A favorite book to pull out for younger children in our home is Cobweb Christmas. It is based on a folktale with roots going back more than 200 years. Versions of this story have been told in many lands, including Germany, Poland, Russia, Romania and Great Britain.
It’s a magical tale about an elderly lady who decorates a wonderful tree every year, and every person and animal comes to visit it. The lady overlooks the spiders that she swept out of her house when she was cleaning it getting ready for Christmas. These spiders sneak softly, zigging and zagging, weaving little webs all over the tree and they are turned into shiny strands that become the first tinsel used on Christmas trees. This is a book we read last year, and the kids were excited to hear it again this year. Even the baby sat and listened and pointed to the animals throughout the book.
We stuffed see-through ornaments, that I picked up at the local craft store, with tinsel and hung them on the tree to remind us of this Christmas legend. My curious nature wants to find out where some of these things that we do at Christmas originated.
Another thing to do, after you read this book, is make Spider Cookies. They are really simple and tasty.
About Brenda Sain
Brenda Sain is a homeschooling mother of five who has a wonderful husband encouraging her to be the woman that God has created her to be. Together they are very intentional about spending time together as a family. She considers her daily life with her children as her ministry and has found many avenues to encourage others to live a lifestyle of learning. She is the founder of an online homeschool community, Our Lifestyle of Learning (http://www.ourlifestyleoflearning), and a curriculum review site authored by a group of well-known homeschool bloggers, Curriculum Choice (http://www.thecurriculumchoice.com). She blogs about their homeschool journey and family traditions at Tie That Binds Us. (http://www.thetiethatbindsus.blogspot.com).
