Hollands Christmas

For most children in Holland , the most important day during December is the 5th of  December when Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas) brings them their presents!

St. Nicholas' day is on the 6th December  but in Holland  the major celebrations are held on the 5th December.

The name Santa Claus  comes from the name Sinterklaas.

On the morning of St. Nicholas' Day, Sinterklaas travels to a city or town in Holland, wearing his red and white outfit . He travels with his servants called Zwarte Pieten (Black Peters). When Sinterklaas and the Black Peters come off the boat , all of the local church bells ring in celebration. Sinterklaas then leads a goes through the town  riding a white horse. If he visits Amsterdam  he meets the Queen in the Palace.

On December the  5th children leave clogs or shoes out  by the fireplace or sometimes a windowsill  and sing Sinterklaas songs. They hope that Sinterklaas will come during the night with some presents . They also believe that if they leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinterklaas's horse  they will be left some lollies. They're told that  during the night Sinterklaas rides on the roofs on his horse and that a Zwarte Piet will then climb down the chimney or through a window and put the presents and or lollies in their shoes.

Children are told that the Zwarte Pieten keep a record of all the things they have done in the past year. Good children will get presents from Sinterklaas, but bad children will be put in a sack and the Zwarte Pieten take them to Spain  for a year to teach then how to behave!

If children are really lucky they might receive all their presents during the evening. This is called 'Sinterklaasavond' or 'Pakjesavond' (present evening). There might be a knock at the door and you might find a sack full of presents!

Sinterklaas parties are often held on St. Nicholas' Eve (5th) where treasure hunt games are played with poems and riddles giving the clues. Children follow the clues to find little presents left by Sinterklaas. Special biscuits and lollies are also eaten at the party. One type of biscuit is called letter blanket or blanket letter (meaning letter cake) which is made from marzipan or pastry. The biscuits are made in the shapes of the first letter of the peoples names who are at the party. Another sweet biscuit that is eaten at the parties are 'pepernoot' which are made with cinnamon and spices in the pastry biscuit mix.

Surprise presents are also given on St. Nicholas' Day. A custom at the Sinterklaas parties  often within classes at schools is that everyone's name is put into a hat and everyone picks another person's name out . Then they have to make a surprise present for that person. The presents are often things that the person would find useful for  their favourite hobby. The presents come with a poem inside that gives a clue to who might have sent the present but it is all meant to be a mystery.

Christmas Day itself is a much quieter day in Holland with a Church Service and family meal. Sometimes there is a special Christmas Day called Sunday School  in the afternoon at the church where the Christmas Story and other traditional stories are told. These are often the only presents children will get on Christmas Day because they have already got  most of their presents on St. Nicholas Day.

Many people in The Netherlands also have a christmas tree  in their houses.