SPANISH FORT, Ala. — One corner of learning that young children really enjoy and want to learn more about is how other children in different cultures celebrate Christmas and the holiday season.

Around the world children celebrate Christmas and the holidays in many different ways.

Keep in mind there is a world of activities and Internet sites focused on the cultures, traditions and spirit of Christmas. Check them out!

I would like to share a few activities that I teach my students to get you started. Buckle up your seatbelts as we travel to Mexico, China, Norway, France and Sri Lanka.

We will also dip down into Greece, Africa, Czechoslovakia, Australia, Netherlands and Sweden. You can go around the world at Christmas just from your warm and cozy homes in Baldwin County.

Our first stop is Mexico, where one of the Christmas traditions is to make a pinata, fill it with candies and toys, blindfold each other, hit it with a stick , and the children scramble to get their favorite candies.

Here is a simple way to make a pinata at home: Start with a large brown paper grocery bag.

Decorate the bag with paint, streamers, yarn and colored paper. Fill the bag with candy, nuts, fruit, popcorn and small toys.

Tie a cord or fasten a strong rubber band around the opening of the bag. Hang the pinata from a hook or put it on the end of a broomstick.

Blindfold a person at a time, turn them around once or twice, and let them hit the pinata with a wooden spoon or stick. Children stand back and have fun!

Here is how to say Merry Christmas in Spanish, "Feliz Navidad".

Stop number two is China. Children in China celebrate the Chinese New Year with lots of fireworks — bright colored fountains, gold and silver sparklers, and sky rockets.

The way to say Merry Christmas in Chinese is "Kung Hei Shing Taan" (phonetically, goong-hoh-sheng-tahn).

The beautiful country of Norway is our third stop where grud is the favorite dessert the Norwegian children enjoy.

A nut is hidden in one of the dishes of pudding, and whoever finds the nut wins a candy pig! This Norwegian tradition is easy to adopt in your home.

Here is the recipe for grud: 1. Combine 2 quarts milk and 1 cup regular rice in top of a double boiler. Cook slowly over low heat until it thickens. 2. Add a pinch of salt and gently stir. 3. Cover, cool. 4. fold into rice mixture: 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons vanilla, and 2 cups whipped cream. 5. Spoon into individual dishes, cover, and chill. Don't forget to hide a nut in one of the dishes.

Merry Christmas in Norwegian is "God Jul" (phonetically, good yool).

To celebrate the Christmas season in France straw shoes are put on the fireplace to await special surprises for the next morning. When the French children awaken on Christmas morning the straw shoes will be filled with toys, candy and nuts.

The French say Merry Christmas "Joyeaux Noel" (phonetically, Zwah-Yuh-noh-Ehl).

Talking about shoes, at Christmas, the children from Holland on Dec. 6 put out their wooden shoes and excitedly await the gifts from Sinterklass.

At stop number five we land in Sri Lanka, where the children are making bright colored chains to joyfully decorate for the holiday season.

These are the old fashion circle chains that children love to make and hook together.

Merry Christmas in Sri Lanka is "Kirusmas Vazphuphal" (phonetically, Krooz-ma FAR-too-dal).

As we fly over the country of Greece we notice in the homes evergreen trees decorated with tinsel and a star placed on top.

Gifts are exchanged on Jan. 1, St. Basil's Day.

The people from Greece greet one another by saying Hronis polla, or many happy years.

In Africa, as we look at the Congo, the families gather together to prepare for the annual Christmas pageant. Caroling up and down the roadways seem to be an annual Christmas tradition.

My husband loves to travel. One of the places he lived and visited for four years as a Peace Corp school teacher was Swaziland, Africa. He reminded me that Christmas in that part of Africa is in the summer, the very heat of the summer. Christmas in South Africa is a summer holiday as well.

South Africa reminds me of Baldwin County because one rarely sees snow, but like our beautiful Eastern Shore towns, it has many flowers, many beautiful varieties of cultivated and wild flowers to celebrate the Christmas season.

On the west coast of Africa, in Liberia, oil palms are decorated for the Christmas trees and they are decorated with bells to ring in the Christmas season.

As we make a five minute stop in Czechoslovakia we learn of a tradition shared by not only Czechoslovakia but Poland, which involves cutting a branch from a cherry tree putting it in water inside to bloom.

If the bloom opens in time for Christmas it is considered good luck and also a sign that winter will be short and spring is on its way. In Australia we think of the Christmas down under, which parallels to so many of the same traditions, glitter and decorations that we celebrate in America.

One must remember too, that Christmas in Australia falls during the summer holidays. Australia is so big with many different cultures represented. It's like Christmas Around the World can be celebrated in one country.

The Australians enjoy celebrating culturally diverse traditions of the Christmas season.

When we think of the Netherlands we not only think of windmills, dikes to hold back water, tulips, but wooden shoes come to mind. Sinterklaas is the Dutch Santa Claus or St. Nicholas. Dutch children are excitedly told to prepare as Sinterklaas sails from Spain on Dec. 5.

They fill their wooden shoes with hay and sugar for the horse and awake to find gifts of candy and nuts in their wooden shoes.

Children everywhere would love to celebrate Christmas in Sweden because it lasts a whole month starting Dec. 13.

The feast of Saint Lucia, a fourth century Sicilian saint honored and loved by the Swedish people is celebrated.

On the feast day which honors St Lucia, the oldest daughter of the family dresses in a white dress with a red sash, wears an evergreen wreath with seven lighted candles on her head. She joyfully carries and serves buns and coffee to each family member in the home.

Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish children and Happy Kwanzaa to our African children who celebrate this holiday season. Of course the Kid's Corner has only skimmed the surface of different cultures and holiday celebrations!

Time given to increase your child's learning is the best seasonal gift that any parent can give their child. I hope with the weeks left before Christmas that you will enjoy learning the different traditions of celebrating Christmas in other countries.

Beth Pinyerd serves as the director of young children at Faith Family Fellowship in Spanish Fort.