Christmas Around the World

This weekend, we traveled the globe, celebrating Christmas Around the World with our H.E.A.R.T. Homeschool Group.

We transformed our school room into a display area for all the items we wanted to include in our presentation.

This year, our country was Portugal. We had many postcards, pictures, etc... from our trip there a few months ago. We also have a fairly large doll collection, as well as boats and pottery.

The kids did a fantastic job! We started out in our front yard, where my little boy came "sailing" in on his Portuguese boat made by Daddy! Our little girl read about the traditions in Portugal at Christmas time. Then, we all headed inside and our little girl sang Silent Night in Portuguese, while her older sister played on the piano. Then the kids talked about the various displays. After that, we all enjoyed a delicious meal of Portuguese kale soup, sausage sandwiches, and rice pudding.

Each family is given 45 minutes to complete everything. Then, we all drive to the next family's home and celebrate the country they have chosen!

The second country we visited was Canada. We enjoyed some tasty mini meat pies. The kids made candy and participated in a cookie swap, which is a Christmas tradition in Canada.

The next country we traveled to was Germany.

In Germany, we learned all about the Christmas traditions and ate some yummy German food.

The three "German children"  did a wonderful job, creating a project board on Germany, as well as doing an oral presentation. They passed out an authentic German nutcracker and some beautiful German Christmas ornaments.

The fourth stop on our travels was Switzerland.

We learned all about the large hats the people parade around in with lights inside them, and saw a video depicting Christmas in Switzerland. We ate different types of cheese, candy, and had hot chocolate.

Our last stop was in France. We were given Euros to spend at all the cute little French boutiques that were set up around the house.

Everyone received berets to wear!

They also did presentations and told us about gift giving in France.

Then we all enjoyed tasty chicken cordon bleu, cheesy scalloped potatoes, and loads of desserts.

We had such a wonderful day with all our homeschool friends. The kids and adults learned so much, and we can't wait until next year's Christmas Around the World.