Everyone looks forward to Christmas in December. Children receive Advent calendars with sweets to eat each day. People light candles on Advent wreaths each Sunday before Christmas. Popular decorations include gingerbread ornaments, cottages, and Bethlehems. On December 5th, children are visited by Saint Nicholas who rewards good children with gifts and punishes bad children. Families bake many types of Christmas cookies. December 24th is the most important day as families celebrate Christmas Eve with a large meal before opening gifts when the first star appears. They partake in traditions like floating boats made of walnut shells to tell the future. After opening gifts, families visit each other and children play with new toys. Everyone wishes each other

2. Everyone, especially children, are looking forward to
Christmas.
In December they get Advent calendar.
Every day they take some sweetness from it.

3. People make or buy Advent
wreath with four candles. Every
Sunday before Christmas one
candle is lighted.

4. Gingerbread
ornaments,
Bethlehems and
cottages are very
popular.

5. Gingerbread ornaments before decorating.

6. December 5th we celebrate Saint
Nicholas Day. St. Nicholas with angels
and devils come to schools in the
morning.In the evening they come to
children s homes.

7. Children are asked if they were good. Children have
to say a rhyme or sing a song. Good children get
fruits and candies. Bad children can get potatoes or
coal and devil can puts them into the bag and take
them to the
hell.

8. We bake Christmas cookies: vanilla
rolls,bear paws,bee hives, linz circles and
rods,nuts with stuffing…

9. Every housewife wants to make
many kinds of cookies.

10. It is the most important day .
Everyone is looking forward to the
evening. After dinner Ježíšek (baby
Jesus) brings gifts.
December 24th

11. We eat Christmas bread for breakfast.

12. Bread is woven from 9 rollers of sweet
yeast dough with raisins and almonds.We
eat it with butter or jam.

13. Children watch fairy tales on TV.

14. Usually we eat sauerkraut soup with
cream for lunch.After lunch some
people visit graves of relatives.
If you don t eat anything
whole day you can see a gold
pig in the evening.

15. The most ceremonial meal is dinner.
We put coins or notes under the
plates and fish scale into a purse to
have enough money for the next year.
When the 1st star shows up in the sky
Christmas Eve dinner can begin.

16. The first course: The second course is
fish or pea soup. usually fried carp
with potato salad.
There are many recipes for potato
salad. Salad is prepared from boiled
potatoes, carrots, celery, parsley, peas
and mayonnaise.

17. Desserts: cookies, apple strudel.

18. After dinner
we sing carols
and keep old
traditions, e.g.
cut apples into
halves. Star
means life and
cross means
death.
star

19. We make little boats from walnut
shells with a candle inside. Boats
float in a bowl with water, and we
can see if family stays together or
splits up.

20. We also heat lead or wax in the spoon
and then we pour it into the water.
Created shape show us what awaits.

21. Girls throw a shoe over a shoulder to
find out, if they get married next
year.
Toe shoes headed to the door,
the girl gets married.
o popular poinsettia

22. Children are very impatient after
dinner.They are waiting for presents. They
believe that the baby Jesus (Ježíšek) brings
presents.When the bell rings, children run
for them. They can find them under the
Christmas tree.

23. Families visit each other and give
gifts. Children play with new toys.
Festive lunch in these days is e.g.
poultry: roast duck, goose or turkey
with cabbage and dumplings. A lot of
people go to the mountains to skiing
and snowboarding. Children make
snowmen.
December 25th and 26th

25. Also, we go to church to look at
the crib.

26. Merry Christmas
Veselé Vánoce
and
a
a happy New Year.
šťastný nový rok.