Christmas People Santa Claus Poor Feast Homes Inside

Christmas "carols" are traditional Christmas songs. Some songs are religious, but others are about Santa Claus and presents, and others are about the joyful or happy feeling around Christmas. In some cities and towns, small groups of people go "Christmas caroling," singing carols at hospitals, at nursing homes for the elderly (or older people), or on neighborhood streets. Often people invite the carolers inside their homes to eat Christmas cookies and drink hot chocolate or hot "apple cider" (hot apple juice mixed with sugar, cinnamon, and other spices).

At Christmastime, it is common to see a large, decorated tree in the middle of many American towns. These trees are often decorated with lights, colored balls, dolls, or images of animals. A man dressed as Santa Claus often sits in front of the tree. Young children sit on his "lap" (the space on the upper part of one's legs when one sits down) and tell him what they would like to receive for Christmas. Then Santa Claus tells them to be good and gives them a "candy cane" (a red-and-white, hard candy in the shape of a "cane" or walking stick).

Other, smaller trees are often placed inside office buildings and shopping malls. These "giving trees" have special paper decorations. One side of the decoration has a holiday drawing and the other side has the name and age of a poor child, with that child's "wish" or something that the child wants. People take an "ornament" (decoration), buy the gift that the child wants, and then "wrap" it (cover it in colored paper). They place the present under the tree and the presents are given to poor children on Christmas day. Other people choose to "adopt" an entire family, providing gifts and holiday food for a poor family that doesn't have enough money to celebrate the holiday.