25 Days of Christmas 2012-December 24th: The Legend of the Candy Cane

I am thrilled to be able to share so many great posts this month in anticipation of Christmas with the 25 Days of Christmas Blogshare. Today it is my turn to share again. 

It is very important to me to teach the children the true meaning of the Christmas holiday. There are so many traditions surrounding Christmas and I want to make sure the ones we choose to share with our children are meaningful and focused on the birth of Jesus. One tradition I used to love growing up was that my mother would put candy canes on the tree for Christmas morning while we slept. Of course, we thought it was Santa Claus when he brought the presents. Though we don't put up a tree or teach our children about Santa Claus, I still love to give the children real peppermint candy canes. I didn't realize growing up (and I don't think my mother did either) that there is a Legend surrounding the Candy Cane. Though I am sure this is just a story, I love that it focuses on Jesus.

We have a book titled, The Candymaker's Gift: The Inspirational Legend of the Candy Cane by David and Helen Haidle. It tells the story of a candymaker who wants to give a special gift to his granddaughter and her friends for Christmas, one that focuses on the true gift of Christmas.  So, he makes a new candy.

It is:

White because Jesus is the Holy, sinless Son of God.

Hard because Jesus is our rock.

Peppermint to remind us of the gift of spices from the wise men.

Shaped like a cane to represent the shepherd's staff, a reminder that Jesus is our "Good Shepherd"

(and though it isn't mentioned in the book I would say to remind us that the shepherds are the first people the angels told the Good News to).

Shaped like a "J" to stand for Jesus, our Savior.

Red to remind us that it was God's love that sent Jesus to give his life.

and

Striped to remind us of Jesus' suffering.

I thought it was really cool that his granddaughter ended up helping him figure out what it would look like while pondering what each attribute represented. Then, at the back of the book there are ideas for a Candy Cane party, Candy Cane celebrations, Candy Cane decorating, and a candy cane cookie recipe. We used to make these cookies to place on our church's Christmas caroling cookie gift plates. 

You will also find the Meaning of the Candy Cane in the back of the book plus the Plan for Salvation. 

So, how are we incorporating candy canes into our Christmas?

• We read the book and looked up the verses that talk about each of the different meanings of the candy cane. 
• The girls will be getting candy canes in their stockings.
• We may play a game focused on the meaning of the candy cane on Christmas morning. 
• We made a Birthday Cake for Jesus. I am still debating if we are going to eat it before our Christmas Eve Candle Light church service or with Christmas dinner. 

Here is a picture of the almost finished cake. The candy cane on the top is the "J" in Jesus. 

Here is the finished cake.

If you would like more details on how we made the cake and what is in it, please see this week's Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen post.