Editor’s Note: This column originally appeared in a 2007 edition of the newspaper. Please enjoy this “Best of Beth” edition of Kids Corner as we take a trip around the world and celebrate various holiday traditions.

Each year in teaching young children, I try to teach a unit on how other children in different cultures celebrate Christmas and the holiday season.

Right before Christmas with the children at home, I wanted to share a few activities that you and your family can enjoy. Buckle your seatbelts as we quickly “imaginary travel” to different countries.

• “Feliz Navidad” is how we say Merry Christmas in Spanish. One of Mexico’s fun traditions is to make a piñata, fill it with candies and toys, blindfold each other, hit it with a stick, and the piñata falls open with all the goodies! Pinatas can be bought cheaply but also they can be made out of brown paper bags tied at the opening.
• “Kung hei Shing Taan” is  the way we say Merry Christmas in Chinese. Fireworks, rockets and sparklers is the way our Chinese friends celebrate the season and new year!
• To celebrate the Christmas season in France, straw shoes are put on the fireplace to await special surprises the next morning. When French children awaken on Christmas morning the straw shoes will be filled with toys, candy and nuts. “Joyeaux Noel” is the way we say Merry Christmas in French. Talking about shoes at Christmas, the children from Holland on Dec. 6 put out their wooden shoes and excitedly await the gifts from Sinterklass.
• “God Jul” — phonetically “good yool” — is Merry Christmas in Norwegian. Grud is the favorite dessert of Norwegian children. A nut is hidden in one of the dishes of pudding. Whoever finds the nut wins a candy pig! This Norwegian tradition is easy to adopt in your home even with instant puddings.
• Remember making the old-fashioned paper chains that as children we loved to make and hook together? In Sri Lanka, this is an annual tradition. Merry Christmas in Sri Lanka is “Kirusmas Vazphuphal.”
• In Greece, homes are decorated much like our own culture with the evergreen trees decorated with tinsel and a star placed on top.
• In Africa, families gather together to prepare for the annual Christmas pageant. Caroling up and down the roadways seems to be an annual Christmas tradition.
• Happy Hannukkah to our Jewish children and Happy Kwanza to our African children who celebrate this holiday season.

I have only skimmed the surface but time given to increase your child’s learning is the best seasonal gift a parent can give!

Beth Pinyerd lives in Daphne and serves as director of younger children at Faith Family Fellowship in Spanish Fort.

Her column appears regularly in The Bulletin.