Christmas Traditions Activity and “Where Do Diggers Celebrate Christmas?” Book Review

by Ashley Beecher

At my house, we celebrate Christmas and one of my children’s favorite Christmas books is Where Do Diggers Celebrate Christmas? by Brianna Caplan Sayres. Any kid that loves trucks or Christmas is sure to enjoy this fun story about how different types of trucks celebrate the holiday.

One of the coolest things about this book is the opportunity for discussion. Every sentence (except one) is a question, which encourages your child to think about the answers. The imaginative illustrations by Christian Slade offer different possibilities for how each type of truck celebrates. It even opens the option to talk to your child about the different types of trucks and why they might celebrate that way.

I’m also impressed by the variety of traditions that are addressed in the book. You can tell the author considered which traditions to include, trying to find the ones that would resonate with as many people as possible. We don’t use every tradition from the book, and likely you won’t either, but there’s a good chance that your family does at least one of the activities mentioned.

And, of course, the most important part of this book isn’t mentioned explicitly: that traditions are all about spending time together with the people we love.

If you celebrate Christmas, you can find this book on Amazon here.

Do you celebrate Hanukkah? Try this book instead.

Interview a few of the people you love and make a book of holiday traditions.

Supplies:

Free Printable Templates (scroll to the buttons below), writing utensil, and stapler or glue, yarn or pipe cleaner (optional).

Directions:

1. Print the template out double-sided. This will avoid having blank pages in the book. The template has pages upside down because that's how they printed straight, but if your printer has fancier settings than mine, you'll want to double check them.
2. If you’ve printed the pages double-sided, then they should be in order when you fold them all in half using the dotted line. Check the page numbers to make sure they’re in order. Staple or glue the pages together, or punch holes and use pipe cleaner or yarn to tie the book together.
3. Pick four family members or friends to interview.
4. Write their name on the top of their interview page and draw or attach a picture of them in the space provided.
5. Ask each person the questions from the interview and record their answers on their page.
6. Fill out the last interview with your own answers.

Different Variations:

• For Younger Children: One template includes picture responses. A young child may need help from a parent to ask, “What is your favorite part of the holiday?” Then they can circle the correct picture answer on the page. If they want, they can even color the pictures.
• For Other Holidays: Use the blank title page and fill in which holiday you celebrate. Print pages 2-6 from the regular activity printouts.