The idea of decorating a tree for Christmas began in Germany, where they used to add fruits and nuts to trees to symbolize the promise of spring to come. Keeping the idea of the shape of fruits and nuts, Hans Greiner in Germany started making glass ball ornaments (called baubles), which became the first manufactured Christmas ornaments in the 1800s. The reason we associate poinsettias with the holidays comes from an old Mexican legend. A young girl named Pepita was sad that she didn’t have a gift to leave for the baby Jesus at a Christmas Eve service. With no money to buy a real gift, Pepita picked a bouquet of weeds that she walked past on the way to church. she left the weeds at the bottom of the nativity scene. Later, the weeds transformed into beautiful red flowers. From that day on, they became known as “Flores de Noche Buena,” or “Flowers of the Holy Night.”
As the month of December began so did the preparations and the decorating of the holiday season. The toddlers were very excited to see what the educators had brought in to share with them. Sitting together at the table we first used our sense of touch and sight as the educators brought out some garland. This garland, as the toddlers tried to pronounce, was long in shape and extended all the way to the floor. The toddlers observed that it was quite pliable, and could be manipulated and coiled around the table too. We noticed that the green garland was bristly and pointy to the touch. Also, on the garland we noticed that there were yellow bows and some large round ornaments. These objects were easily removeable as the toddlers observed when they repeatedly pulled them off and then placed them back on. Another decorative garland that was introduced had big red flowers on it, which the educators identified as being Poinsettias. The petals of these large flowers felt soft and fuzzy beneath our fingertips. We also observed that hanging from the garland were short stems and attached to them were tiny red round balls, that kind of looked like cherries. Reid was the first to inquire as to what they were, and when he called them cherries, we looked at their comparisons. Though these objects were round, small and red like cherries, the educators identified them as being Holly plant. Although we can eat cherries because they are a fruit, Holly is not edible and can harm our tummies if we try and eat them. We asked if our toddler friends if they have seen these items in their own homes or surrounding environments, and some children mentioned that they too have Christmas trees at home with lots of coloured balls/ornaments. Holly, poinsettias, garland and ornaments are all items that are used in homes throughout the winter season as decorations.
