Preparations for St Nicklaus on the 6th December

If you have never celebrated St Nicklaus before let this year be the first.

It is a lovely warm celebration upon which some of our current Christmas 

traditions are based.

See last year's post here

and also how to make boot gnomes for the day here.

This year I will be telling this story which is easy to tell for little ones....

"One day long ago in Winter there was a town and the children there had 
nothing to eat. They were very hungry and very poor.
A bird came and saw what was happening and flew many miles to tell Bishop Nicholas who
was a very kind and very good man. He told all the people around them to gather apples, nuts and biscuits
and load them onto the boat. The boat sailed for seven days and seven nights following the bird
to the hungry children.
One night the children had placed their socks at the ends of their beds.
St Nicholas came and not wanting to wake the children quietly filled their socks
with apples, nuts and biscuits.
When the children awoke they were so happy to see these gifts and they 
were not hungry anymore as the good people had shared what they had."


There are many variations upon this story, and more traditional one involving 3 sisters for older children is commonplace.

The children should clean their boots/shoes and leave them on the windowsill

overnight. (This is where some people think the stocking idea has come from)

nuts, chocolate coins, biscuits, some nuts and a small gift

are left for them to find as a surprise in the morning.

Enjoy

x