What’s your favourite Christmas movie?
• What’s your favourite Christmas song?
• Would you prefer a white Christmas (with snow) or a golden
Christmas (on a warm beach)? Why?
• Do you prefer to give or to receive gifts?
15. Christmas Roleplay
• In pairs, one of you is Santa and the other is Scrooge (he hates
Christmas).
• Santa has to try and convince Scrooge of why Christmas is so
wonderful. But, Scrooge also has to try and persuade Santa that
Christmas is horrible and it’s a bad idea
16. Christmas Story
• In groups, make up a Christmas story using the following words:
New Year’s Eve
Toy
Christmas Tree
Decorations
Tinsel
Freezing
Santa Claus
Stocking
gifts
17. Read about these unusual Christmas presents and
put them in order from the best to the worst
Hinweis der Redaktion
You know Dasher and Dancer And Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid And Donder and Blitzen, But do you recall The most famous reindeer of all?
