No matter what holiday you celebrate during the month of December, a common theme throughout them all is giving! Whether that is giving gifts or giving your time to others, there are many ways that we can give.
It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the hustle and bustle —shopping, parties, and many other fun things that are happening —that sometimes we forget what the holidays are all about. And in my opinion, the best way to instill the true meaning of the holidays in children is singing about it!
The songs I’ve highlighted are all about the true meaning of the holidays, and are so catchy, everyone will sing along right with you.
Some of the goals addressed in these songs:
- Increase awareness of winter holidays
- Increase understanding of social expectations
- Increase understanding of customs and traditions
- Improve understanding of gift giving
- Improve creative thinking
“If You Could Give A Gift” is a sweet song that allows children to brainstorm and explore the kinds of gifts they can give their friends and families. The lyrics of this song explain that gifts do not have to be expensive or fancy, and that they should just be from the heart.
Children love receiving gifts, but they also love giving gifts, and it brings me so much joy when I discuss gift giving with my kiddos, because they are so excited about what they have made or purchased for their loved ones.
Although the lyrics of “If You Could Give A Gift” mention Christmas once, if your clients and students celebrate a different holiday, that can easily be changed to accommodate different traditions.
“Holiday Time” is a catchy tune that discusses various expressions of the holidays, including giving, celebrations, and singing together. This song can easily be adapted to include more holiday traditions that your clients and students participate in, or you can even encourage children to share about their own traditions and include those in the song.
“Holiday Time” is really all about sharing our gifts, whether that is music, ourselves, kindness, or sharing presents. The song presents an opportunity to discuss these topics with our clients and students, and also allows us to explore various holiday traditions and social expectations with children.
With caroling, food drives, toy collections, clothing drives, and other giving opportunities, it’s important for us to explain to children why these things happen during the month of December, and these two songs give us the chance to do just that. Music is such an amazing gift and can teach others all about the gifts they can give during this special time of year!
Tell me in the comments: how do you teach the spirit of giving to your clients and students?
You can listen to all of these songs in their entirety right here. Lyrics, chords, mp3, and instrumental track for these original songs are available for download. As is the case for all Listen & Learn Music creations, we invite you to adapt this song as needed to best serve your students and/or clients.
