Christmas Around the World: South Africa
For years now, I have said I want to do a Christmas Around the World unit study. Every year, I let December creep in and before I know it, it’s pretty much too late to start the type of study I want to finish.
This year, I set out on a mission to actually make this happen! I searched all over for the ‘right’ unit study and while some caught my eye more than others, I ultimately decided we are better off learning on our own. We do not prefer a lot of fill-in worksheets, but rather enjoy books, articles, photos, and documentaries more.
I made a list of 12 countries we want to dive into, so over the next two weeks, I will post what we have learned each day! We have decided to utilize YouTube, library books, and internet searches to create a poster for each country, and either make a recipe or a special craft to go with it. And country number 1 is…
South Africa
South Africa is the most southern country in Africa. It is a very diverse country with multiple races and languages (11!). Naturally, a country so diverse is going to spend their holidays in different ways. However, most of South Africa celebrates Christmas. Here are a few fun facts about Christmas in South Africa:
- South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere, so Christmas falls in summertime. A lot of South Africans spend Christmas Day on the beach!
- South Africans also like to barbecue for Christmas. Their special type of barbecue is called braai.
- South Africans go to church on Christmas Day. They like to spend the remainder of the day with family.
- Santa Clause is called kersvader.
- Almost all of South Africa’s Christmas trees are artificial.
- They love to roast veggies, gammon, and duck and eat Malva pudding for the holiday.
- South Africans open gifts on Christmas Eve.
What Did We Do?
We started our time by first finding South Africa on a map and seeing where it is in relation to where we live. Kids love to see this because it gives them a visual of just how big the world really is!
We then made our way to YouTube. I could not find many videos on Christmas in South Africa, so if you choose to learn about a South African Christmas, I suggest doing some research ahead so you’re not trying to find the ‘best’ video. The video we did choose broke down the differences between Christmas in the US, the UK, and South Africa.
Next, we scoured through a few online articles. My girls are 9 and almost 12, so they are old enough to research on their own. We read about South Africa together to make sure the 5 year old understood, and then I allowed the girls to create their own poster. I did not give them much direction! I made a few suggestions and let them be creative. They decided to showcase the country by plotting facts on a map of South Africa.
And finally, to finish our time, we made the decadent traditional South African dessert Malva pudding. I was a little afraid it was not going to taste good, but it was delicious! We had dinner at a friend’s that night, so I brought the dish with us. It was a hit! You can find the recipe here.
Final Thoughts
Our approach to learning about Christmas in South Africa falls under the ‘unschooling’ method of education. (I highly encourage you to research unschooling if you have not!)
The website Why Christmas is fabulous! We checked out a few books from our local library to help teach us about each country on our list. If you plan ahead of time, you can even find picture books related to different countries around the world! YouTube is also a fantastic resource.
If you do not want to throw ideas together and would rather have a more streamlined lesson plan, Teachers Pay Teachers has some fun options!
At the very least, I hope the ideas I have provided are enough to inspire you to add this to your December learning!