Enabling Environments: Let's explore... Santa Claus

Young children's excitement about Christmas will be reaching fever pitch soon as they wonder about what presents they will receive, but Santa Claus and the story of Saint Nicholas provide a useful reminder about the value of giving.

A TIME FOR GIVING

Use the story of Saint Nicholas as a springboard to talk about the spirit of giving at Christmas.

The story of Saint Nicholas

Many years ago, there was a kind man called Nicholas. He lived in the city of Myra in Turkey where there were many poor people who struggled to find enough money to buy food and clothing to keep healthy, safe and warm.

One day when Nicholas was walking through the city streets, he came across three sisters who sat crying at the side of the road. In those days, when a girl married, her family was expected to pay for the wedding. This family had no money and so the girls' weddings had been cancelled. In fact, the parents were so poor that they could no longer afford to have the girls living at home and so they were going to end up living on the streets.

Nicholas decided he had to help. He had no money himself but he appealed to the rich people of the city to donate as much as they could. That night, he visited the home of the three sisters and sneaked in while the family was asleep. Inside, he found three socks hanging to dry in front of the fire. He divided up the gold he had collected and shared it between the three socks. Then he crept out of the house and went home to bed.

In the morning the girls awoke to find the gold hanging in their socks in front of the fire. They rejoiced. All three could now get married and there was enough left over for them to share with their parents too. The girls never knew who had helped them.

For years after, Nicholas continued to help people in secret. Even when Nicholas was discovered, he asked people not to tell anyone his secret. Eventually, he became a bishop and in time, a saint. We call him Santa Claus, the Dutch name for Saint Nicholas, and if we are lucky he brings us a present on Christmas Eve.

Adult role

- Share the story of Saint Nicholas with the children and talk about giving at Christmas. What are the children expecting to receive this Christmas? What are the children planning on giving?

- Explain that not everyone will receive a lot of gifts at Christmas because some people do not have as much money as others. Talk about the value of presents and help the children to consider the meaning behind giving. Does it matter how many presents we receive or how much they cost? Does it mean more to make a present or a card?

- Ask the children if they have any experience of shopping in charity shops. Have the children ever been with their parents to donate goods to a charity?

- Write to parents and ask for toy donations. Ask them to involve their children in choosing a toy that they no longer play with.

- Involve the children in putting some toy parcels together to donate to local charities or take the children to a charity shop to donate their toys in person.

Learning opportunities

PSED: Shows sensitivity to others' needs and feelings.

CL: Is able to follow a story without pictures or props.

UW: Remembers and talks about significant events in their own experience.

SANTA STYLE

Show the children how images of Santa Claus have changed over time.

Adult role

- Do an internet image search of Santa Claus over the past 100 years or so. Collate the images and stick them on a large timeline for the children to look at and compare. Add significant events to the timeline to help the children gain some understanding of the passing of time - for example, the decades when their parents and grandparents were likely born.

- Show the images to the children. Draw their attention to the style and colour of Santa's clothing. Talk about how clothing and styles have changed over time.

- Challenge the children to design a new uniform for Santa. Provide a range of fabrics in a variety of colours for them to choose from. Help the children to draw out their design then add their chosen fabric samples.

- Extend the activity by asking the children to consider Santa's mode of transport. Can they think of anything quicker and more efficient than reindeer? Can they design a new vehicle that is big enough to carry all the presents?

Learning opportunities

UW: Develops an understanding of changes over time.

CL: Uses talk to organise and clarify thinking and ideas.

EAD: Explores a variety of fabrics, experimenting with colour and design.

SONGS, RHYMES, GAMES

When Santa got stuck up the chimney

When Santa got stuck up the chimney

He began to shout,

You girls and boys won't get any toys

If you don't pull me out.

My beard is black

There's soot in my sack

My nose is tickling too.

When Santa got stuck up the chimney

Achoo, achoo, achoo!

Under Santa's hat

Use a large Santa hat to play this game with up to ten children.

- Sit the children in a circle.

- Take one child at a time out of sight of the others and give them a lightweight object small enough to hide under the hat. Tell them to take a good look at the object then put it on their head and put the Santa hat over the top.

- Take the child to rejoin the circle and ask them to give the other children a clue as to what is under the hat without actually saying what it is. Help the child by asking them prompt questions such as 'What colour is the object?', 'What is it used for?' and 'Where is it usually kept?'

- Invite the other children to guess what the object is.

- When the object is revealed, pass the hat to the next child and repeat.

Play an alternative version of the game, called Inside Santa's sack, where children can guess the identity of an object hidden inside a bag by feeling it and asking questions.

MORE IDEAS

- Set up a Santa's workshop in the role-play area with toys, tools and costumes for Santa, his wife and the elves.

- Look at a variety of wrapping paper designs and provide craft materials for the children to make their own wrapping paper featuring festive repeating patterns.

- Download a map of the local area using Google Maps. Blow the map up and mount it on a low-level display board. Help the children to locate their homes and stick name labels onto the map.

Pretend to post the map to Santa to help him find their houses on Christmas Eve.

- Write letters to Santa.

- Make mince pies to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve.

BOOKS

- Alfie's Christmas by Shirley Hughes - Hughes brings Christmas to life with her wonderful trademark illustrations.

- Mr Christmas by Roger Hargreaves - Father Christmas enlists the help of his nephew Mr Christmas to make sure all the Mr Men get their presents on time.

- The Night Before Christmas by Clement C Moore and Eric Puybaret - beautifully illustrated classic with accompanying CD.

- Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs - comic strip-style picture story about a grumpy Santa delivering his presents on Christmas Eve. Available as an animation on DVD, too.

- Topsy and Tim Meet Father Christmas by Jean Adamson - the twins go to the garden centre to buy a tree and visit Santa in his grotto.

- Mrs Christmas by Penny Ives - Mrs Christmas comes to the rescue when Santa and his reindeer are too ill to deliver the presents.

- The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg - the Jolly Postman stops off and has a cup of tea with Santa.

RESOURCES

A time for giving: letter to parents, boxes for packing toys, and information about local charity collections or events.

Santa style: pictures of Santa Claus over time, fabric samples in different colours, styles and textures, glue, white card, pencils, scissors.

Marianne Sargent is a writer specialising in early years education and a former foundation stage teacher and primary and early years lecturer

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