Advent Tradition Series: Saint Nicholas Day and the Heart of Giving
Besides Christmas Day, there are two other days in December that our family has incorporated into our advent activities: Saint Nicholas Day (December 6) and Saint Lucy Day (December 13).
Today, I am sharing what we do for Saint Nicholas Day!
Why We Celebrate Saint Nicholas Day
My hubs and I didn’t grow up celebrating Saint Nicholas Day. We grew up like most other kids, believing in the jolly plump man, donning a red-and-white suit, who gives good boys and girls presents on Christmas morning.
But when we came to faith in Jesus, we made a decision early on that we wouldn’t raise our kids with Santa (or the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy). I don’t need to make a defense for our specific reasons why here, but I will say that as we continued to grow as Christians, we also developed personal convictions about how to celebrate certain holidays as a family with integrity and intentionality. That, at least for us, meant not doing Santa.
The challenge that we faced as young parents was that we were raising kids in a culture where Santa has become the apex of Christmas.
And so, we chose to teach about why we even have him around in the first place and why his presence permeates our culture during the holidays every year.
Therefore, every December 6th (traditionally believed to be the day of his death), we go back to the history and legends surrounding Nikolaos aka Nicholas, the God-loving Greek bishop who served in Myra during the Roman Empire, that our modern-day Santa originated from.
We Don’t Give Gifts to Our Kids on Christmas Day
I know, sounds mean.
One of the traditions we have created for our own family is that Christmas Day has been set aside solely for celebrating Jesus’ birthday. We didn’t want to distract from that idea by having them open up things meant for them (don’t worry, they still get presents, just not on Christmas Day!). Basically, December 25th is the day we “throw Jesus a party” and “give Him his gifts” (I will share in another post the specifics of what we do that day).
Instead, Saint Nicholas Day is when we present our kiddos with their gifts from my hubs and I, as well as from their siblings (all other presents they receive from extended family and friends, they get to open on Christmas Eve, simply because most of those items do not arrive until then).
How We Celebrate Saint Nicholas Day
Food, Of Course!
There is usually a special breakfast to start our day. In the past, I’ve served up:
- Pancakes shaped like Santa
- Santa hat kabobs (a slice of banana, topped with a whole strawberry, topped with a mini marshmallow)
- A sweet bread treat, like cinnamon rolls or coffee cake, served on a Santa themed plate
A quick search on Pinterest will give you a whole slew of ideas.
Learn About the History and Legends Surrounding Saint Nicholas/Santa Claus
These websites are what I have used to teach more about the real person behind the iconic Christmas character:
- WhyChristmas.com has so much information about Christmas overall, from traditions to symbols to who Saint Nicholas was and how he morphed into Santa Claus.
- StNicholasCenter.org is wholly dedicated to all things Saint Nicholas.
Read Favorite Christmas Books about Saint Nicholas/Santa/Gift-Giving
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After we recount the history of Nicholas and how his life inspired the idea of gift-giving during Christmas, we’ll read from our favorite Santa Claus/gift-giving themed books:
My Christmas Gift and My Christmas Stocking by Crystal Bowman. These rhyming boards books are great for really young, preschool-aged kids (1-5).
Kids in preschool/early elementary (3-7) will also enjoy the poem-story and illustrations in Saint Nicholas the Gift Giver by Ned Bustard. Creative license is used to explain how Saint Nicholas morphed into Santa Claus. But personally feel that as long as we teach truth first and foremost, imaginative storytelling can provide opportunities to dialogue about what is truth and what is fiction.
Of course, the classic The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore. Even though we don’t “do Santa”, we certainly can appreciate beautiful, imaginative literature created about him. We’ve read Of the different editions of this tale that we’ve read, this is the one with our favorite illustrations.
J.R.R. Tolkein’s Letters from Father Christmas is a collection of letters that the famous author’s children would receive every December from Father Christmas about the adventure-filled life at the North Pole. Utterly delightful … full of imagination and wonder!
Open Up Stockings and Gifts
After learning and reading, the kids get to open up their stockings (yup, no stockings on Christmas morning, either). Their stockings usually have little things in them like Santa shaped chocolates, socks, fun band-aids, other small practical items they can use, gift cards, etc. (we usually avoid cheap, throw-away items). Traditionally, families have their children put out their boots to be filled with treats and gifts.
Besides opening up their stockings and gifts from us parents, they also open up presents from each other. We’ve always emphasized the giving part of presents during the holidays (while simulataneously trying to minimize the receiving part), and encouraged our kids early on to think primarily about gifts each of their siblings would enjoy and be blessed by.
As young as preschool age, we would take each of them to the store to specifically pick out something simple and inexpensive (a candy bar or a small toy/activity) for their siblings. During this outing, they were not allowed to pick out anything themselves; it was solely an exercise in being able to focus on gifting to others … which can actually be really difficult for young kiddos, especially when you are walking down aisles with things you would like for yourself!
As they grew, and had their own money to spend, we taught them to make their own Christmas budgets for their gift-giving (which expanded to friends and even charitable causes that arise throughout the season). This practice is now a habit each my kids possess and take full ownership of, and it is fun every year to observe them thoughtfully budget, plan, and purchase what gift(s) they feel will bless their siblings that Christmas.
Connection Activities
Every year, we also do some sort of connection activity. Here are just a few ideas for carrying on the gift-giving/love-sharing legacy of Saint Nicholas with your kiddos:
- Have each of your children make or pick out a present for each of their siblings (this is one of the highlights of my own kids’ Christmas).
- Go around town leaving “Random Acts of Kindness” notes with coins at laundromats, or dollars at the dollar store, or candy canes, etc. on shelves of stores you visit, for others to find.
- Bake and bring cookies to neighbors or community service members.
- Bring toiletry/food items to your local homeless shelter or food pantry.
- Bring a hot cocoa (or gift card for hot cocoa) to the red kettle bell ringer at the grocery store.
Obviously, there are dozens of ways to do this, but these are just a few to get you started!
Movie Ideas for Saint Nicholas Day
Movies are a huge – and fun! – part of our family’s learning. These are Santa-themed movies our family has enjoyed over the years, that you can add to your Saint Nicholas Day festivities:
- Miracle on 34th Street
- Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch
- The Santa Clause 1, 2, 3
- Elf
Why I Love this Tradition as a Mom
I personally love doing it this way as a mom, because since Saint Nicholas Day is during the early part of the month, we get the idea of receiving something desired out of the way. Let’s face it, as much as we can try to teach our kids about the heart of giving, our human nature compels us to think often of our own selves and what we can get or what we can do for our own pleasure. And kids are especially great at this, LOL.
Once Saint Nicholas Day is over, it is easier, practically speaking, for our family to double down on hearts focused on others, because the receiving of an underserved gift they have been longing for has already been satisfied (our gift-giving philosophy is that we give generously to our kids – like our Father gives generously to us – things they have been personally eyeing and that we know will bless them; we don’t buy just to buy or to have something to wrap and present to them).
The rest of the month, we celebrate the spirit of Christmas by focusing on what we can do for others, both with our time and our finances.
I know that we celebrate Saint Nicholas Day (and even Christmas Day) differently than tradition holds! But it has been a way for our own family to still honor the idea of giving to each other (just as God gave us Jesus), while trying to fight against the elevated cultural norm and practice that Christmas is primarily about presents.
Do you celebrate Saint Nicholas Day? If so, I’d love to hear how you do … it’s always fun for us to try new things each year on this day!