Christmas in Peru is one of the countries we decided to learn about. We have been having so much fun learning about different Christmas traditions and foods around the world.
It’s been so fun for us to see the similarities and differences in how people celebrate Christmas around the world.
Like many parts of the world, Peru has traditions unique to the country, as well as shared traditions with other areas of the world during the holiday season.
Learning About Christmas in Peru
There are so many different ways you can learn about celebrating Christmas in Peru. You can use books, videos, online articles, printables, activities, recipes, and more.
Personally, I decided to use a mix of all the options above, plus I created a fun printable to use as we learn about Christmas time in Peru.
Videos
There are a lot of different video options and depending on the age of those participating different videos will be appropriate.
A quick google video search of “Christmas in Peru facts for kids” brought up a bunch of different options. There weren’t a lot of videos specifically about Christmas in Peru, but we found this one that’s a woman from Lima Peru telling about traditions that was interesting.
Books
We read a few different books about Peru. We couldn’t find any specifically about Christmas in Peru so we just read a few (flipped through the pages) about Peruvian culture and the country.
A couple of fictional stories that talk about Peru at Christmas are The Sunflower by Richard Paul Evens (set in an orphanage in Peru) and Skipping Christmas aka Christmas with the Kranks (mentions Peru)
Christmas Recipes
Food is one of our favorite ways to learn about the Christmas season in different countries.
There is nothing like having the hands-on experience of making traditional dishes from the country and trying them. It’s the perfect opportunity to try something new for the whole family.
A few recipes for classic dishes of Peruvian food you can try making are:
PANETÓN – A Christmas Fruit Cake Dessert
PICARONES – Peruvian doughnuts are not as traditional at Christmas but delicious
Peruvian Hot Chocolate – Creamy, Delicious, and a little bit spicy.
Peru Activities
There are several fun activities you can do as you learn about Christmas time in Peru. The main activity we did was putting together our Christmas in Peru Worksheet.
A couple of additional activities you can make are these fun Llama Ornaments or learn to weave with this paper plate weaving craft.
Christmas in Peru Worksheet
As I was getting ready to do this unit with my kids I decided to make a printable to help us learn and remember simple facts about Peru.
The printable is a 3-page worksheet with 2 pages of “little books” for the kids to color, cut out, and glue to the main page.
After completing this unit the kids will have 1 page filled with information about Christmas in Peru that is perfect for a journal page or a Christmas Around the World Notebook.
The printable includes a variety of different information as well as images for the kids to color. You can get a copy of the free printable at the bottom of this page.
So what information is on the printable? I’m so glad you asked let me tell you about what I decided I wanted to include on this worksheet for my kids.
Country and Flag
The printable worksheet includes the shape of the country of Peru as well as the Peruvian flag for the kids to color. There is also some simple information about the country (that it’s in South America, etc.).
How to Say Merry Christmas in Peru
Below the country and flag area on the worksheet is a space for the kids to glue the how to say Merry Christmas in Peru box from page 2 of the printable. The box says – To say Merry Christmas in Peru you say “Feliz Navidad”.
My kids always love asking how to say things in other languages so I knew this information needed to be included on our worksheet.
Facts About Christmas in Peru
The next section of the printable has 6 different boxes for you to glue “mini-books” found on pages 2 and 3.
The 6 mini books share simple facts about Christmas in Peru. The 6 facts covered are weather, gifts, food, Santa / Papá Noel, Christmas tree/nativity scene, and hot chocolate.
The Mini Books
Below is the information that I included in each of the “mini-books”. You can obviously share more details about each of these topics if you want.
Weather at Christmas Time in Peru
On the cover of this book is the sun because Christmas in Peru is during the summer.
Then inside the book, this information is to be cut and pasted: “Because Peru is in the Southern Hemisphere Christmas happens during the summer. The weather is usually in the 70’s (F) during the month of December. “
Christmas Food in Peru
Christmas dinner is often eaten on Christmas eve after Christmas eve mass, though some families do eat the main meal on Christmas day. Dinner typically includes a main dish of roast turkey (sometimes it’s chicken or pork instead). Sides often include different salads, rice, sweet potatoes and tamales (like in many Latin American countries) along with Peruvian recipes.
In the book with the cake on the front, the kids can glue information about Christmas food in Peru. The little book has information about the traditional Christmas dinner.
The information to cut and paste says: “The main foods at Christmas in Peru includes roast turkey, salads, tamales, applesauce, potatoes, and rice dishes. The traditional dessert is panetón and homemade hot chocolate.”
When is Christmas in Peru and Christmas Presents
In the little book with the gift on the front, we put information about when Christmas is celebrated in Peru. Much of the Christmas celebration happens on December 24th la Noche Buena (good night) instead of Christmas day.
One of the big Christian traditions is to attend Christmas eve mass which is called Misa de Gallo (Rooster Mass) which typically starts at 10 pm on Christmas eve. Mass is followed by the main meal called ‘Cena de Navidad’.
In some areas of Peru, presents are exchanged at Epiphany (January 6th) instead of Christmas. During Epiphany small gifts like candy are often exchanged and the Rosca de Reyes (King’s Cake) is eaten.
The little book has some information but not all that is mentioned above, it says: “Peruvian families often exchange gifts on December 24th (Noche Buena) presents are often opened around the same time as dinner is eaten! There’s a countdown to midnight, people say ‘Feliz Navidad’ and then, the presents are exchanged. “
Christmas Tree and Nativity Scenes
Christmas decorations are a fun thing to learn about as we study different areas of the world. The tradition of having a Christmas tree has spread to Peru, where the tree is always fake. Pine trees don’t grow in Peru.
While the Christmas tree tradition is newer in Peru the Nativity Scenes are still the most traditional decoration in Peru. Nativity Scenes are called ‘nacimientos’ or ‘pesebre’. Some scenes are large and elaborate others are simple.
You will find some nativity scenes with native Peruvian animals like llamas and alpacas. traditionally the baby Jesus figure isn’t added to the scene until Christmas day.
Santa Claus in Peru
Santa is an interesting tradition around the world and is very popular in Peru. Papá Noel translated to Father Noel in English (aka Santa Claus) is one of the major icons during the holidays.
Some families wait until Christmas day for gifts from Papá Noel other families include gifts from Santa under the tree on the 24th.
Chocolatada Navideña
Chocolatada Navideña or Christmas Hot Chocolate is the tradition of giving kids homemade hot chocolate, Panetón or sweet bread, and small gifts in schools, churches, and communities.
A Few More Fun Facts About Christmas in Peru
These Fun Facts about Christmas in Peru are not included on the worksheet but might be fun to share as you learn about the country.
- Christmas celebrations really get started at midnight on Christmas eve with a show of fireworks, followed by eating Christmas dinner and opening gifts.
- Cloves and cinnamon give Peruvian hot chocolate a little extra spice.
- Peruvian food is influenced by the food of China and other Asian countries.
- Christmas Salad in Peru is different than a Christmas salad in the United States. Peruvian style salad usually includes beans, quinoa, eggs, avocado, corn, and fruit puree (like apple sauce or quince puree).
- Rice in Peru is often flavored with pork, fruits, and steamed vegetables.
Printable Worksheet
There really is no wrong way to use this printable. For our lesson I had the kids cut around the rectangle leaving the 2 squares that make the rectangle attached for the 6 different areas on pages 2 and 3.
You can talk about these 6 different areas in any order you would like. I let my kids pick the order as we went along.
For each of the 6 topics have the kids color the picture and fold the rectangle along the middle line, leaving the picture as the font of the “little book”.
Inside the book, you can have the kids write information or you can have them cut out the information in the light gray box for each topic and glue it inside the book. (We cut and paste the information)
While my kids were coloring the cover for each book I would read the information to them and we would talk about it.
Then after they colored the picture and glued the facts inside they glued the “little book” to one of the 6 boxes on the first page.
Please keep this free printable worksheet for personal and class use only.
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