Countdown To Christmas

Tis the season! We all carry some nostalgia around the holidays, and to re-ignite some of the old memories we decided to ask some elementary children to answer a few questions to observe how things have changed over the years. Children are growing up in a different, more modern world than the one many of us grew up in. We decided to visit the elementary wing of the school, in particular the kids in grades K-3, and asked the younger children some classic holiday season questions.

We all have traditions we love from our childhood, and the children this year, love many of the same traditions that have stood the test of time. The kids all look forward to playing in the snow, opening presents, watching movies with their families, and of course celebrating Christmas. Playing in the snow and building snowmen are some of the happiest moments growing up. Family time is always important for young students, who talked about spending time with siblings as some of their favorite memories associated with Christmas. Watching movies like Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, Home Alone, Elf, and even newer hits like Elf on the Shelf were some favorite Christmas movies among many elementary students.

Gifts are oftentimes the first thing that comes to the little kids’ minds. They bring so much joy into their lives after waiting all year to open their Christmas gifts again. Naturally, visiting and writing to Santa are still very important to children! Some of the most popular Christmas list items we heard from the children this year were Barbies, action figure toys, pets, and electronics. These are surprisingly similar to what we wanted as children. We remember asking for Rubik's Cubes, I-Pods, and Game Boys.

The majority of the kids we talked to prefer sled riding to building snowmen and making gingerbread houses instead of putting up ornaments. We know that we would agree from when we were kids with their decisions, so some things don’t seem to be changing! We loved hearing about their favorite song selections including “Jingle Bells”, “Rudolph”, and “All I want for Christmas is You”. All of the students we talked to said they’ve been good all year, and that their siblings, of course, haven’t. But in their final attempts to lock themselves on the nice list for sure, they make sure to put cookies out for Santa and some even put carrots out for Santa’s reindeer. We wish all of them a very Merry Christmas and hope Santa brings items on their wish lists!