Celebrate St. Nicholas in Schools

• Starting several days before St. Nicholas Day, read a story a day. Locate the settings for the stories on a map. Have a special treat, preferably given in secret, to arrive on St. Nicholas Day.
• Plan with children how to surprise someone for St. Nicholas Day. Children could make simple art projects to leave as a surprise in a nursing home, in their own homes, or to give to another class. In some classrooms it may be feasible for children to leave small surprises for one another.
• Bring in books on Christmas customs around the world (quite common in public libraries). Help children research a variety of customs in the countries mentioned in this book.
• Older children could use one of these stories and write it as a play, producing it for the school for St. Nicholas Day, or use the script, Midnight Missions. Centuries ago, schoolchildren in Europe often produced plays about the saint's life in celebration of St. Nicholas Day.

From St. Nicholas: The Wonder Worker by Anne E. Neuberger, copyright © 2000 Our Sunday Visitor. Used by permission.
Collection of 18 stories drawn from St. Nicholas' life and others which have grown up around him over the centuries. For older children or reading aloud to younger ones. Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.ca or amazon.uk.

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