St. Nicholas (Nicolas) is the patron saint and protector of children. You can think of him as Santa’s great-great-great-great-great-etc grandfather! St. Nicolas Day is celebrated on December 6 in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and Holland.
On the eve of this special day, French children leave their shoes by the fireplace. During the night, Saint Nicolas arrives and fills the shoes with sweets such as candy, chocolate or gingerbread. He is often accompanied by his donkey and Père Fouettard. (A scary guy who doles out whippings for naught children. Yeeks!!)
Since Nicolas is the patron saint of school children, he often visits schools on the 6th. Watch and listen as these French children enjoy a visit from Saint Nicolas:
Here are the words to the traditional song:
Ô grand Saint Nicolas,
Patron des écoliers,
Apporte-moi des pommes
Dans mon petit panier.
Je serai toujours sage
Comme une petite image.
J’apprendrai mes leçons
Pour avoir des bonbons.
Venez, venez, Saint Nicolas,
Venez, venez, Saint Nicolas,
Venez, venez, Saint Nicolas, et tra la la…
Introduce your children or students to the St. Nicholas Day tradition with these activities:
1. Make and decorate a paper shoe. It’s fun and easy to do, and more convenient that real shoes in a school setting.
2. French teachers, use these downloads to teach your students about St. Nicolas Day customs.
Bonne Saint-Nicolas!
Père Fouettard sounds a lot like the Krampus–do you know what I’m referring to?
That guy’s awesome. Here’s the wikipedia entry on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampusz
Cheers,
Andrew