Festival of Lights

Today the prekindergarten children had a visit from Mrs. Tooley... the 'Art-in-a-Suitcase' lady. She is an artist and historian who has traveled the world. She brought in her 'Festival of Lights' suitcase and shared a few Christmas customs from other countries.

The first country we learned about was Sweden. St. Lucia Day is celebrated there. The oldest daughter serves Lucia buns and wears a candle crown.

The boys are called star boys and wear cone hats and hold a star wand.

We moved on to Mexico  and learned about the celebration of Las Posadas. On the 9th night before Christmas, children get together after dark and 2 are the leaders of the procession. This symbolizes Mary and Joseph. Everyone holds a candle and walks down the street of their own neighborhood. They knock on the door of a house and reenact the story of Joseph and Mary looking for a room in Bethlehem. 'Any room at the inn?'  Each house says "no" until the last house and then they are let in. At the last house there is a pinata shaped like a star filled with treats for the children. They have this procession for each of the 9 nights before Christmas. 

There is a mountain town in New Mexico that lights up 5 miles of highway roads with luminaries on Christmas Eve symbolizing the candle procession of Las Posadas.  It takes the whole town to help with the lighting.

Next, we traveled to Israel and learned about Hanukkah which is celebrated around this time of year. It is known as the 'festival of lights' but is not the story of the birth of Jesus. 

A long time ago the light in the temple burned with oil. The Jewish people never let the light go out. One night, a bad army ruined the temple and put the light out. A brave Jewish man, named Judah the Macabee, took back the temple. The miracle happened when the tiny amount of oil that should have only lasted for 1 night, burned for 8 days without going out. Hanukkah is celebrated by lighting 8 candles on a menorah, one each night. Special foods are eaten in celebration... potato latkes... mmm!
Also, special games are played like dreidl.

Now, Mrs. Tooley told us we had to light up the darkness with our smiles:) We each drew a self-portrait with a big smile and then used a yellow oil pastel to show the shining light around our head. We framed these and will add sparkles to the frame to add even more glitz and shine. We will hang them in the hallway to light up our school during this season of light!

Be the light for others... share your smile:)