Here in the Days Out With Kids office we’ve been talking about our own personal Christmas traditions, so for a bit of fun we researched unusual traditions from around the world. They are so fab we just had to share some of them with you…
- In Japan, “Santa Kurohsu” has eyes in the back of his head, so that he can watch out for naughty children. There we were thinking it was just us Mums with eyes in the back of our heads!
- On December 5th, German children leave a shoe outside their bedroom door before they go to sleep. If they have been good, they will wake up to a tree branch with sweets on but if they have been naughty they will only find a branch!
- Norwegians hide brooms before they go to sleep on Christmas Eve as they believe that witches and evil spirits will arrive.
- In the capital of Venezuela, Caracas, people travel to Christmas church services on roller skates – how cool is that!
- In Portugal, ahead of their Christmas feast, families sometimes set extra places at the dinner table for deceased relatives, as they believe it will bring good fortune.
- Christmas cuisine in Greenland is raw whale skin with blubber on…pass me the sprouts!
- Japanese Christmas cake is made using sponge, strawberries and whipped cream – can we have this version too please? 😉
- As well as the standard decoration, Ukrainian Christmas trees also have a spider and web on their trees as it’s believed to bring good luck! Eeeeekk!
- A witch called La Befana gives out Christmas presents in Italy!
- And finally, a tradition here in Britain is to go for a Christmas swim…in freezing water! Brave Londoners jump into the Serpentine, and many of us head to beaches such as Bournemouth and Brighton on Christmas morning to raise money for charity.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about these wonderful traditions!
Merry Christmas!
