The first day of winter is fast approaching, and you might be looking for some ways to incorporate some new Yule traditions into your winter festivities. If you’ve also got little witchlings, celebrating the Sabbats can come with extra challenges. It can feel really overwhelming, and even a bit scary, to get your kids involved in celebrating the Sabbats. Fortunately, I have some super simple ideas for how you can celebrate Yule with kids!
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Observing the Sabbats helps you better align with the natural patterns and cycles of the world around you. There’s no better way to learn about those patterns than to get out in nature. My little ones love going on walks and collecting treasures.
Allow kiddos to pick up twigs, leaves, acorns, and any other little treasures they find along the way. Just be really careful with the red berries around winter. They’re not all safe for chidren to explore. This time of year, we don’t usually find lots of treasures, but we do observe lots of changes. Remember to ask lots of questions about what your little ones notice about how the environment seems to be changing (think barren trees, darker days, fewer animals, cold temps, snowfall, etc).
Then, when you get home, let your curious witchlings observe and investigate what they found. Pull out some basic science tools like magnifying glasses, measuring tapes, sorting mats or bowls, and a camera or device for taking photos.
Take it a step further, and use their treasures to create something new. Kiddos can use what they find to make…
- art projects
- leaf or bark rubbings
- preserved flowers and plants
- ice ornaments
- their own altar or sacred space
Enjoy a Yule Themed Scavenger Hunt
One of my favorite dark season traditions is going out after sunset to walk the neighborhood and look at Halloween and Christmas decorations. It’s something we all look forward to every year. Why not add a little scavenger hunt to the fun?
Did you know that many of the symbols of Christmas and Yule are the same? Use this to your advantage and make a symbols of the season scavenger hunt for your witchlings. Need help with symbolism ideas? Check out this post! Whenever they find a decoration that matches the symbol, they can check it off. This can be easily modified to fit a variety of ages and subject areas. Incorporate some traditional learning while you celebrate Yule with kids!
- For preschoolers, keep it simple with check boxes, pictures, short labels, and word tracing. This way, they can have fun while practicing their developing literacy skills.
- For grade schoolers, include the pictures and labels, but also add a couple sentences or paragraph about the lore or meaning of the symbol. After they find the symbol, they read you the text and retell (tell in the author’s words) or paraphrase (tell in their own words) what they learned.
- For older kids, include more in depth history and abstract themes and symbolism. Maybe on their list, you tell them to find something that represents rest, sacrifice, the sun, etc. Then, they write or draw the symbol they found.
- Include a math element with tally charts to tally up how many of each symbol they find. Later, they can even use the tally chart to make other data tables and graphs.
Participate in Some Traditional Winter Holiday Activities
So many traditions that we already love from our own childhood celebrations of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid, etc. work really well for the Yule season. Why reinvent the wheel? Maybe you’re crunched for time. It could also be that you’ve got one of those little ones who shares your family’s whole life with strangers, and you don’t want strangers to know you observe Pagan holidays. It could even be that you’re interested in Yule but just not ready to take the plunge.
Participating in common winter traditions is the perfect way to celebrate Yule with kids in a low key way. Many winter traditions have roots that go way deep. Here are some popular ones that work for both holidays!
- Put up a tree, and decorate it with sparkly ornaments and shiny lights. Take it a step further by creating some of your own handmade decorations using natural elements of the Yuletide such as popcorn or cranberry garlands, acorns, pinecones, dried citrus or fruit slices, and handmade salt dough ornaments.
- Decorate your home with lights, evergreens, and other festive items that will usher in the sun.
- Brew up your family’s favorite warming concoctions like Yule tea, coffee, mulled cider, wassail, or spiced hot cocoa. Stir in your intentions for an added witchy touch.
- Exchange gifts with friends and family. Enjoy time together, and practice gratitude together.
- Go wassailing or caroling to bring in some holiday cheer and chase away the darkness. You could even sing some paganized versions of old carols if you feel comfortable.
- Make Yule advent calendars for the little ones to count down the days till Yule. Choose small, simple items so you’re not overloading the kiddos with tons of gifts and therefore money. We use things like stickers, candy, small toys, simple jewelry, crystals, bells, and a book or two.
- Get your little ones involved in some holiday baking. They can mix, measure, and stir intentions into your holiday meal right along with you!
Read Some Winter/Yule Themed Stories Together
How many of us think of Christmas time and imagine snuggling up around a fire listening to “Twas the Night Before Christmas”? You can work this tradition into your Yule festivities, too. In the last few years, a whole bunch of great Yule and Winter Solstice books for kids have been published. That’s not to mention several classics that you might already enjoy.
Not only is reading aloud great for kids’ reading comprehension, it’s also a fun way to bond together. You have tons of options when it comes to kid’s books with a winter or Yule theme. Here are a few of our favorites.
- Little Krampus and the Mischevious Yule Lads by Killian S. Wolf – If you like Krampus or the Yule Lads, this toned down tale can still work in those traditions without too many hours of lost sleep.
- Lucia and the Light by Phyllis Root – Based on Nordic Folklore, Lucia goes on a quest to bring back the sun.
- A Solstice Tree for Jenny by Karen Schragg – A story about a little girl whose family doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but solstice instead. This is a good one if you choose not to include the festivities of Christmas and your little ones are struggling with it.
- Dear Rebecca, Winter is Here by Jean Craighead Georges – for if you’re celebrating Yule in the southern hemisphere.
- The Tomten by Astrid Lingren – a great winter bedtime story about these traditional homestead protectors.
- The Longest Night: A Yule Story by Seaweed Rogers- Teaches all about the cosmic alignments that cause the winter solstice and how people celebrate Yule.
- The shortest Day by Susan Cooper – a sweet tale about the strength of community during dark times.
- Sun Bread by Elisa Kleven – This cute tale shares how baking a loaf of sun bread brought the sun back in the cold, harshness of winter. It even includes a recipe at the end.
- The Solstice Badger by Robin McFaddon – A sweet legend style tale that uses storytelling to explain the waxing and waning of the sun’s light through the year.
- The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer – a great informational piece about how various cultures celebrate winter solstice.
- The Winter Solstice by Ellen Jackson – another imformational piece about customs of different cultures.
- The Return of the Light: Twelve Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice by Carolyn McVickar – Can you tell I’m into stories from around the world?
- Grandmother Spider Brings the Sun: A Cherokee Story by Geri Keams – the legend of how the light was brought to the dark part of the world.
- The Legend of the Icelandic Yule Lads by Heidi Herman – a tamed down version of the Icelandic tale passed down through generations.
- The Fairies of Frost (Magic of the Seasons) by Hayley Nystrom – This beautifully illustrated and inclusive book tells about the traditions of many different winter celebrations.
Show Kindness Toward the Local Wildlife
A big part of celebrating the Sabbats is working on being more in tune with nature, and this includes the animals out there. During this time of year, food is incredibly scarce in many places. Very little grows, and animals work hard to find what they need.
Why not help them out a little bit? You can make bird seed ornaments, pinecone bird feeders, orange bowl bird feeders, or ice ornaments with treats for the birds and squirrels inside. Give these tenacious creatures a treat in the dead of winter.
Just make sure you use natural, biodegradable materials that will not harm animals or wildlife. Use jute twine or paper ribbon, and leave out all the glitter and food coloring.
Visit a Local, Family Friendly Public Ritual
If celebrating the Sabbats is a part of your families religious or spiritual practices, there’s no simpler way celebrate Yule with kids than a public ritual.
With a little bit of research ahead of time, you might be able to participate in a public ritual with your children without all the added work of actually planning out the ritual. It’s also a great way to build community if you find a group that really resonates with you.
In my area, the best place to go is a local Universalists Unitarian church. Don’t have one of those? Perform a Google search or Facebook search for open or public Yule rituals in your area. Then, visit the websites of the options that come up for details about whether they are kid friendly and what to expect.
This option doesn’t work as well if you’re in a very rural area. However, you could also do a search for online rituals you can join. This could be a better option for people in isolated communities or who have concerns about public pagan gatherings and privacy. This is also a good option if, like me, you had a 3 month old baby on Yule and still hadn’t slept through the night yet!
How Do You Celebrate Yule with Kids?
What’s your favorite way to celebrate Samhain with kids? I’m always on the lookout for fun and creative new ideas to entertain my little witchlings.
Drop me a comment to share your personal favorite Samhain traditions with your family.
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