- Jean McHugh, head teacher, Greenfields Children's Centre, Southall, London
'Ours is a multicultural setting and Christmas is about including everybody. Christians make up a minority 3 to 4 per cent of our community, while Muslims account for 55 per cent. For us Christmas is a time of festivals, and as part of the celebrations we visit our local mosque, gurdawa and mandira (Muslim, Sikh and Hindu temples respectively).
'In January we also pay a visit to the Catholic Church before the crib is taken away. And Christmas wouldn't be complete without a Christmas tree and a visit from Father Christmas.
'One of the ways in which we bring faiths together is to hold an international evening in December, where each family brings in their own culture's food. We also do this in the summer.
'The centre serves an open community which is tolerant and respectful of each other's faiths. Christmas is an important time to promote different faiths and also embrace those who have no faith.'
- Tracy Hall, senior room leader, Wishing Tree Children's Nursery, Brighton, East Sussex
'We're holding our Christmas play outside this year, so we're all hoping that it will be dry. It was really a decision based on space, because we wanted all the children and parents to join in together and we don't have a big enough area indoors. But it will also be a lovely natural setting and nice and wintry. We'll have to wrap up warm.'
- Fiona Kirby, head teacher, Warrington Road Nursery School, Cheshire
'Our new building will be a year old at the beginning of December, and as we have an incredible entrance with a mezzanine area, we can go to town with a tall Christmas tree. We will get the ladder out to decorate it and the children will help.
'Our nursery is twinned with a kindergarten in China, so we will be exchanging Christmas decorations with them as we have in previous years.
'Our Christmas party is fairly low key. Parents get involved with helping us prepare for it, and the children have fun dancing and singing songs.
'The days of forcing children to make paper chains and fairies are long gone. They all make their own paper hats, but we let them get on with decorating them with their own designs.'
- Judith and Robin Dalby, childminders, Bradford, West Yorkshire
'We like Christmas to be a sensory time. The children grow lavender in the garden over the summer. We cut it in the autumn and then make lavender bags for Christmas. There are also the smells and tastes of cooking, burning scented oils and incense, having lights and candles, listening to all types of Christmas music, and using lots of exciting glittery collage materials.
'This year we are expanding on an idea we started last year - a Christmas 'singing bag' with props for various songs. We are also going to introduce a theme of shapes, like triangular trees, circular baubles, puddings and snowmen, and square parcels.'
- Tim Neville, family learning manager for the Lewisham Pre-School Learning Alliance sub-committee
'Our celebrations reflect different faiths without emphasising any particular one. We have a range of events rolling out, including a visit to Drusilla's animal park, Christmas cooking workshops, museum visits and follow-up craft activities, as well as all the usual Christmas activities.
'Our fathers' project has gone from strength to strength in the past year and there will be storytelling in a giant tepee, which the dads acquired as part of their recent outdoors project. There will also be a dads' and children's party and in order to avoid a post-Christmas anti-climax, this will be followed by a theatre visit in January.
'Many children and families will be involved in these festivities and we are aiming to make them as open and accessible as possible.'
- Julie Marshall, nursery teacher, Chatham Place Nursery School, Liverpool
'We start planning Christmas activities by looking at the children's backgrounds and how they celebrate in their homelands, because we have children from a variety of nationalities. We also ask the parents for their input.
'We do quite a bit around Christmas on the lead-up to it, about three weeks before, but we're not obsessive. We include seasonal resources, such as providing small toys to wrap up in the writing area so the children can explore wrapping parcels and putting labels on if they choose. We also provide brochures and catalogues of toys so that children can cut and paste them. This is especially good for children with English as a second language. It's not a writing exercise but an opportunity to chat about popular culture toys.
'Adult-led activities will probably include taking small groups of children on walks to look at the Christmas lights and making mini Christmas cakes. We ask parents to bring in small baked bean cans, which act as cake tins to bake the simple mixture in. The children decorate the cakes themselves.
'We introduce the nativity story by talking about the children's birthdays; it's something they can all relate to. Then we link it in with baby Jesus' birthday.
'We enjoy Christmas and make sure that it doesn't become a production line, but it can feel chaotic at times, so we do not overdo it or plan too much. It's lovely to put the Father Christmas suits in the dressing-up areas. It's still magical.'
