We are happy to be together again after Christmas vacation. The kids are excited to tell and share what they received on Christmas and did over break.

Most of them don’t realize the Christmas season is not over yet! (In fact, the Christmas season doesn’t begin the day after Thanksgiving and end on Dec. 25. It begins when Advent ends – the last Sunday before Christmas – and ends with the Baptism of Jesus following Epiphany – Jan. 9 this year.)

To help them “get it,” I do a few things to in my classroom.  

For one, I keep the Christmas decorations up, along with the manger scene.

For another, the Wise Men haven’t arrived – and won’t until Sun. Jan. 8 – at the manger scene. They are still traveling, following the Star. We see them in transit around the classroom journeying to see the baby Jesus (today they are on the Smart Board). We make a game of it: the students enjoy trying to find where the Wise Men are each day.

We continue to talk about the Christmas story in religion class, and visit the Church to see the Christmas decorations and the large manger scene there.

Finally, I tell the kids that in some parts of the world, people give gifts on Epiphany, just like the Wise Men did with Jesus.

To celebrate, I give the children a gift for Epiphany. Christmas is not over. We are still celebrating!