Christmas in Hawaii

Many might think that Christmas in Hawaii is much different than any other state of the US.  In fact, it's really not.  There is not one specific Hawaiian tradition that is different than any other American tradition.  In fact, Hawaii is such a melting pot, so the traditions here are a hodgepodge of many cultures.  We still have Christmas trees, we still put up lights on our houses, and Santa still arrives (although very few houses have chimneys, so he comes in the front door).

I wanted to highlight some of the things that are uniquely Hawaiian this season, so I bought the book Numbah One Day of Christmas.

This was originally written as a song by Bob Magoon, Jr, Ed Kenney, and Gordon Phelps in 1959.  Rumor has it that while sitting in one of their homes on Diamond Head on Oahu, they wrote the song over the period of 15 minutes while eating Chinese food.  

You can download the song here for only 99 cents! 

I decided to make a companion pack for the book.  I included 2 comprehension articles about the Hawaiian Pidgin language, a vocab definition match up, several writing exercises with graphic organizers and writing paper, and even a Hawaiian snowman craft!  

This would be great for a Christmas Around the World project, too!  I also have a Filipino Christmas pack if you are interested in that.  There is a large Filipino community on my island, so many families partake in these traditions.  

Mele Kalikimaka!