How Christmas Began Worksheet Download

Can you picture twinkly lights, a green tree, and wrapped gifts? Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas, a very joyful day. Many families also share songs, sweet treats, and time together.

Gifts and feasts are part of very old winter parties. Long before Christmas, Romans held Saturnalia, a winter party with gifts! By the 300s, Christians in Rome chose December 25 for Christmas.

Far in the north, people held their own winter party, called Yule. They feasted, lit fires, and brought in green branches. Old customs blended in, so Christmas holds pieces of long-ago parties!

Wow, Christmas has been celebrated on December 25 for more than 1,600 years! Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus with songs, candles, and family meals. Picture a room glowing with lights on a cold winter night.

So who first picked this chilly time of year for Christmas? By the 300s, Christians in the city of Rome were celebrating Christmas on December 25. That was long before cars, trains, or even the United States.

Even then, winter was already packed with parties! Romans held a festival called Saturnalia, a big celebration with feasts, candles, and gifts. People in northern Europe held one called Yule, and over time, feasts, lights, green branches, and gifts blended into Christmas.

Those old customs kept traveling, and in the 1800s families gave Christmas a cozy new look. Christmas trees, cards, and gifts for children became popular in homes in Britain and the United States. So a glowing candle or green wreath may seem simple, but people were brightening winter long before Christmas got its date.

Imagine you are in a snowy village in the middle of winter, with long, dark nights. A fire crackles, candles glow, and green branches hang on the walls. A table is piled high with food for a big feast! Many of these cozy customs, or special ways of doing things, are very old.

To learn why those customs are so old, we start with Christians, who celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas. By the 300s, Christians in the city of Rome were celebrating on December 25. How long ago was that? More than 1,600 years!

Many winter customs were already old by then, because people had brightened the dark season for ages. In Rome, a festival called Saturnalia was full of parties, feasts, and small gifts such as candles. In northern Europe, people held a midwinter festival called Yule, with fires and feasts. Bit by bit, feasts, green branches, lights, and gifts blended into Christmas.

Once those customs had blended together, Christmas kept changing, and in the 1800s it grew into the family holiday many people know today. In 1843, author Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, a story about kindness and sharing. A few years later, a newspaper picture of Queen Victoria's family beside a decorated tree made many families want one too. So a twinkling tree in your living room is part of a story more than 1,600 years long!

Picture a chilly December evening in Rome, more than 1,600 years ago. Torches flicker along the streets, and the smell of roasting meat drifts from open windows. Inside a church, Christians gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and by the 300s, they were marking that celebration on December 25. Why choose a date when the city was already full of parties?

The parties came from Saturnalia, a Roman festival held in mid-December. It began around December 17 and grew to last about a week. Families shared big feasts and gave small gifts, such as candles and little clay figures. Can you imagine getting a tiny clay figure as a present? That was a real Saturnalia gift!

Feasting was not only a Roman idea, because far to the north, people held midwinter festivals of their own. In northern Europe, Yule was a winter festival known for feasting and glowing fires. Evergreen branches, which stay green all winter, became a sign of life in the dark season. As Christmas spread across Europe, feasts, greenery, lights and gifts from older festivals blended into it, and Yule is still another word for Christmas.

Those blended customs traveled for centuries, and then the 1800s gave Christmas a fresh new look. In 1843, Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, a story about kindness and gathering with family. That same year, a man in London named Henry Cole helped launch the first Christmas cards, with about 1,000 printed to sell.

Cards were only the start, because the 1800s also made the Christmas tree a family favorite. In 1848, a London newspaper printed a picture of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their children around a decorated tree. Many families copied the look, and soon trees sparkled in homes in Britain and the United States. So when you see twinkling lights and a table full of food, remember that people were brightening winter with feasts and gifts more than 1,600 years ago.

Here is a puzzle that has kept history detectives busy for centuries: why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25? Picture the holiday today, with twinkling lights, fresh evergreen branches, cookies baking in the kitchen, and carols drifting down the street. Christians celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus, yet the Bible never says what day he was born. So how did one winter date become the day for so many candles, songs, and family gatherings?

Our first clue turns up in Rome, where by the 300s Christians were honoring the birth of Jesus on December 25. That was about 1,700 years ago, long before printing presses, telephones, or electric lights! Some early Christian thinkers linked March 25 to the start of Jesus's life, and nine months after that date is December 25. Historians still debate exactly how the date was chosen, which is part of what makes the puzzle so much fun.

Here is where the plot thickens, because December was already party season in Rome. Starting around December 17, Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a festival for the god Saturn filled with feasts, candles, and small gifts. It was a topsy-turvy celebration when the usual rules relaxed and people joked, played games, and shared food. In northern Europe, people held Yule, a midwinter festival with bonfires, feasts, and greenery to brighten the long, dark nights.

Those crackling fires and green branches did not disappear when Christmas arrived; they joined it. As Christianity spread across Europe, people kept familiar customs, such as feasting, lighting candles, and decorating with evergreens, and blended them into Christmas celebrations. One famous example is the Yule log, a big log burned in the fireplace during the holiday season. The word Yule even lives on in the song 'Deck the Halls,' which mentions an 'ancient Yuletide carol.'

That old word still pops up in songs, but by the 1800s Christmas was becoming the family holiday many know today. In 1843, author Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, a story about kindness, generosity, and gathering together at the holiday. Around the same time, a newspaper picture of Queen Victoria's family around a decorated tree helped make Christmas trees popular in Britain and America. By 1870, the U.S. Congress had made December 25 a federal holiday, which is not bad for a celebration whose date began as a puzzle!

Think Christmas has always looked like a greeting card? Many people assume the whole package, with twinkling lights, a glittering tree, and stockings by the fireplace, showed up together at the very first celebration. Not even close! Picture the holiday today: pine-scented rooms, carols drifting through the air, cookies cooling on the counter, and a glow in nearly every window. Each of those pieces has its own story, and together they make Christmas less like a single invention and more like a patchwork quilt stitched over many centuries.

The first stitch in that quilt was the center of the holiday itself: Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. Here is a surprise, though: the Bible does not name the day he was born, so early Christians had to decide when to celebrate. By the 300s, Christians in Rome were marking December 25, and a Roman calendar from the year 354 lists that date for the birth of Christ. Why that date? Historians still debate the reason, but it fell in the dark heart of a European winter, when people needed a reason to gather.

Romans certainly did not need one, because December in Rome was already loud with parties. Long before Christmas arrived, they celebrated Saturnalia, a festival of feasts, games, and gift-giving that included small presents such as candles. Farther north, people held a midwinter festival called Yule, with big meals, blazing fires, and evergreen branches that stayed green all winter. As Christianity spread across Europe, customs of feasting, greenery, lights, and gifts did not vanish; they blended into Christmas like new colors swirled into paint. I find that blending remarkable, because it shows how people keep the traditions that make dark days feel warmer.

Warm as those traditions were, not everyone welcomed them. In the 1600s, some Puritans thought Christmas had grown too rowdy, and in 1659 Massachusetts passed a law fining people who celebrated it. Then came the 1800s, when the holiday got a makeover into the cozy, family-centered celebration many people know today. Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol in 1843, a story about kindness and generosity that helped make Christmas feel like a time for caring about others. In 1848, a magazine picture of Queen Victoria's family gathered around a decorated tree helped make trees fashionable, and in 1870 the United States made Christmas a federal holiday.

That federal day off gave families time together, and gathering is still what Christmas is about for millions of people. Christians continue to celebrate the birth of Jesus with services, music, and stories, while many other families enjoy Christmas as a cultural season of food, decorations, and giving. Other December celebrations, such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, have their own histories and traditions, which is part of what makes the season so colorful. So the next time you hang a light or wrap a small gift, remember that you are joining a habit of brightening midwinter that reaches back to Romans swapping candles.

Think of Christmas as a relay race more than 1,600 years long, with the baton passing from Rome to northern Europe to Victorian England and into your living room. Look around at the season today: evergreen wreaths on doors, strings of glowing lights, tables crowded with food, and gifts stacked beside a tree. At its heart, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, yet many of the sights surrounding that celebration were carried in by other people in other centuries. How did one holiday collect so many traditions? Mostly by blending with older winter festivals, one borrowed custom at a time.

Those older winter festivals were already in full swing in Rome long before anyone marked December 25 as Christmas. One of the most popular was Saturnalia, a party in honor of the god Saturn that grew to last about a week in mid-December. Homes glowed with light, tables overflowed with feasts, and friends swapped small presents such as wax candles and clay figurines. Even the usual rules were flipped, with masters sometimes serving meals to the household members who normally worked for them. Feasts, lights, gifts: can you spot the ingredients that Christmas would later inherit?

Those ingredients were already part of the season when Christians in Rome began celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25. A Roman calendar from the year 354 lists that date, making it among the earliest clear evidence of Christmas on December 25. The Gospels never state the day of Jesus's birth, so the date was chosen by later Christians, and historians still debate why. One theory counts nine months forward from March 25, a date early Christians linked to Jesus's life, while another points to Roman winter festivals. Because the evidence is limited, the safest conclusion is simply that Christians in Rome had chosen December 25 by the 300s.

Once Rome had picked its date, the holiday began traveling north, where it ran into winter customs already deeply rooted. In Scandinavia and other northern lands, people marked midwinter with Yule, a season of feasting and fires. Yule itself survives in English, where it and Yuletide remain old-fashioned names for the Christmas season. The Yule log, a large log burned in the hearth during the holidays, is one custom often linked to those northern celebrations. Evergreen branches also carried meaning: because they stayed green while other plants faded, they made a hopeful sign that spring would return.

For all its cheerful decorations, the holiday was not always welcomed with open arms. In the 1640s the English Parliament banned Christmas celebrations, and from 1659 to 1681 Massachusetts fined people for observing the day. Puritan critics disliked rowdy celebrations and argued that the Bible never instructed anyone to keep the holiday. By the 1800s, attitudes were softening, and writers, printers, and even royalty helped move the celebration into the home. In 1843 Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, a story of generosity that helped popularize Christmas as a season of kindness.

Dickens had good timing, because new technology was ready to carry holiday cheer farther than ever. That same year, Henry Cole of London had about 1,000 holiday cards printed, and Britain's cheap postage, introduced in 1840, helped the custom spread. In 1848 a magazine picture of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their children around a decorated tree helped make the German custom fashionable in Britain. By 1870, when the United States made Christmas a federal holiday, the family celebration many know today was taking shape. So when you hang a wreath or mail a card, remember that you are carrying a baton passed along for more than 1,600 years.

In the year 354, a Roman artist named Furius Dionysius Filocalus dipped his pen in ink and began work on a fancy calendar. It was made for a wealthy Christian named Valentinus, and among its lists of festivals and important dates was a short line marking December 25 as the day Christ was born in Bethlehem. Copies of that calendar still exist, and it holds one of the earliest written records of Christmas on December 25. Today the holiday means glowing lights, evergreen wreaths, carols drifting out of shop doors, and tables piled with food. Yet Filocalus's page raises a puzzle that historians love to argue about: how did a holiday with so many layers land on this particular day?

The first clue to that puzzle is a surprise: the Gospels never state the date of Jesus's birth, so early Christians had to settle the question another way. One explanation, often called the calculation theory, points to early Christian writers who linked March 25 with the start of Jesus's life; count nine months forward and you land on December 25. A second idea, the history-of-religions theory, notes that Romans honored the Unconquered Sun on December 25, a festival that appears on Filocalus's calendar too. Its supporters argue that Christians chose a date already linked with light returning in the darkest season of the year. Historians still disagree about which came first, and both ideas may have played a part.

Whichever theory you favor, Romans already had a December celebration in full swing, and it was called Saturnalia. How long did the party last? It began on December 17, and in later years it stretched to about a week of feasting, games, and gift-giving. Friends swapped small presents such as candles and little clay figurines, and in some households the usual roles were playfully reversed, with masters serving dinner. Romans also decorated with green branches and lit lamps to greet the new year. Saturnalia did not simply turn into Christmas; instead, its habits of feasting and giving lingered in the season, showing how customs can outlive the festivals that first carried them.

Follow those green branches north of the Roman world and you reach Yule, a midwinter season kept by Germanic peoples. Around the year 725, the English monk Bede recorded that the Anglo-Saxons used the name Giuli for the months around December and January. What people actually did at Yule is harder to pin down, because much of the evidence was written down centuries later. The Icelandic writer Snorri Sturluson, working in the 1200s, claimed that Norway's King Haakon the Good, who ruled in the 900s, ordered the Yule feast held at Christmastime. Historians treat that story carefully, yet an echo survives: Christmas is still called jul in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and carols still mention Yuletide.

A holiday that borrowed so freely from older revels was bound to attract critics, and some of them held real power. In England, Puritans argued that Christmas lacked support in scripture and encouraged rowdy behavior, and in 1647 Parliament banned its celebration. Across the Atlantic, the Massachusetts Bay Colony passed a law in 1659 fining people five shillings for observing the day, and it stayed on the books until 1681. Even in the young United States, Christmas was not yet the giant celebration of today; Congress did not make December 25 a federal holiday until 1870. Notice what bothered the critics: the feasting and noise, the very customs that older midwinter festivals had helped supply.

Bans and fines were long gone by the 1800s, and Christmas was about to be reinvented as a holiday centered on home. Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, published in December 1843, pictured warm family gatherings, generous hearts, and tables full of food. In 1848, a popular illustration in a London newspaper showed Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their children around a decorated tree, and American magazines soon printed versions of it. Poems added to the mood, including A Visit from St. Nicholas in 1823, which helped shape how families pictured Christmas Eve, with stockings hung and ears tuned for sleigh bells. So when you hang a wreath or unwrap a gift, you join a tradition recorded on a Roman calendar more than 1,600 years ago, with fingerprints from Roman feasters, northern Yule-keepers, and Victorian families all over it.