Christmas Around the World: Peru
Today is day 9 of our 10 day unit study! We went to…
Peru!
Christmas in Peru seems a little similar to New Years here! Family and friends gather to celebrate on Christmas Eve and radio stations play a countdown to midnight! Once the clock strikes midnight and it is officially Christmas Day, families toast and cheer and start eating a huge meal and then open gifts. They celebrate throughout the night and then spend Christmas Day relaxing and sleeping.
Peru is in the Southern Hemisphere so Christmas is during their summer. Even though it is very hot and humid in some parts of Peru, they still drink hot chocolate! In fact, hot chocolate is so popular that they have long had what they call ‘chocolatadas’, where they gather with family and friends to visit and drink hot chocolate and eat their version of fruit cake, called paneton.
Here are som facts about Christmas in the country of Peru…
Fun Facts
- Nativity scenes are an important part of how Peruvians decorate. They like to add native animals like alpacas and llamas, but will not add baby Jesus until Christmas Day.
- Christmas trees are new to Peru and only a few people have them.
- Christmas Eve is called Noche Buena. This means ‘good night’. Noche Buena is the main Christmas celebration and the people of Peru go to mass, starting around 10pm.
- Once mass is over, the party starts! Peruvians ring in Christmas Day with a toast and start their feast. They open gifts from Papa Noel after dinner.
- A typical Christmas dinner includes roast turkey, pork, and chicken along with salads and tamales. Paneton is the (un)official dessert of a Peruvian Christmas.
What We Did
The following videos are fun!
Visit Why Christmas and learn about Christmas in Peru!
We drank hot chocolate, of course!
And we made Christmas llamas!! Yes, I know the 2 year old is naked…I’m done fighting with kids for the day. Keeping it real, folks. Don’t @ me…just enjoy Christmas in Peru. 🥰
Our final day is tomorrow!!