Free Christmas in Italy Worksheet Printable (For Kids)

We are having so much fun learning about Christmas traditions in different countries. This last week we spent some time learning about Christmas in Italy.

I had a hard time picking which countries to learn about as we study Christmas around the world this year. I want to learn about all of them, but I had to narrow it down.

We started off December learning about Christmas in Germany and now we are learning some fun facts about Christmas in Italy. Including Italian Christmas traditions, traditional foods, and more.

Learning About Christmas in Italy

There are so many different ways you can learn about celebrating Christmas in Italy. You can use books, videos, printables, activities, and more.

Personally, I decided to use a mix of all the options above and I created a fun printable to use as we learn about Christmas time in Italy.

Videos

There are a lot of different video options and depending on the age of those learning different videos will be appropriate.

A quick google video search of “Christmas in Italy facts for kids” brought up a bunch of different options.

My kids watched a couple of different videos about Christmas in Italy to start off our unit. They started off watching an overview of Christmas traditions in Italy then we watched a couple more short videos.

Books

We only read one book specifically about Christmas in Italy. We read a couple of other books that have sections about Italy as well as information about other countries.

The Legend of Old Befana: An Italian Christmas Story – see the book on Amazon is a great story to read to learn about Old Befana, the good witch, who is a big part of Christmas in Italy.

Christmas Around the World by Mary D. Lankford – See the book on Amazon is another great book to learn not only about Christmas in Italy but other countries around the world as well.

Christmas in Italy Printable 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 Italy.

The printable is a 3-page document with 2 pages of things for the kids to color, cut out, and glue to the main journal page.

After completing this unit the kids will have 1 page filled with information about Italy that’s perfect for a journal page or a Christmas Around the World Folder/Book.

The printable includes a variety of different information (fun facts) as well as images for the kids to color. You can get a copy of the free printable pdf at the bottom of this page.

So what information is on the printable? So much information!

Italian Christmas Worksheet

I tried to pack in a bunch of information that I thought kids (and adults) would find interesting and give a good overview of Christmas celebrations in Italy.

Country and Flag

The printable worksheet includes the shape of the country of Italy as well as the Italian flag for the kids to color along with some simple information about the country and flag.

How to Say Merry Christmas in Italy

Below the country and flag area is a space for the kids to glue the how to say Merry Christmas in Italy (buon natale) box from page 3 of the printable. My kids always love asking how to say things in other languages so I knew this information needed to be included on our worksheet.

Personally, I’m not great at speaking other languages so we asked google how to say Merry Christmas in Italian so the kids could actually hear what it should sound like.

Fun Facts About Christmas in Italy

The next section of the printable has 6 different boxes for you to put “mini-books” found on pages 2 and 3.

The 6 mini books share simple facts about Christmas in Italy. The 6 facts covered are weather, gifts, food, Santa Claus / St. Nicholas, Christmas trees, and the Nativity.

Using the Printable

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.

Fun Facts About Christmas in Italy – the “Mini Books”

Here is the information and fun fact about Christmas in Italy that I included in each of the “mini-books”. You can obviously share more details about each of these topics if you want.

Plus be sure to check out a few additional fun facts I included at the bottom of this post that are not included on the worksheet.

Weather at Christmas Time in Italy

On the cover of this book, I had the kids write the average temperature in both Fahrenheit and celsius.

Inside the books, they pasted some information about the weather in Italy in December.

December is the winter in Italy. The temperatures are cold and there is a chance of snow in northern Italy. Italy has an average temp of 13 C (55 F) in December making it one of the coldest months of the year.

Christmas Food in Italy

In the book with the Lasagna on the front, the kids glued in the information about Christmas food in Italy.

In Italy meat should not be eaten on Christmas eve. Christmas eve dinner is typically a fish and seafood meal. On Christmas Day there is a huge meal. Traditional Italian Christmas food includes pasta, chocolate, meat, cake, and coffee.

When is Christmas in Italy and Christmas Gifts

In the little book with the gift on the front, we glued in some information about Christmas gift giving in Italy.

The Italian Christmas season with all its celebrations typically starts on December 8th and goes to Epiphany on January 6th.

Christmas gifts can be exchanged at different times during the festive season. Some people exchange gifts on December 13 when Santa Lucia brings children their gifts.

On January 6 La Befana, the kind witch, brings gifts to Italian children. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day after lunch gifts from Babbo Natale or Baby Jesus are opened.

Christmas Tree

Inside the Christmas tree book, we put a little information about this Italian Christmas tradition.

A Christmas tree is called an Albero di Natale. Depending on what part of Italy you live in you may put up your Christmas tree on December 6th, 7th, or 8th.

Interestingly having Christmas pine trees in your home is a newer Christmas tradition in Italy. In 1982 the first Christmas tree was put up for the first time in the Vatican.

Santa Claus in Italy

Santa is an interesting tradition around the world and while the American version of Santa has made its way to Italy it’s still not as popular as it is in the states.

In the Santa hat book, we pasted information about Santa. Babbo Natale is Italy’s version of Santa Clause/ Father Christmas. He is becoming more popular, as is giving gifts on Christmas day.

La Befana who delivers gifts on the day of the Epiphany (January 6) is still more popular in many areas of Italy.

Nativity Scenes

Nativities are a big part of Christmas in Italy so I included a little book with a Christmas nativity on the front and information about this tradition inside.

Nativity scenes, sometimes called a manger scene or crib, are called presepio or presepe in Italian. These scenes are the focus of Christmas decorations in Italy. Traditionally the figurine of baby jesus isn’t added to the scenes until midnight on Christmas eve.

Throughout Italy, there are exhibits of beautiful nativity scenes from around the world during the holiday season. You will find scenes of the holy family in all sizes displayed in private homes, town squares, and at the local church.

The Museo Nazionale di San Martino (National Museum of San Martino) in Naples’ has the largest collection of Nativity scenes and figurines. Including the famous Presepe Cuciniello one of the largest nativity scenes in the world with more than 150 people, animals, angels, and about 420 miniature items.

The first live Nativity scene was said to be held in 1223 in the Italian village of Greccio in Lazio.

More Interesting Facts About Christmas in Italy

I only had so much space on the worksheet so I picked some favorite fun facts to include. But I want to share a few more fun facts you can talk about if you would like as you learn about Italian traditions.

December 8th

In Italy, December 8th is a public holiday celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This is also the day when Italians traditionally decorate their Christmas trees.

Midnight Mass

Most Italian families go to Christmas midnight mass. Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter’s is one of the most exclusive and unique events you can attend in Rome. While it can be hard to attend this event in Vatican city it’s broadcast from the Vatican so you can view the mass from your home anywhere in the world.

Bagpipe Players

Bagpipe players called zampognari play on the streets of Italian towns and cities in the 8 days leading to Christmas. This tradition is more common in southern Italy but can sometimes be found in other areas.

Christmas Carols

Some sources say that Italy is the birthplace of the Christmas Carol. St. Francis of Assisi is sometimes called the “Father of the Christmas Carol” for introducing the tradition of caroling in Graecia, Italy in 1224.

Christmas carols were unlike solemn church hymns. Carols were simple songs expressing joy and excitement at the birth of Christ.

Christmas Markets

Starting in November throughout the holiday season Christmas markets pop up throughout the country. You can find some of the best Christmas markets in Europe. The Piazza Navona Christmas market is a popular market in Rome.

Christmas markets are famous for Christmas treats, toys, and decorations.

Activities for Christmas in Italy

Along with watching videos, reading books, and doing the worksheet about Christmas in Italy we also did some hands-on activities (our favorite!)

There are several different activities you could do as part of your unit. These are just a few options that I decided to include.

Make Pasta

Make fresh pasta or boxed pasta and enjoy a fun pasta dinner as a family.

Draw a Nativity

Choose one of the Art for Kids Hub Nativity drawings to draw. The Christmas Nativity folded surprise is a fun one or for a more simple drawing, you could do the how-to-draw baby Jesus in a manger video.

Go See a Live Nativity

Check your local area and see if there are any live nativities you can go see and experience first hand.

Free Printable Worksheet

Please keep this free printable worksheet for personal and class use only.