Christmas Around the World Worksheet Download

Look at all the twinkly lights at a Christmas market in Germany! Little wooden stalls sell toys and sweet treats. The air is cold and the treats are warm.

Not every Christmas feels chilly, though! In Australia December is summertime. Some families spend Christmas Day at the beach.

In Sweden the December sun goes to bed early. On St. Lucia Day a child may wear a crown of candles. One holiday can look like snow or sand or candlelight!

Can you have Christmas at the beach, with sun and sand? In Australia, you can, because December there is summer! Many families swim, play games, and share a big picnic lunch.

A picnic would feel chilly in Germany in December! Towns set up Christmas markets, which are little outdoor shops with treats. Some markets are hundreds of years old, with cookies to buy!

Old customs are loved in Mexico too, like Las Posadas. For nine nights before Christmas, neighbors sing songs and hold parties. So Christmas can mean a beach picnic or nine nights of songs!

Wow, in some countries people eat Christmas lunch on the beach! Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, and each place adds customs, or special ways to celebrate. That happens in Australia, where December is summer and the sun is hot.

Far from Australia's beaches, Germany has cold air and Christmas markets full of yummy smells. A Christmas market is a row of wooden stands selling gingerbread, toys, and ornaments. Some markets are hundreds of years old, much older than electric lights.

Even with electric lights, Mexican neighbors carry candles and sing for nine nights, called Las Posadas. Posada means inn, where travelers sleep, and the songs tell of Mary and Joseph seeking a room. At the end, children often swing at a piñata full of candy!

Sweden has sweet treats too, like saffron buns eaten on St. Lucia Day, December 13. A child in a white robe may wear a crown of candles, or tiny battery lights. So depending on where you are, Christmas might mean sunburn, snow, or a crown of light!

Imagine you are walking through a German Christmas market on a snowy evening. Tiny lights glow above wooden stalls, and the air smells of gingerbread and roasted almonds. Markets like this have been held in Germany for hundreds of years!

If snow sounds too chilly, pack your swimsuit, because Christmas in Australia comes in summer! Why is that? Australia is south of the equator, so its seasons are opposite to Germany's. Many families spend the day at the beach or cooking a barbecue outdoors.

Sharing food is part of the fun in Mexico, where Las Posadas fills the nine nights before Christmas. It begins on December 16, and neighbors walk the streets each night, singing songs. They act out Mary and Joseph searching for a place to stay, a story Christians remember as part of the birth of Jesus. The word posada means "inn," a place where travelers rest, and each night ends with a party.

Treats fall from a piñata in Mexico, but in Sweden the treat is a saffron bun on St. Lucia Day, December 13. On that dark winter morning, a child in a white gown may wear a crown of candles. Sweden also makes Christmas straw goats, and some American families hide a glass pickle in the tree. Imagine that: in one December, people can shiver in Germany's snow, splash in Australia's sun, and glow with candles in Mexico and Sweden!

It is a December evening in a Mexican town, and neighbors walk down the street with candles flickering like tiny stars. At a front door, children sing and ask for a place to stay, and the people inside sing back! This is Las Posadas, a nine-night celebration from December 16 to 24 that remembers Mary and Joseph's search for shelter in Bethlehem, and posada is Spanish for "inn." Afterward, the party often moves outside to crack open a piñata full of treats.

Treats star in Germany too, where Christmas markets fill town squares with the smell of gingerbread and roasted almonds. Shoppers wander between wooden stalls selling candles, ornaments, and stollen, a sweet bread packed with dried fruit. Dresden's Striezelmarkt was first held in 1434, so people have been shopping there for nearly 600 years of long, cold winter evenings!

Winter evenings get even darker in Sweden, where Stockholm gets only about six hours of daylight in late December, so St. Lucia Day is a festival of light. On December 13, a girl in a white gown and red sash leads a procession, or singing parade, wearing a crown of candles that are often battery-powered today. The day honors Lucia, a young Christian woman from Italy who lived more than 1,700 years ago.

Sweden has a second, very different Christmas favorite, and it is made of straw: the Yule goat. In the city of Gävle, a giant straw goat about 13 meters (over 40 feet) tall has been built every December since 1966. Far away, some families hide a glass pickle ornament in the tree, and nobody is sure where that custom began.

Whether a tree hides a pickle or just glitters with lights, in Australia it often stands under a hot summer sun. In the Southern Hemisphere, the half of Earth south of the equator, December is summer, so many families head to the beach or a backyard barbecue. So the very same holiday can bring snowy market stalls in Germany and sandy toes in Australia!

Here is a puzzle: how can one holiday include a glass pickle, a candle crown, a piñata, and a beach barbecue? Christians celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus, and many other families enjoy it as a cultural holiday. As it traveled, people added their own foods, songs, and stories. The clues are hiding in weather, history, and favorite treats, and the first is a chilly one in Germany.

Chilly December evenings in Germany lead straight to Christmas markets, where rows of wooden stalls glow with lights. You can smell gingerbread and roasted almonds, sip hot cocoa, and shop for carved wooden ornaments. Dresden's Striezelmarkt, one of the oldest, dates to 1434, about sixty years before Columbus crossed the Atlantic. Some families in the United States also hide a glass pickle in the tree, and the first person to spot it may win a prize, though nobody knows how the game began.

Finding a hidden pickle takes sharp eyes, but in Sweden's short, dark December days, people search for light. St. Lucia Day honors a young woman remembered for her kindness, and her name is linked to the Latin word for light. Swedes bake saffron buns for the day, and the town of Gävle has built a giant straw Yule goat, taller than most houses, every December since 1966. On December 13, a girl in a white gown leads a singing parade wearing a crown of candles, usually battery-powered today.

Candlelit processions also glow in Mexico, where Las Posadas begins on December 16 and lasts nine nights. Neighbors walk from house to house, singing about how Mary and Joseph searched for a place to stay before Jesus was born. The word posada means "inn" in Spanish, and at each stop the singers ask for shelter until one house welcomes them in. Then the party begins with warm food and a piñata, a decorated container of candy that children take turns cracking open with a stick.

All that stick-swinging could make you sweat, but in Australia the heat is part of the plan, since December falls in summer. Australia lies south of the equator, so its seasons are opposite from those in Germany and Sweden. Many families celebrate outdoors with picnics, seafood, or barbecues, and some spend the day at a beach such as Bondi in Sydney. On the very same December 25, one family may sip cocoa near a snowy German market while another splashes in the Australian surf.

If you picture Christmas as snowy rooftops, a sparkling fir tree, and a mug of cocoa, you're in good company, but you're seeing only one square of a much bigger quilt! Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus in late December, and many other families enjoy the season as a cultural celebration, yet every region stitches in its own colors. Some squares smell like cinnamon and roasted almonds, while others smell like sunscreen and backyard barbecue. Some glow with candlelight, and one even hides a glass pickle. Grab your imaginary passport and follow the stitches!

Our first stitch leads to Germany, where winter evenings glow at Christmas markets, rows of little wooden stalls strung with lights. Visitors sip warm spiced drinks and nibble gingerbread, and records show a market in Dresden as early as 1434, long before the United States existed. Now flip the mood and fly south to Australia, where December falls in the middle of summer. Because Australia lies in the Southern Hemisphere, families often swap snow boots for sandals and spend Christmas Day at the beach or a barbecue. Same holiday, opposite seasons, and both feel festive to the people who love them.

Seasons aren't the only thing that changes the mood; in Mexico, the party travels door to door. During Las Posadas, held for nine nights from December 16 to 24, neighbors remember Mary and Joseph searching for a room in Bethlehem. Carrying candles, the group sings at each doorway, and the night ends with food and a piñata. Far to the north, Sweden answers the dark winter with St. Lucia Day on December 13, when Stockholm sees only about six hours of daylight. A child in a white gown and a crown of candles, often battery-powered today, leads a singing parade honoring Lucia, remembered for her kindness.

Sweden also loves a good symbol, and one of its favorites is a goat made of straw. The Yule goat is an old Scandinavian figure, and since 1966 the city of Gävle has built a giant straw one each Advent, often taller than a house. Some families hide a glass pickle in the tree, and whoever spots it first may win a small prize, though nobody is sure where that custom began. Then there is dinner: Polish families often gather on Christmas Eve, once the first star appears, for a meatless meal of twelve dishes.

Those shared meals hint at why customs like these still matter today. In a world where a video call crosses an ocean in seconds, traditions like these tie families to their neighborhoods and to generations before them. I think learning about them is like tasting a new dish: you can keep your favorite and still enjoy a bite of someone else's. After all, families light candles when Stockholm has only about six hours of daylight, and head to the beach when Australia basks in summer sun; both are making December feel like home.

Picture a Christmas market that is older than the United States by more than three centuries. In Dresden, Germany, the Striezelmarkt has been held since 1434, and today its wooden stalls glow with candlelight and smell of gingerbread and warm spiced drinks. Its name comes from Striezel, an old local word for a fruit-filled Christmas bread that is now better known as stollen. Markets like this one spread across Germany and then around the world, proving that a good idea can travel as easily as a good smell.

Now hand a steaming mug of hot chocolate to someone in Sydney in December, and they might laugh, because Christmas there arrives in the middle of summer. British settlers who began arriving in Australia in 1788 brought customs from a cold climate, including songs about snow and pictures of holly and sleighs. Over time, Australians kept the songs but changed the scenery, heading to beaches such as Bondi for swims, picnics, and seafood barbecues. That clash between wintry decorations and blazing sun shows how a tradition can bend to fit a new place without losing its heart.

Another tradition that bent to fit a new place is Las Posadas in Mexico, where the celebration begins with a knock on the door. For nine nights, from December 16 to 24, neighbors walk in a procession that re-creates Mary and Joseph's search for shelter before the birth of Jesus, which Christians celebrate at Christmas. Groups sing outside each house, the people inside sing back, and at last the door swings open to welcome everyone in. Historians often connect the custom to Spanish missionaries in the 1500s, who used processions and plays to share the Christmas story.

Leave that cozy Mexican night behind and jump to a Swedish morning so dark that candles are a necessity, because December 13 belongs to St. Lucia. Lucia was a young woman from Syracuse, in Sicily, who lived about 1,700 years ago, and Christians remember her as a saint whose name is linked to lux, the Latin word for light. That meaning suits Sweden, where Stockholm gets only about six hours of daylight around the winter solstice. In the Lucia procession, a girl in a long white gown leads singers while wearing a crown of candles, and everyone shares saffron buns called lussekatter. Because real flames worry many schools, battery-powered candles, a modern invention, often light the parade today.

Candles are not Sweden's only Christmas star: in the city of Gävle, a giant Yule goat made of straw stands guard every Advent. The first one, built in 1966, stood about 13 meters (43 feet) tall, roughly as high as a four-story building, and the town has rebuilt a goat nearly every year since. In the United States, some families hide a glass pickle ornament deep in the tree, and the first child to spot it may win an extra gift or a year of good luck. Many call the custom German, but the evidence is thin, and some historians suspect clever advertising helped the story spread.

The pickle's past may be a mystery, but one thing is certain: nearly every Christmas tradition makes room for a special meal. In Poland, the Christmas Eve supper, called Wigilia, traditionally includes twelve meatless dishes. In the Philippines, families gather for Noche Buena, a late-night feast that follows Christmas Eve Mass. Add Australian seafood and Mexican tamales, and one holiday table becomes a world tour. Christmas can be a market older than the United States in one place and a beach party in swimsuits in another, which shows that traditions grow wherever people plant them.

One December evening in the late 1930s, Melbourne radio announcer Norman Banks glanced through a window and saw a woman sitting alone, listening to carols by candlelight. The sight stayed with him. Soon, thousands of people gathered in a Melbourne park on Christmas Eve, candles in hand, to sing together. Picture it: warm evening air, flickering flames, and songs about winter snow while the calendar says summer. That odd mix hints at a bigger idea, because Christmas customs are shaped by climate, by history, and by the stories people carry when they travel.

Climate is the easiest of those forces to spot, and Australia shows it well, because the Southern Hemisphere's seasons are opposite to those in the north, so Christmas arrives at the start of summer. Many families enjoy seafood or barbecues, and crowds head to beaches such as Bondi, near Sydney, on Christmas Day. Yet the holiday did not begin in the heat, since British settlers brought customs from a cold climate, including roast dinners, holly, and cards showing snowy villages. Can you imagine sweating in shorts while a card on the mantel shows a snowman? In Australia, that scene is perfectly normal.

Those snowy card scenes make perfect sense in Germany, where December air nips your nose and wooden stalls glow with strings of lights. At a German Christmas market, you can buy gingerbread called Lebkuchen, roasted almonds, and carved ornaments. Dresden's Striezelmarkt, named for an old local word for a sweet, fruit-filled loaf, is often described as one of Germany's oldest, with records reaching back to 1434. Many historians think such markets grew from ordinary winter markets, where townspeople stocked up on supplies before the coldest months, and that Christmas gradually became the main theme. Notice the contrast: in Australia, weather reshaped the celebration, while in Germany, a practical habit of trading took on festive meaning.

A market invites people to come to one place, but Las Posadas in Mexico sends them out into the streets. For nine nights, from December 16 to Christmas Eve, neighbors walk from house to house, re-enacting Mary and Joseph's search for shelter before the birth of Jesus, an event Christians remember at Christmas. The Spanish word posada means inn, and at each door the visitors sing a request for lodging while the people inside sing a reply, until one home welcomes everyone in. Then the party begins, with children swinging at piñatas and families sharing tamales. Why nine nights? Some people say the number echoes the months before a baby's birth, and the custom is often traced to Spanish missionaries in the 1500s, though historians debate the details.

Debate about origins follows St. Lucia Day in Sweden, too, but its most famous sight is easy to picture: light in the darkest season. On December 13, a girl in a white gown and red sash, wearing a crown of candles that are often battery-powered today, leads a singing procession. According to tradition, Lucia was a Christian woman from Sicily who lived about 1,700 years ago, and her name is linked to lux, the Latin word for light. Some explanations add that before a calendar reform, December 13 fell close to the shortest day of the year, which would make a festival of light especially fitting. Historians disagree about how much comes from Christian tradition and how much from older winter customs, so the celebration may combine both.

Sweden offers another tradition where old and new mingle, and this one towers taller than a three-story building: the Gävle Goat. Small straw goats have long decorated Scandinavian Christmases, but since 1966 the town of Gävle has raised a giant one each holiday season, and it has been burned or damaged many times despite fences and guards. The Christmas pickle, a glass ornament hidden in the tree so the first person to spot it gets good luck or an extra gift, is often called a German tradition. Yet many Germans say they have never heard of it, and the popular story of a Bavarian-born soldier in America has never been backed by solid evidence. A tradition does not have to be ancient to matter, though: one glimpse of a candlelit window in 1930s Melbourne started a custom that still gathers crowds.