Grittibänz

Its that time of the year again, the annual school buid-up to Christmas.  December in our school is full of Christmas cheer.  Yesterday was an especially exciting day. 
It started first thing in the morning, when each child arrived to find a chocolate santa stuffed into their inside shoes that are kept at school.  Chocolate in a shoe?  Of course!  Yesterday was December 6th, which is Nikolaustag.  In many Germanic countries, Nikolaustag (or  St. Nicholas Day) is celebrated on December 6th.  Children place their shoes out in the hopes that St. Nicholas will bring them something special.  It is always adorable to see our kids' faces light up when they find a special treat awaiting them at school.  The overwhelming opinion yesterday was that Nicholas had a key to the school, and was thus able to easily enter the school and leave their chocolates. 
We also had an assembly yesterday morning with Pre-K through Kindergarten, during which a special visitor arrived.  Yup, St. Nicholas again.  It was cute and totally fun.
But what was the coolest to me was the Grittibänz made by Pre-K yesterday. 

Grittibänz are little man-like breads that come from Switzerland, and are meant to be eaten on December 6th.  They seem to represent St. Nicholas.  My friend Iris shared one of the two Grittibänze she made with me.  I was so happy to learn about yet another cool Christmastime tradition from another country.

In the upcoming days,  we are looking forward to a Santa Lucia celebration, as well as a Christmas party and some other festivities.  It is so fun to share these traditions with our children at school!