by Sheila South
A The Kids & Me Contributor
Christmas cookies. What comes to mind? Everybody has a favorite and looks forward to that special treat at Christmas time. Gingerbread, shortbread, thumbprints, peanut butter cookies, snickerdoodles, chocolate-peppermint, oatmeal-raisin, lemon drops and the list goes on! But today, let's talk about the SUGAR COOKIE!
The sugar cookie has a virtue which no other cookie can claim: the sugar cookie can take on purposeful shape and decoration and represent meaningful images to us. This makes the sugar cookie not only a tasty treat, but a perfect partner for a family tradition that can keep us close to Christmas: Storybooks and Sugar cooks!
STORYBOOKS
Reading with our children is great option for spending time together at Christmas (and at any time). Reading to our children shows them we value literacy and we prize the written word. Reading aloud is a great model to help our children's reading skills grow.
"The Good News of Christmas" (by Rousseaux Brasseur and illustrated by Sian James) is a gorgeous children's book 'celebrating the glory of Christ's birth story'. Written in charming verse, this story sticks like glue to the Biblical account of Jesus's birth. From the angel's appearance to Mary, to her reaction, to Joseph's reaction, to the call for the census and the journey to Bethlehem, to the angels' appearance to the shepherds, to Herod's attempts to find the Christ-child, to the visit of the wise men, the story accurately portrays Biblical events. Brasseur has written a lovely rendition and James has so warmly illustrated it. Here's a read aloud if you'd like to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyOU2teWGYA&ab_channel=Lolli%26Pops%27StoryTime
SUGAR COOKS
Now after you've had a cozy time reading to your children the Christmas story, why not follow-up with making some SUGAR COOKIES?! As children press the cookie cutters into the dough, they can retell you the important parts of the Christmas story:
The ANGEL appeared to Mary and told her she would have a baby.
The BABY (a gingerbread man shape will do in a pinch) would be a special baby -God's own Son - and He would be named Jesus.
God put a STAR in the sky so that wise men could find Jesus.
A HEART reminds us that "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever should believe in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
A CHRISTMAS TREE is an evergreen tree which does not have leaves that wither and die each autumn. The Christmas tree's ever-green boughs remind us of everlasting life.
Of course, there are MANY variations of cookie cutter shapes and parts of the Christmas story you could retell. There is no right or wrong way. :) Teaching the true meaning of Christmas to your kids is what it's all about. You can even share the Christmas story with friends and neighbors by attaching a little tag to a set of cookies you bake for them. Sharing the Christmas story and then baking sugar cookies to remember the story will become a loved and anticipated tradition for your children (and maybe grandchildren!) for years to come.
I can smell them baking now. ;)
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