Christmas is celebrated between December 24th and January 6th in the UK and US. Some traditions include exchanging greeting cards, singing carols, wearing masks for mummers plays, and pulling Christmas crackers before meals. On Christmas Eve, Father Christmas leaves gifts in stockings, and Boxing Day on December 26th is traditionally when the poor are given gifts from Christmas boxes. Epiphany on January 6th marks the end of the Christmas season. Typical Christmas foods include roast turkey, Christmas pudding, and a mince pie each day for luck.

1. Christmas time By Noemí Botella Ruiz

2. Time: 24th of December until 6th of January. Place: UK and United States. History: AD 596, started in England with the arrival of St.Augustine along with his monks.

3. TRADITIONS People exchange Christmas greeting cards.

4. Kids and adults sing Christmas carols.

5. Mummering. People wear masks and act on Christmas plays.

6. Christmas crackers: It is very common to pull one before the Christmas meal. Mode of use: You ask a person to pull one end while you pull the other. The person who ends up holding the middle part wins the small gift which is inside.

7. On Christmas Eve, Father Christmas leave Christmas gifts in stockings.

8. The Boxing Day or ‘St.Stephen’s Day’: It is the following day after Christmas Day. Traditionally, this was the day to open the Christmas Box to share the gifts with the poor. Today is a day for fox hunting or a family time.

9. January 6th is known as Epiphany: Popularly known as Twelfth Night , because this day is twelve days after Christmas Day. Christmas lights and decorations are taken down on this day.

10. FOOD The day before the grand feast, people used to eat Frumenty. It is made up of corn. Roast turkey is the most common meal.

11. And for desserts… The Christmas pudding is the traditional one. The superstition says that you have to eat one mince pie each day of Christmas in order to have luck.

12. CHRISMTAS CLIP Watch the following video of a famous English actor celebrating his ‘peculiar’ Christmas time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etUq95XKGiw

13. QUESTIONS Do you have anything in common with the English Christmas tradition? How do you celebrate Christmas in your country?