Fun Christmas Facts!

Fun Christmas Facts to Impress your Class!

Christmas is an exciting time of year in every classroom, but there are so many things children don't know about Christmas. Why not widen their minds with your knowledge and teach them these festive facts. You could even have a quiz to make it extra fun!

People have been sending Christmas cards since 1843

At the time, Sir Henry Cole worked as a senior civil servant and had helped set up what would become the Post Office, and he wanted to try and encourage it to be used by ordinary people.His idea of Christmas cards was created, and they were initially sold for only 1 shilling each. 

Jingle Bells was the first Christmas song played in space

During the Gemini 6A space flight, Jingle Bells was broadcast as a prank from the astronauts to those down below.

Spiders are a traditional Eastern European Christmas decoration

In many Eastern European countries, particularly in Ukraine, finding a spider or a spider's web in your Christmas tree is a symbol of good luck! That's because these countries have the legend of the Christmas spider, which tells that a poor widow lived in a small hut with her children. They found a pinecone in summer and cared for it diligently until it became a pretty tree!

Unfortunately, they couldn't afford to decorate the tree for Christmas, but upon waking up on Christmas day, they found the tree covered in elegant cobwebs that shone gold and silver in the sunlight. And since that day, the widow and her children never lived in poverty again!

Santa’s reindeer are most likely female

Male reindeer shed their antlers in early December when mating season ends, which, incidentally, is the month Christmas occurs. The females on the other hand, keep theirs throughout December. Making it most likely that Santa’s reindeer are female! 

"Silent Night" is the most recorded Christmas song

"Silent Night" is the most-recorded Christmas song in history. It's had more than 733 different versions copyrighted since 1978.

Candy canes originated in Germany

The National Confectioners Association says a choirmaster originally gave the red-and-white-striped candies to young children to keep them quiet during marathon church services back in 1670. It wasn't until a German-Swedish immigrant decorated his tree with candy canes in 1847 that they became popular as a Christmas candy.

And there you have a few interesting Christmas Facts you can use to impress, or test your class this festive season.

Looking for something extra special for the Christmas season? Check out our range of festive workshops guaranteed to liven up your classroom just in time for the holidays!