Nursery World - Celebrating diversity (1)

A new dimension can be given to Christmas celebrations in your setting by exploring the traditions of other cultures. Lebanon, a country with a large Christian community, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons this year. Activities built on their Christmas traditions can round out the picture a little. 'Meelad Majeed!' (literally 'Glorious birth!') is the Arab equivalent of the greeting 'Merry Christmas!'.

'Meelad Majeed!' (literally 'Glorious birth!') is the Arab equivalent of the greeting 'Merry Christmas!'.

Children in Lebanon grow seeds of various kinds in wet cotton wool for the two or three weeks before Christmas to produce small plants to decorate el Mghara, the cave of the nativity. Larger versions of this scene are made with wooden figures and a crib covered in a special paper (similar to brown wrapping paper, which makes a good substitute) covered in painted decorations. Smaller nativity scenes are made by children with figures based on standing cones of the same paper.

Christmas dinner is usually based on chicken and kibbeh. (Any Middle East cookbook will have recipes for kibbeh and the ingredients are available in supermarkets). Children can be involved in mixing the ingredients before the kibbeh are fried. Sugared almonds are a treat offered to Christmas Day visitors, and this gesture can be played out in the home corner.

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