Each year, The Boyertown Area Times asks students about their favorite holiday traditions. These students are in Kimberly Mitchell’s second grade class at Colebrookdale Elementary.
Here’s what they said:”My Favorite Holiday Tradition” by Haley Rutherford: My favorite holiday tradition is making cookies with my mom. We make the cookies for my family and Santa. My mom rolls the batter with a rolling pin. I use the cookie cutters to make heart and star shapes. My mom puts the cookies into the oven to bake. After the cookies cool down, we decorate the cookies with icing, sprinkles, cherries, and whipped cream. My mom and I have fun in the kitchen. We listen to Christmas music while we bake. My favorite Christmas songs are “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”. We sing along and dance around in the kitchen while the cookies are baking! When we are done baking we call the family up and decorate the house and start the Christmas celebration. Don’t forget the glass of milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve!
“Our Tree” by Gavin Fox: My favorite holiday tradition is putting up the tree. Mom, Matt, Dakota, Sienna, and I go out to cut down a tree. We all get one chop at the tree with an axe. Then a man cuts it down with his chainsaw. Then, we take it home and put it in the tree stand. Next, we sweep the tree off to get off the loose needles. If the tree is snowy, we brush that off too. It gets green again. I clean the star. Last, we put on lights. We put on the star and the ornaments. We were all happy about putting up our Christmas tree.
“Adriana’s Christmas Tradition!” by Adriana Gaul: My favorite holiday tradition is making chocolate chip cookies. My mom, my sister, Autumn, and I make chocolate chip cookies. My mom gets the stuff ready for us. I get to put the eggs in the bowl. My mom says I am a good egg cracker. Autumn gets to put the chocolate chips in the bowl. My sister and I take turns mixing the batter. Then we get to put the foil on the cookie sheets. After that we start to roll the dough into balls. We put them in the oven to cook. We watch TV as the cookies are baking. When they are done my mom takes them out of the oven and we wait until they cool down. Finally, we get to eat them! We have to save some cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Sometimes on Christmas Eve night I sneak out of my bed and grab a cookie. I can’t wait for Christmas!
“Visiting Family” by Joseph Calo Tannous: My favorite holiday tradition is spending time with my family! When I say family I mean we have to get in the car and drive a long time. It is a five hour trip! So my brother and I have to keep busy and not bother my parents. So we play games on our phones for a while. When we get tired of that we watch movies or sleep. We can’t wait until we get there. When we finally arrive we can’t wait! We burst out of the car, like a bull charging towards a matador with his red cape. We are hugging each other and yelling “we missed you guys”! We play for a while inside the house. Then it is time for bed. We can’t sleep, we are so excited to be with our 5 cousins. We sneak downstairs and eat snacks. We also play with the dogs, Wasabi and Ginger. They are so much fun. They jump up on the couch and crawl all over us, and lick us like crazy, especially Wasabi. We get to stay with them for a week. It is a lot of fun! I take advantage of playing with the dogs because I do not have dogs at home. I play fun games with my family. I like to play Broforce with my cousin Nidere. We also go to fun places like a Chinese buffet. It is awesome, the food is really tasty. They have crabs and sushi, you might not like it, but I do. So as I was saying my family visit was amazing!!!! I love my family!
“My Holiday Favorites” by James Christman: My favorite holiday tradition is baking chocolate chip cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Dad makes them really big and they are good, and Santa likes them too. I put milk out also. We decorate outside of the house with red and blue lights. I also have little lights in my bedroom. I think they are nice and really cool! I hope you have a nice holiday!
“Cookie Tradition” by Zachary Keane: My favorite holiday tradition is making cookies my mom, Jacob and Mason. We make our cookies from scratch, but it is a lot of fun. We make sugar cookies with Hershey Kisses, chocolate chips, peanut butter chip, and just plain sugar cookies that we can decorate.
My mom and I mix up the batter. I get to put the ingredients in the bowl. When they are finished baking in the oven my brothers join us to help put the kisses on top. They also help decorate the sugar cookies. Then we need to wait for the icing to dry. The best part is getting to eat them.
My favorite cookies are the peanut butter chip! On Christmas Eve we put out some cookies and milk for Santa. We usually leave him three or four cookies. He must like them because they are all gone when we wake up in the morning. I can’t wait for Christmas!
“Christmas” by Brenna Hayes: Making cookies with my family is my favorite holiday tradition. We go over to my Mom- mom’s house a few days before Christmas. Whooooooo! My brother and cousins will be there too!
My Mom-mom and I bake cookies together. As they bake we can smell them from the oven, it smells so good! I love it so much! I think Mom-mom is the best cookie baker ever in the world. Christmas is my favorite holiday! We bake Christmas tree cookies. They’re my favorite because we put sprinkles on them. I always eat the ones that have the sprinkles on them. They are so, so good. I can’t wait to bake cookies this year.
“This Is What I Do On Christmas” by Brody Tobias: My favorite holiday tradition is going to the Christmas Village. It is cool when you can see everything. It is very cold there! Last year I burnt my taste buds drinking hot, hot, hot chocolate.
We walked around Christmas Village for a while. It was dark outside but the lights guided the way for us. We saw colorful lights all around us. It looked stunning! I got a candy cane from Santa! It was a little warmer where Santa was. We stopped and got popcorn. We ate the popcorn as we were walking around. When the popcorn was gone we got a hot pretzel, but not too hot. The lights are super bright and they look awesome. They make me feel marvelous!
We took pictures with Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer. My baby brother cried when we took pictures. I hope we get to do it again this year! It was really fun!
“My Favorite Holiday Tradition” by Isabella Bohner: My favorite holiday tradition is getting a Christmas tree and decorating it. I go with my mom and dad to pick out a Christmas tree. We like to pick a tall, fat tree so we can put lots of decorations on it. We load it in the truck and take it home. After it is set up, Mommy and Daddy put the lights on the tree. Then Daddy holds me up and I put the star on top. Then we put the colored balls and swirly decorations on the tree. When it’s finished it looks beautiful! That’s why it is my favorite tradition.
“Caleb’s Christmas Traditions” by Caleb Hawley: My favorite Christmas tradition is eating chocolate chip pancakes. I can’t wait until Christmas morning! My Dad wakes up early to make the pancakes for us to enjoy. Dad and I like it with syrup, THEY TASTE SO GOOD! We drink chocolate milk too. As you can tell I like chocolate! Next I open presents then I watch The Polar Express. It’s a good movie. Then I have a snowball fight with my Dad. I usually win. Last I play with my new toys. I love Christmas! I can’t wait for next Christmas!
“Family Time” by Stephen Lacey: My favorite Christmas tradition is spending time with my family. On Christmas morning, I go in my mom’s bed with my mom and dad, and we lay around for a while. Then, my dad and I go to the living room to play games on the Xbox like Call of Duty. Later, I go to my Pop Pop’s house to spend time with him and eat dinner. Next, I go to my mom mom’s house. Sometimes I eat there too. I spend time there too. Finally, I go home and open my presents in the living room. They are under the tree. I have a lot of fun spending time with my family on Christmas.
“Christmas Party” by Logan Crump: My favorite holiday tradition is having a Christmas party. We wake up on Christmas morning when the sun rises. We all go downstairs. I give my dog, Callie, a huge bone. My other 2 dogs, Boomer and Lilia, always get a box of treats. When we are done opening the present some of our guests start to arrive. That’s when we start to set up for the rest of the guests. There is a lot food all over the kitchen counters. The party really starts at sunset. We eat ham, mashed potatoes and the vegetables with dip .Then comes the best part. We play a card game. In this card game we win presents! We all sit in the living room. Everyone gets five cards. When my grandmother picks a card and you have the same number, you get to go to the tree and find a wrapped present with your name on it but you can’t open it yet. When the presents under the tree run out, you can swap your present with someone else. It is a fun game! When they all leave, we clean up a little. Finally it is time for bed. I can’t wait for this year’s Christmas Party!
“My Favorite Holiday Tradition” by Kaylee Heimbach: Every Christmas, I and Mom make cookies together for Santa. We make chocolate chip cookies. They are my favorite kind of cookie. I help Mom by mixing the flour, eggs, sugar and other ingredients. After we mix the ingredients, Mom lets me lick the spoon. We then put the dough on the cookie sheet and add the chocolate chips on top. Then we bake the dough for an hour. When the oven beeps, we know the cookies are done! Mom takes the cookies out of the oven and we let them cool for an hour. After the cookies cool, we put five cookies on a special plate for Santa. After the cookies are ready, we are careful to push the plate of cookies all the way back on the counter so the dog doesn’t eat them. He loves to eat cookies, but he can’t because there is chocolate chips in them. Once we finish the cookies, we also give the reindeer a snack. We give the reindeer some apples because they like apples. We only give them a couple of apples because they’re not a lot of reindeer to feed. We put Santa’s cookies on the kitchen table with a note I wrote for him right before we go to bed. The next morning, we always find that Santa only had time to eat one bite of a cookie because he was in a hurry. He always leaves me a note thanking me for the cookies! I can’t wait to make cookies for Santa this year!
“Aly’s Christmas Tradition” by Aly Hanna: Every Christmas Eve, my family and I go to Christmas Village. We put on our winter jackets, get some hot chocolate and look at all of the pretty lights. My favorite part of the Village is the fire truck lights with Santa on the truck. Then we find my Grandma and Pop-pop and we go get some food, after that we go see the rest of the Christmas Village. My grandparents have a pet deer that comes to the Village with us. She walks around the Village with me and I hold her carrots and leash. After we are done at the Christmas Village, we go to my Grandma’s house. At my Grandma’s house we have some dessert. We eat a red, green, and vanilla icing layered cake that my Grandma makes. After dessert we open our presents and look for our elf named Princess. When I am done finding Princess, I put on my pajamas, watch a Christmas movie, and make presents for our deer. Our family has had this tradition since my mom was a little kid, and I hope we do it forever!
“Going to Grandma’s House” by Chase Patterson: Going to grandma’s house is my favorite holiday tradition. On Christmas morning, I wake up we open presents, then we eat breakfast. After breakfast, my brother and I play with our new toys together. I give my Grandma her present which makes her happy. My grandparents, parents, brother and I spend time together by the Christmas tree. While my brother and I play with our own toys, my parents and grandparents watch Christmas movies on TV. If my brother and I like the movie, we watch it while we play with our toys. We also all play a game where we put the carrot on the snowman’s nose, like pin the tail on the donkey. We spend all day together, and eat an early dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and rolls. My brother and I usually help decorate my grandma’s house and tree, but this year is different. My grandma moved three hours away, so I hope we carry on this tradition this year.
“My Favorite Holiday Tradition” by Lilliana Carbo: My favorite holiday tradition is making cookies for Santa. My Mom, brother and I meet in the kitchen to make the cookies. Mom has all the things ready for us to get started. We make a special cookie just for Santa! I get to put the flour in the bowl. My brother Michael, gets to crack the eggs into the bowl. Mom puts in the sugar and all the other ingredients. Michael and I get to hold on to the mixer to mix up the cookie dough. Then we roll out the dough and use cookie cutter to cut out the shapes. After they are finished baking Mom takes them out of the oven and we get to decorate them. We add green icing on the Christmas trees and then we put a Santa decoration on the cookie. Later that night we put them out on a Santa plate and put the cookies out for Santa. We also put out some milk. That way Santa has cookies and milk to eat after he puts out our presents. We can’t wait to see if Santa ate all the cookies! It is a lot of fun making cookies with my family. I hope we can do it again this year!
“Christmas Fun” by Shane Speaker: Every Christmas afternoon, my grandparents come over to my house to celebrate the holiday with us. One year, they brought two big boxes of presents. One box was for me and one box was for Kiana. Kiana and I each got a suitcase tag. My suitcase tag was Mikey the Ninja Turtle. Kiana got a Minnie Mouse suitcase tag. After we opened presents, we play games. My mom, dad, grandparents, Kiana, and I all play the games. We play Launch Skee Ball, and Mini Basketball. I play my dad in Mini Basketball. I play my sister in Launch Skee Ball. She is very good. I am very good too. After we play games we relax and watch TV because it is getting late. I am super happy that my grandparents sleep over at my house on Christmas! We all have a very fun Christmas. When it is time for my grandparents to go home, we ask “Why do you have to go?” The answer is,” It is the day after Christmas guy. You know Santa came last night. We love you xoxoxoxo!’ We all have an incredible Christmas together! I can’t wait for Christmas this year!
“Shelby’s Christmas Tradition” by Shelby Schwenk: My favorite Christmas tradition is making cookies. We make them for our family and Santa. We always leave at least 4 cookies for Santa to eat. They are usually chocolate chip cookies. I hope that they are Santa’s favorite cookies. My whole family, including my aunts, uncles and cousins, make the cookies the day before Christmas. It is really fun making the cookies! We all meet at my house. We have to meet in little groups to make the cookies. While one group goes to make the cookies the others watch the movie, Elf. It is the funniest movie ever! When the group is finished baking cookies the other people who want to make cookies go to the dining room to make them. Then, when everybody has made the cookies we go to the living room to watch Elf, and eat some of the cookies. We usually fall asleep in the middle of it. Uncle Adam and Mom-mom spend the night with us. In the morning, after we eat pancakes we eat more cookies. Hopefully there are still more! Maddy and I eat most of the cookies, they are really good. My favorite part about making the cookies is sneaking a lot of dough when mom isn’t looking! I get to lick the mixers, and Maddy gets to lick the bowl. It is so fun making cookies with my family!
“Austin’s Christmas Tradition” by Austin Butera: Every Christmas my whole family helps decorate the Christmas tree. It starts with a drive to Wendy’s Flower Shop. All four of us get out of the car and we start searching for just the right tree. We look for a medium size tree with not real long branches. My mom and my dad carry the tree into the house. Dad puts it in the tree stand and makes sure it is straight. My dad also has to go to the third floor to get the decorations. My mom and dad get the frustrating job of making sure the lights are on every branch. My younger brother Jackson and I watch while they put the lights on the tree. Once they are done that we get to help put the ornaments on the tree. My favorite ornament is a car with animals that sing. The Christmas song they sing is funny. It makes Jackson and I laugh a lot! The other ornament I like is the Charlie Brown Christmas one, my dad likes that one too. For the past couple of years we have been putting a Santa on the top of the tree. We use to put a star on the tree. I like the star but the rest of my family likes the Santa. I don’t know why? I hope we get to put the train around the Christmas tree this year! I had a really good time putting it up with my dad. I feel really sad when we have to take it down.
“Kacie’s Christmas Tradition” by Kacie Dieser: Every Christmas Eve my Dad hides a pickle ornament in the tree. My favorite part of the pickle tradition happens on Christmas morning. The first kid to find the pickle gets to open the first gift. I love gifts! I really want to find the pickle this year because I like finding the pickle every year. Once my brother, my sister, and I are awake, we all go downstairs and right there at the bottom of the stairs my dad is standing there videotaping us. When he is done recording us, he says, “Ready, set, go!!!” We all race to the tree, and we start looking for the pickle.It is always easy to find the pickle because it is always in the middle of the tree. It is really fun! One year my Elf found the pickle ornament. Guess where she found it? On her head stuck in her hair! That’s my Christmas tradition I don’t want to change.
“My Favorite Holiday Tradition” by Colton Mellott: My favorite holiday tradition is opening my presents. I have to wait for my mom to get up because I’m not allowed to wake her. She doesn’t get up until 8:30! We have our breakfast first. My mom likes to make pancakes for us to eat. My brother and I open presents with our names on them. My mom takes pictures. Then we sing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. I like to open my red presents first because that’s my favorite color. This year I hope Santa brings me World of Tanks Boxes and other toys. One of my favorite things to do is eat a Candy Cane that my mom buys for me. My brother and I have fun playing with our new toys. Christmas is a good time!
“My Favorite Holiday Tradition” by Amare Murray: My favorite holiday tradition is going to my Grandma’s house on Christmas Eve. My mom, my brother, and I go to Grandma’s and have dinner. My uncles, aunts, and cousins are there, too. My favorite part of dinner is the macaroni and cheese. It is the best! After dinner we talk and play together. Sometimes we play tug of war with blankets. Then it is time to go home. I love going to my Grandma’s house on Christmas Eve.
“My Favorite Holiday Tradition” by Gavin Haas: My favorite Christmas tradition is making Santa cakes. It’s so good! I think I know how to make it. First you make the cake and bake it in a pan that is shaped like a Santa face. Then you use white icing to make Santa’s beard and outline his hat. Then you use red icing to finish the hat and his clothes. Make the Santa cakes good but don’t make it perfect. Since no one is perfect. If it is right I hope it tastes good. If you liked the Santa cakes here’s another one. I like Christmas movies like The Polar Express, Twas the Night Before Christmas and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. We watch them after we bake the Santa cakes. On Christmas day we open our gifts and go to my grandmother’s house for visit our family. At my Grandma’s I get to see Bella, Grammy and my Uncle Steven. I am so happy when I get to go to Grammy’s I can’t wait for Christmas!
“Singing” by Cole Peters: My favorite Christmas tradition is singing Jingle Bells with my family on Christmas Day. We go to Grammy and Pop-pop’s house. We sing a special Jingle Bells song. The words are a little different. I play the guitar and Mommy plays the piano. My Pop-pop plays the tambourine. Ethan plays the tuba. Grammy helps Ethan play the tuba. Everyone laughs and has fun singing. Then we eat peppermint cookies and drink peppermint tea or hot chocolate. I feel happy because we have so much fun.
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