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How to Celebrate St. Nicholas Day

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By Chuck


The Original Santa Claus

Children love surprises and love Christmas. One tradition that is fun to celebrate with young children is St. Nicholas Day. St. Nicholas was the forerunner of Santa Claus and, like Santa Claus, secretly delivers gifts to good children as they sleep at night. Instead of Christmas Eve, St. Nicholas delivers his gifts on the night of December 5th which is the eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas or St. Nicholas Day which is December 6th. Also, instead of a sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer, he travels on a horse.

It was the Dutch who brought the celebration of St. Nicholas Day to America. During the early days of the settlement of North America, the Dutch founded the colony of New Amsterdam at the mouth of the Hudson River where New York City stands today. In fact New York City began as the Dutch city of New Amsterdam. The Dutch name for St. Nicholas was Sinterklaas which morphed into Santa Claus. While in some countries St. Nicholas brings presents on Christmas Eve, in other countries, including Holland, he brings presents on the eve of his feast day. It was the 1822 poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clark Moore, that established the time of St. Nicholas' annual visit as being Christmas Eve in America. Moore is also responsible for changing St. Nicholas' mode of transportation from a horse to a sleigh drawn by eight tiny reindeer. It wasn't too many years after the publication of A Visit from St. Nicholas that St. Nicholas evolved into the Santa Claus that we all know and love today.

However, St. Nicholas Day falls right within the Christmas season and, for people with young children, it can be celebrated as a part of the Christmas festivities for the children. A visit from St. Nicholas on his horse during the night a couple of weeks before Christmas can give the children a taste of the big visit from Santa Claus that will be coming soon as well as a little break from the stress and excitement of waiting for the big day. It will also add to the mystery and magic of the season for the children.

The celebration is simple and easy and is mainly for the children. You start by telling them the story of St. Nicholas and his kind acts – just click on the tag St Nicholas on this hub and you will be taken to other hubs of mine about St. Nicholas. I have also included links to other St. Nicholas sites on the Internet. On the evening of December 5th have the children place one of their shoes outside of their bedroom or hang their Christmas stocking on their bedroom door or other place. They can also leave a carrot or apple in the shoe for St. Nick's horse (and maybe a cookie or two for St. Nick himself). After they are asleep, place a few pieces of candy, a simple little toy or trinket (something small like you get with a McDonald's Happy Meal), a gift certificate to their favorite fast food establishment, or similar little gift. This is not a big gift giving event. Keep it simple with the idea of simply adding a little extra cheer to the holiday season or breaking the daily routine in anticipation of Christmas. You don't want anything too elaborate because, more than likely December 6th will be a school day so you don't want to delay them with elaborate gifts or celebrating. The fun is in keeping it simple, but still a small and festive break in the daily routine. Look upon this as being a little bigger than a visit from the tooth fairy, but not a major event or production.

 



How to Celebrate St. Nicholas Day in the News

  • St. Lucie Community Calendar, updated July 9TCPalm.com18 hours ago

    A comprehensive look at upcoming events in St. Lucie County.

  • St. Lucie Community Calendar, updated July 8TCPalm.com2 days ago

    A comprehensive look at coming events in St. Lucie County.

  • Auction of promises at Combe schoolThis is West Country24 hours ago

    COMBE St Nicholas Primary School is holding an auction of promises, including tea at the House of Commons, and collections of stamps and coins, today (Thursday).

  • 25 Golfers Even Par Or Better On Day OneWRBL Columbus6 hours ago

    COLUMBUS, Ga. - Michael Green of Augusta carded a pair of 33s for a 5-under-par 66 and a one-stroke lead over past champion David Noll Jr. of Dalton in the opening round of the 88th annual Georgia Amateur Championship, taking place at Country Club of Columbus, July 9-12.

  • Calendar, Thursday, July 9, 2009The Register-Herald30 hours ago

    Hospitality Training, 6 to 8 p.m., Job Readiness, speaker, Danny McDonnell, Sophia’s Town Hall. Meadow River Watershed Association Community meeting, 6 p.m., Wellspring of Greenbrier, Inc., 601 Nicholas St., Rupert.

  • Nicholas Pagnini: Grocery store owner, fire chief, coach was 'unofficial mayor' of FeltonSanta Cruz Sentinel3 days ago

    Nick Pagnini always had a lot on his plate, but to him, everything was too delicious to pass up. Grocery store owner, fire chief, high school football coach, mentor, hero, husband and father Nicholas Roy Pagnini died June 6 after an eight-year battle with cancer.

  • NSF arrested for rash actStraits Times8 hours ago

    A 19-YEAR-OLD full-time National Serviceman has been arrested in connection with the death of Second Lieutenant Nicholas Chan Wei Kit. The 21-year-old motor transport officer was pinned under a Land Rover after it rolled backwards and hit him while he was inspecting it at Seletar Camp last Friday.

  • The Herts AdvertiserHerts Advertiser13 hours ago

    SECRECY surrounds a plan to extend a secondary school's sporting facilities. Anxious residents living near Nicholas Breakspear School in Colney Heath Lane were due to meet staff last night to discuss the plans at an "informal" meeting.

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