The
month of December is:
Bingo Month
Write A Friend Month
Hi Neighbor Month
The days of December are:
December 1 – Eat A Red Apple Day
World Aids Awareness Day
Rosa Parks Day
December 2 – National Fritters Day
December 3 – International Day of the Disabled Person
December 4 – Santa’s List Day
Wear Brown Shoes Day
December 5 – Walt Disney born in 1901
December 6 – St. Nicholas Day
Ira Gershwin’s Birthday in 1896
December 7 – Pearl Harbor Day
Letter Writing Day
December 8 – National Brownie Day
Ball Bearing Roller Skates Patented in 1884
December 9 – Christmas Card Day
National Pastry Day
December 10 – Human Rights Day
December 12 – Frank Sinatra’s Birthday, 1915
Poinsettia Day
December 13 – Ice Cream Day
Violin Day
National Cocoa Day
December 14 – First Miniature Golf Course Opened in 1929
South Pole Discovered in 1911
December 15 – Bill of Rights Day
National Lemon Cupcake Day
Phonograph patented in 1877 by Thomas Edison
December 16 – National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
Boston Tea Party in 1773
Beethoven born in 1770
December 17 – National Maple Syrup Day
Wright Bother’s Day first flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903
December 18 – Bake Cookies Day
December 19 – Oatmeal Muffin Day
December 20 – Go Caroling Day
Games Day
Hanukkah Begins at Sunset
December 21 – First Day of Winter
Forefather’s Day
Look On The Bright Side Day
National Flashlight Day
December 22 – National Date Nut Bread Day
December 24 – Christmas Eve
National Chocolate Day
National Egg Nog Day
December 25 – CHRISTMAS DAY
December 26 – Boxing Day
Kwanzaa begins
December 27 – Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day
National Fruitcake Day
December 28 – Card Playing Day
Chewing Gum Patented in 1869
National Chocolate Day
Hanukkah Ends at Sunset
December 29 – Bowling Ball invented in 1862
December 31 – NEW YEAR’S EVE
There are many
things you could do with these ides to have fun with your family, a
small or large group of people.
I hope you
enjoy these ideas. They could be fun to do with your family or a friend.
It doesn’t take much to get rid of the boredom of life. It is important
to do things together with others and to break out of the normal mold.
Taken from: http://familycrafts.about.com/library/spdays/bldecdayslong.htm
www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/december.htm
CHANUKAH (HANUKKAH) IN A NUTSHELL
This year Hanukkah will be celebrated from sunset December 20– sunset December 28.
Chanukah / Hanukah-- the eight-day festival of light that begins on the eve of Kislev 25 – (which is sometime in December on the Gregorian calendar) celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality.
More than twenty-one centuries ago, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who sought to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of God.
When they sought to light the Temple's menorah, they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks; miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.
To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah. At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah lighting: a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on till the eighth night of Chanukah, when all eight lights are kindled.
On Chanukah Hallel and the Al HaNissim prayer are recited to offer praise and thanksgiving to God for "delivering the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few... the wicked into the hands of the righteous."
Chanukah customs include eating foods fried in oil -- latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiot (doughnuts); playing with the dreidel (a spinning top on which are inscribed the Hebrew letters nun, gimmel, hei and shin, an acronym for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, "a great miracle happened there"); and the giving of Chanukah gelt, gifts of money, to children..
Boxing Day
When: December 26th. However, some people will celebrate it on the first weekday after Christmas. If Christmas falls on a Friday or a Saturday, Boxing Day is the following Monday.
Boxing Day is celebrated in England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and other former British commonwealth countries. It is a legal holiday in these countries. This is also St. Stephans Day, where Boxing Day gets some of it's roots. On St. Stephans' Day, churches opened their collection boxes to the poor.
Boxing Day was an expression of appreciation and thanks, much like Christmas tips are today.
The roots of the holiday goes back to the Middle Ages . On this day, members of the merchant class would take boxes, fill them with food and fruits, and give them to servants, tradespeople and the less fortunate. In the case of servants, they would work on Christmas Day, so it was only fitting that immediately after Christmas, they would be given a day off to celebrate. Usually celebrated the day after Christmas, some would celebrate the following Monday when Christmas fell on a Friday or Saturday.
Today, the giving of boxes includes filling boxes with food and clothing for the needy and performing volunteer work. Monetary gifts to charity are also common.
Here is a stocking full of Christmas games
you can choose from to add to your holiday parties!
Christmas Card Toss
Divide into 2 or more teams. Give each participant a Christmas card. Place a laundry basket 6 feet from each team. Have each team member toss his/her card into the basket. The team that has the most cards in its basket wins.
Another way you can do this is to let each person try to throw 5-10 cards into the basket. The person with the most cards in the basket wins.
Name A Christmas Song
Divide people into teams. Write some words from Christmas songs on little sheets of paper. Have the teams take turns picking a word. The team has to think of a song that has the word in it and sing part of it.
Christmas Who Am I?
Make tags with the names of Christmas characters: Baby Jesus, the shepherds, the three wise men, Santa Claus, Tiny Tim, Rudolf, King Herod, Frosty, etc. Put a tag on each person’s back. Participants go around the room asking people “yes” or “no” questions to find out who they are.
Gift Exchange (nice gift or white elephant)
Each person should bring a wrapped gift. Specify beforehand the amount that should be spent on the gift or if it is a white elephant gift. (As the host, have extra gifts available for someone who may have forgotten theirs.) There are different variations of how to play this game. You can give everyone a number. You can draw their names or you can go around in a circle. Have everyone get in a circle and put all of the gifts in the middle. The first person takes a gift and opens it. The second person can steal that gift if they like it or take a new gift. Before the game begins, determine how many times a gift may be stolen. We usually only let the same gift get stolen three times. The game continues until everyone has a gift. It can be a lot of fun depending on the gifts.
Human Christmas Trees
Break the crowd up into groups of 4-5. Give each group supplies to make one of the people in their group a human Christmas tree. Some items you may consider using are garland, streamers, construction paper, ornaments, lights, scissors, tape, and anything you can think of. Have some judges and let them determine which tree is the best.
Stuff The Christmas Stocking
Have stockings for each child present. Pour out lots of candy and treats in the middle of a circle. Tell the children to start stuffing their stocking. Give them about 25 seconds. When time is up, have them give their stocking to the person to their right.
Santa's Sleigh Ride
Adults and children are needed for this game and a bed sheet for each team.
Break up into two teams. Have two adults for every one child. Put the child in the bed sheet. Adults will each hold 2 corners of the bed sheet. They will race to the other side of the room and back. Then the next set of people will race. The first team to finish wins. It is so much fun to hear the squealing and laughter of the children in the sheet.
The Spoon Game
We play this game every year. It has nothing to do with Christmas, but it is a lot of fun. Break up into two teams. Tie a spoon to the end of a spool of ribbon. Each person has to put the spoon down his/her pants, through the leg, and out the bottom. Then they give the spoon to the next person. This continues until they reach the end of their team. When the spoon reaches the end each person has to pull it out until it comes out of the first person. The first team to have the spoon out wins. The children really enjoy this game. Everyone is connected until the end. We mix the adults and children together. There is always a lot of laughter.
Santa Coming Down The Chimney
Have two teams line up in a straight line. The first person should crawl through everyone’s legs. The second person follows and so on until everyone has gone through. The team to finish first wins. It is fun to watch the adults go under the children. Everyone laughs.
Winter Dress Up
Have two teams and a coat, mittens, scarf, and boots for each team. Put the clothes in a bag at the head of the line. The first person grabs the bag, goes to a designated point, puts on the clothes, runs back, takes off the clothes, and puts them back in the bag. Then the next person begins. The first team to have everyone do it wins.
Write A Christmas Song
Break up into groups of 5-6 people. Each group needs to make up a Christmas song using the melody from any song they know. Let the groups judge which song is the best.
Christmas Movie Trivia
Answer these questions about some popular Christmas movies.
1. What was George Bailey’s angel’s name in “It’s A Wonderful Life”?
2. In the original version of “Miracle on 34th Street” which actress played the little girl?
3. Where did Kevin’s family go on vacation in “Home Alone 1”?
4. Who was Bing Crosby’s army buddy in “White Christmas”?
5. What state is “White Christmas” set in?
6. What did George Bailey do for a living?
7. What did Sam Wainwright do when he greeted people?
8. Who played the Grinch in “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”?
9. What actor played Santa in “The Santa Clause”?
10. Who is the main character in “A Christmas Carol”?
11. What caused this man to change?
12. What city does Buddy go to when he leaves the North Pole in “Elf”?
13. What actor plays Buddy’s biological father in “Elf”?
14. What gets Santa’s sleigh to fly after he has trouble with it in “Elf”?
15. In “White Christmas” who did the guys set out to help?
16. Where is the setting for “Home Alone 2”?
17. What is the main theme of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”?
18. Who tells the Christmas story in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”?
19. What is George Bailey’s wife’s name?
20. What did Susan Walker want for Christmas in “Miracle on 34th Street”?
Answers
1. Clarence
2. Natalie Wood
3. Paris
4. Danny Kaye
5. Vermont
6. He ran the Bailey Building and Loan
7. He said, “Hee Haw”, put his thumbs by his ears, spread out his hand, and waved it back and forth
8. Jim Carrey
9. Tim Allen
10. Ebenezer Scrooge
11. Spending the night with the 3 spirits
12. New York
13. James Caan
14. Believing, faith
15. Their general from the army, Major General Waverly
16. New York City
17. Commercialism of Christmas
18. Linus
19. Mary
20. A house
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