A Journey Through Christmas past
Exploring how Christmas has been celebrated over the years
by Hannah Taylor
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To consider how the Christmas traditions have changed over time.
Preparation and materials
• You will need the YouTube clip ‘What Christmas traditions did the Victorians Start? Victorian Christmas for Kids’ and the means to display it. This can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrMYL_IkrK4
Assembly
- Did you know that the Christmas traditions we have now, are very different to how they were celebrated hundreds or even thousands of years ago?
- The Romans
The Roman calendar contained lots of holidays in honour of their Gods, including the holiday of Saturnalia.
Saturnalia was held on the 17th December in honour of Saturn, the chief deity in ancient Rome. The celebration lasted for 4 days, and included masters and their servants swapping roles, so the servants would be served by their master instead. There were public feasts and gifts were exchanged. - The Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve, and lasted until the 6th January.
- Although gift giving at Christmas was temporarily banned by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, it was soon popular again with great feasts, gifts for rich and poor and lots of eating, drinking, dancing and singing.
- Many monarchs chose this merry day for their coronation. This included William the Conqueror, whose coronation on Christmas Day in 1066.
- Mince pies were originally baked in rectangular cases to represent the infant Jesus’ crib, and the addition of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg was meant to symbolise the gifts given by the three wise men.
- Carols were banned from Churches which led to carollers singing in the streets and knocking on neighbours’ doors.
- Great lords provided hospitality and charity to their servants, tenants and the poor. Players and musicians provided entertainment in the great halls, which became places of hospitality. Gifts were also exchanged on the 1st January. - The Tudors
- During the time of Henry VIII there were many fun traditions. On the twelfth night a cake was baked with a bean inside, whoever found the bean in their slice, became the King of the Bean. This meant that they were in charge, and everyone had to copy what he did. If the 'King of the Bean' drank or danced everyone would do the same.
- Christmas was also a time for dressing up in the Tudor era. They would often dress up as Robin Hood’s men and everyone had to pretend not to recognise them.
- Feasts included a lot of sugar, that was in sweet wine and sugar banquets with models of castles, dragons, holly and edible goblets. It is known that Queen Elizabeths teeth went black from all of the sugar. - The Victorians
- A lot of the Christmas traditions we know today come from the Victorian times. Queen Victoria and Albert, with their nine children, played a big part in these changes.
- It became customary to exchange presents on Christmas Day, and children became more involved in Christmas. Victorian children's presents were usually quite simple, such as sweets, nuts or oranges, although rich children might hope for a toy such as a toy train.
- Christmas Boxes were given to servants and tradesmen on the 26th of December, which became later known as Boxing Day.
- Many other now-familiar elements of Christmas also originated in this period, including Christmas trees, printed Christmas cards, Christmas crackers, and eating turkey (instead of the traditional goose) and Christmas pudding.
- Most Victorian families went to church at Christmas, and many rich families remembered to provide Christmas charity, providing gifts or festive feasts for poorer neighbours. - It is amazing to see how Christmas has evolved over the years and been influenced by religion, monarchy and fashion.
Let’s watch this video to remind ourselves of the history of some of our traditions. Show the YouTube clip ‘What Christmas traditions did the Victorians Start? Victorian Christmas for Kids’. This can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrMYL_IkrK4
Time for reflection
Let's take a moment to think about our favourite Christmas traditions. What makes them special for us? Is it sharing them with those we love?
Listen to a range of suggestions.
Are there any older traditions we would like to try?
Listen to a range of responses.
Prayer
Dear God,
We thank you for everything you have done for us,
Please help us to follow in your footsteps,
Please help us to be kind to others.
Please help us to be grateful for what we have.
Amen.
Song/music
Any traditional Christmas Carol. For example:
‘Silent Night’ – This can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEH7_2c644Q
‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ – This can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tM5pwvUGMI
