TeachersFirst's Victorian Christmas

Content Information for Lesson Planning

Celebrate a Victorian Christmas- This site provides a wealth of information concerning 19th century holiday traditions. Learn about Victorian Christmas tree decorations, view holiday illustrations from the December 1860 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book, and explore appropriate 19th Century gift suggestions. This site also contains a complete dinner menu from 1890, with recipes for plum pudding, easy to follow directions for making a pine cone Santa (Harper’s Bazaar, December 1867) and a facsimile of the first Christmas card, sent in 1843. This site is especially useful as a teacher-resource in planning a series of activities centering around a Victorian approach to Christmas. Use it also as the basis for an informational treasure hunt with students from upper elementary through middle school.

A Victorian Christmas - Grades 4-8 - Give students a taste of the Victorian celebration with this site showing greeting cards from the Victorian era, and explaining the Victorian origins of many of today's Christmas traditions. We wish the images were bigger, but this is a nicely designed introduction to Victorian celebrations.

Christmas Postcards and Holiday Traditions – Grades 4 – 6 - This site offers a brief but fascinating overview of 19 th century Christmas traditions. Browse through a variety of traditional Victorian Christmas postcards. Provides a great opportunity to discuss differences between the 19 th and 21 st century celebrations of the Christmas holiday.

Parlour Games – Grades 3 – 6 – What kinds of activities would be found at a 19 th century Christmas party? Read and learn about some very popular games played by children and adults during the Victorian era. Clear, simple instructions are provided and little or no preparation is required.

Christmas in England – Grades 4 – 6 – Language Arts – Help your students to discover meaning through context while learning about Christmas customs from England. This interactive site provides a festive and entertaining way to strengthen reading comprehension. An interactive quiz accompanies the descriptive text.

Dickens and Christmas – Grades 7 – 12 – Language Arts - Charles Dickens had a profound influence on the way we celebrate Christmas today. This informative site details the revival of Christmas during Victorian times, draws connection to many Dickens' novels, and explains several significant themes evident in A Christmas Carol.

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

Aspects of the Antebellum Christmas - Grades 7 - 9 - Social Studies/Language Arts - This site looks at Victorian Christmas observances from the American point of view. Focusing on holiday celebrations between 1830 and 1860, this site examines the growth of the Christmas holiday as we know it, examining those traditions that have continued into the 20th Century and those that are but a memory.

The Literary Approach

The Carol After Edgar Allan Poe - Grades 9-12 - English - Tie together two well-known 19th Century masterworks with this adaptation of A Christmas Carol set to the meter and rhyme of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven. This creative twist on Dickens holiday tale can serve as a summarization of the novel for your students, or as a springboard to a creative writing activity on Victorian poets and novelists. Composed by J. H. McNulty

Deck the Halls

Victorian Paper Cornucopias - Grades 3 - 6 - During the Victorian era these festively decorated ornaments were filled with sweets and hung from the branches of Christmas trees. Get your students involved in this traditional holiday craft with this simple pattern and instructions.

Pomanders - Grades 2 - 6 - Pomanders were used as early as the Middle Ages and their popularity continued into the Victorian era where they were lovingly made and given as fragrant gifts, hung on the branches of Christmas trees, arranged in decorative bowls, or placed in closets to ward off moths. Full directions for the creation of this traditional Victorian decoration using apples, oranges, lemons, limes, cloves, and creativity, are provided.

Virtual Victorian

Duttie’s Just Victorian - Grades 5 – 9 - Language Arts/Art/Social Studies - Take a virtual tour of a Victorian Manor House, room by room, spending extra time at the Christmas Ball and the Christmas Tea Room. Experience Christmas morning in the Manor and learn some interesting facts about Victorian Etiquette in the process! This is an excellent companion site to the Dickens House Museum, giving a broader, full-color, introduction to Victorian furnishings, lifestyle, and decorations. Beautiful graphics. Loads slowly, and NOT ALWAYS AVAILABLE.

The Victorian Nutcracker

Nutcracker Study Guide - Grades 4 - 6 - Music/Language Arts - Use this site from the New York City Ballet to find ways to introduce your students to the glorious music from Tchaikovsky’s beloved holiday classic, The Nutcracker Suite. This site offers lots of ways to incorporate the Nutcracker story and history into curriculum.

Christmas Resources