Our family was a military family for 25 years. Most Christmases were spent away from family. I always found the period between Christmas Day and when the kids returned to school to be the most difficult on us mentally. One year I came up with an idea after reading an article about the origins of The Twelve Days of Christmas song and how it relates to the Catholic Faith. This had us spending some time as a family each day reflecting by reading the bible and doing an activity while enjoy some food. In future years I put together the pages, some of the games and food items and gifted it to both my parents and a few friends. Another year, my mom returned the gesture and gave us an ornament for each of the twelve days.
I think this year will be particularly hard on families as they will not be able to travel to spend Christmas with extended family. COVID-19 will keep everyone closer to home and a bit isolated. It would be a great year for you and your family to experience the twelve days of Christmas.
Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829, when Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England, were prohibited from ANY practice of their faith by law – private OR public. It was a crime to BE a Catholic.
https://www.catholic.org/advent/advent.php?id=2
“The Twelve Days of Christmas” was written in England as one of the “catechism songs” to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith – a memory aid, when to be caught with anything in *writing* indicating adherence to the Catholic faith could not only get you imprisoned, it could get you hanged, or shortened by a head – or hanged, drawn and quartered, a rather peculiar and ghastly punishment.
The period of Twelve Days starts on December 25 and ends on Jan. 5, followed by Epiphany on Jan. 6 when we celebrate the three wise men arriving at the manger. Keep your tree up until Epiphany and truly celebrate the entire Christmas season. Have some fun this year and spiritual learning by using the song as a starting point for family activities.
**Activities and food suggested relate mostly to the song not the religious meanings. Feel free to change whatever you wish if you get different ideas. Some days have a meal suggestion with a recipe and for others there is food suggested that you would buy. I have included the links for any recipes or game rules that I found online. If you don’t have enough people for the games suggested, play or do something else. Some of the recipes are my own so you will have to get them from my downloadable PDF. You can put each page into an envelope and place them on your tree to open on the applicable day.
I have created a PDF version with one page for each day in case you would like to print it out and try some of the suggestions. The recipes are included but the game rules are not so you would have to refer to the links I have provided on here for the rules if needed.
On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me..
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ, the Son of God
Read : Luke 13:34-35
Activity:
Cut out a cross of cardboard or coloured paper and decorate to hang on your tree.
Eat:
Make and eat Ginger pear dessert (click Download above)
On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Two Turtle Doves
The Old and New Testaments
Read: Revelation 22:18-21
Activity:
Play Some “two” person games. War, checkers, chess, battleship or cribbage to name a few. You can even pick one and turn it into a tournament.
Eat:
Make and eat turtle cookies
On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Three French Hens
The Three Theological Virtues: 1) Faith, 2) Hope, and 3) Love
Read: 1 Corinthians 13:4-13
Activity:
Make some jello play dough and create your own nativity scene or make the letters for “Faith”, “Hope” and “Love”.
Eat:
Make and eat a Chicken Wonton Appetizer (click Download above)
On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Four Calling Birds
The Four Gospels: 1) Matthew, 2) Mark, 3) Luke, and 4) John
Read: Matthew 1:18-24 and Luke 2:8-20
Activity:
Play some games for four people like Bridge, Euchre, Whist, Sorry
Eat:
Make and eat a Four cheese lasagne recipe
On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Five Gold Rings
The first Five Books of the Old Testament, known as the Pentateuch: 1) Genesis, 2) Exodus, 3) Leviticus, 4) Numbers, and 5) Deuteronomy
Read: Deuteronomy 33:1-5
Activity:
Play a game of Yahtzee (five dice)
Eat:
Enjoy some onion rings or sour cream rings.
On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Six Geese A-laying
The six days of creation
Read; Genesis 1
Activity:
Create six ornaments for your tree; one for each day of creation. Use cardboard, newspaper, buttons, egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, and any other loose parts to create them.
Eat:
Make and eat an egg frittata. (click Download above)
On the 7th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Seven Swans A-swimming
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: 1) wisdom 2) understanding 3) knowledge
4) right judgement 5) Fortitude 6) piety 7) fear of the Lord
Read: Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:8-11
Activity:
Play “Go Fish” Or any other game you may have involving water. Some of ours include Niagara, Survive and Forbidden Island.
Eat:
Make and eat a seven layer salad (click Download above)
On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Eight Maids A-milking
The eight Beatitudes: 1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, 2) those who mourn, 3) the meek, 4) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 5) the merciful, 6) the pure in heart, 7) the peacemakers, 8) those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
Read: Matthew 5:3-10
Activity:
Play a game of Old Maid
Eat:
Enjoy your favourite milk product like some eggnog, decadent ice cream or some nice cheeses
On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Nine Ladies Dancing
The nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit: 1) love, 2) joy, 3) peace, 4) patience, 5) kindness,
6) generosity, 7) faithfulness, 8) gentleness, and 9) self-control.
Read: Galatians 5:22
Activity:
Create an 8X10 picture representing one of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Use paint, crayons, markers, mixed media….just create.
Eat:
Make some Caramel Dip and enjoy it with some different fruits.
On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Ten Lords A-leaping
The ten commandments: 1) You shall have no other gods before me; 2) Do not make an idol; 3) Do not take God’s name in vain; 4) Remember the Sabbath Day; 5) Honour your father and mother; 6) Do not murder; 7) Do not commit adultery; 8) Do not steal; 9) Do not bear false witness; 10) Do not covet.
Read: Exodus 20:1-17
Activity:
Reach out to a few “lords” in your family on the phone FaceTime or Zoom
Eat:
Make a snack tray with ten items. Veggies, cheeses, meats, fruit or pickles would be some examples.
On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Eleven Pipers Piping
The eleven Faithful Apostles: 1) Simon Peter, 2) Andrew, 3) James, 4) John, 5) Philip, 6) Bartholomew, 7) Matthew, 8) Thomas, 9) James son of Alphaeus, 10) Simon the Zealot, 11) Judas son of James. The list does not include the twelfth disciple, Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.
Read: Luke 6:14-16
Activity:
Make some music together. Use real instruments or create your own. Sing Christmas carols.
Eat:
Bake some cupcakes and “pipe” some icing onto them. If you don’t have an icing bag or piping gun, use icing in ziplock bag with corner cut off.
On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Twelve Drummers Drumming
The twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles’ Creed
Say the Apostles’ Creed
1)I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
2)and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
3)who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
4)suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
He descended into hell;
5)on the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
6)from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
7)I believe in the Holy Spirit,
8)the Holy Catholic Church,
9)the communion of Saints,
10)the forgiveness of sins,
11)the resurrection of the body,
12)and life everlasting.
Activity:
Play a game with double twelves dominoes or make a puzzle that has 24, 48 or 60 pieces.
Eat:
Make and eat a dozen of your favorite muffins. Perhaps my banana muffin recipe. (click Download above)
Epiphany, January 6
A Prayer to the Prince of Peace
Dear God:
The newspaper brings nothing new
only an old, old story of war-
more bombing, more shooting, more bloodshed.
One more family wailing a funeral song.
Against the backdrop of brutal images,
we hear the old, old story of an angel with good news,
who brought good tidings of great joy for all people.
Angel of Bethlehem, we long to hear your song again this day.
We want good tidings for countries in crisis.
We want good tidings for soldiers caught in webs of violence
We want good tidings for terrorists whose actions spread fear and anguish.
We want good tidings for all who grieve, and who see no end to grieving.
We want good tidings for children who long to inherit a country
where peace has blossomed.
Jesus, our Saviour,
you escaped Herod’s best-laid plans.
May your Spirit of peace be born again this year
in the hearts of all who work for peace. Amen.
Activity:
Move the three kings to the manger and listen to or sing “We Three Kings”, “The First Noel” and “What Child is This”.
Eat:
Buy some Christmas crackers, put on your crowns and eat your favourite meal; a meal fit for a king.
Hi Corinne,
I thoroughly enjoyed this Blog! I am not accustomed to going on people’s site but I thought I would try It! Glad I did thanks!
♥️ Tante g
Glad you enjoyed your visit to my site