In the run-up to Christmas, let’s celebrate Advent traditions in Zurich with our children, having fun and making memories.
Zurich is a wonderful place to enjoy the winter season, establish family traditions during Advent and learn about local customs. It’s the perfect place to establish some intercultural family traditions for the holidays. Yearly customs offer parents opportunities to bond with their children and give them a greater sense of belonging and closeness during the festive season. Let’s not forget, traditions create wonderful memories that can last a lifetime; they give all – both parents and children – something they can call their own and look forward to each year. Make your own combined traditions, drawing from your home culture and from Swiss culture in your new home. Here are a few ideas:
Swiss baking: Grittibänz, biscuits, gingerbread house
Many Advent customs of religious origin were adapted in the mid-19th century to channel children’s impatience in the run-up to Christmas, such as the Advent wreath with four candles or the Advent calendar with pictures. Other activities can be enjoyed by the whole family, such as making a Grittibänz (dough man) and Christmas biscuits.
The Grittibänz man is an integral part of popular culture: originally, these man shaped bread were eaten on Saint Nicholas Day, but nowadays they can be found in shops as early as the end of November. The name comes from ‘Gritti’, the dialect word for an old man walking with his legs apart, and ‘Bänz’, short for Benedikt, a common male name in the old times. Some community centres (Gemeinschaftszentrum) offer baking afternoons for children to prepare this Swiss-German speciality.
Another very much alive tradition is that of Christmas biscuits. There are plenty of recipes to choose from: Mailänderli, Chräbbeli, Zimtsterne or gingerbread (Lebkuchen) and Gingerbread House (made out of Lebkuchen!)…simply copy and paste some of the Swiss terms here on Google and you will discover plenty of recipes to choose from. If the idea of the Gingerbread house interests you, but you’re worried it might be just a bit toooo complicated, there are alternatives. A staff member discovered two wonderful books by author L. Anderson: No-Bake Gingerbread Houses for Kids and Easy Gingerbread Houses. There’s no need for the messy and time-consuming tasks of mixing dough, rolling it out, baking it, and waiting for it to harden. All the houses in these books are made using ready-made graham crackers, cookies, cereal, ice cream cones, frostings, and candy treats!
Candles
What would winter be without the warm light of candles? Making your own candles is one of the traditional Advent activities for young and old in Zurich. This year, the traditional pavilion at Bürkliplatz is being renovated, so candle-making will take place at Hechtplatz (Limmatquai). Many neighbourhood centres also offer candle-making activities during Advent.
Events and outings in Zurich
If you prefer to venture out and enjoy one of the local cultural events in Zurich city, that is wonderful too. Every year the following free events take place: Illuminarium, The Musical Advent Calendar, and The Singing Christmas Tree. They are described as follows: Illuminarium is an enchanting winter wonderland of light, illumination, illusion, music, and culinary delights awaits visitors until the end of the year. The Musical Advent Calendar theld in the Opernhaus foyer, bringing a moment of calm to the often-hectic advent season. Also, for children from 5 years, it is a great opportunity to get a first taste of classical music and to experience its whole spectrum. The Singing Christmas Tree, across from the Christmas market at Wedmühleplatz, is an elevated rowed vertical podium in the shape of an enormous Christmas tree, where various choirs – both of adults and children – spread Christmas cheer with their repertoire of Christmas carols.
For the little ones, the Elf village at the Christmas market in front of the opera (Sechseläutenplatz) offers children’s activities including carousel and a little train.
Family activities for the holidays
Story time
Have a special story that you share together only during the holidays. It could be a traditional book or even an audiobook. Such a lovely idea, parents with their children snuggled up together, enjoying a special holiday story. A great place to find the latest stories is the Goodreads (an Amazon company) website; Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. Our head and founder, Monica Shah, has a favourite English children’s holiday book called Crispin the Pig Who Had It All. Little Crispin, the pig who has absolutely everything, discovers the delights of using his imagination by playing with his newfound friends in an empty box.
Another wonderful option is to make plans to visit a local bookshop and choose that special story or even stories together. The book stories are nicely decorated during this time of year, too! Throughout Zurich there are many bookshops to choose from: Orell Füssli, Ex Libris, and Weltbild. Books are available here in different languages too, choose a book in another language you love so your child hears the difference just occasionally and absorbs your enjoyment of another world.
Ice skating
Hey, you’re in Switzerland; there is no better place to go ice skating. During this holiday season, the ice-skating rinks are so beautifully decorated with lots of lights and often a large Christmas tree. They offer the littlest skaters sturdy penguins and polar bears to skate with support, making it even more fun for first time skaters! Some of our staff members even witnessed parents skating during off hours with strollers. Oh wait, and don’t forget there is no better place to enjoy a delicious hot chocolate together; then nestled under a furry cover, watching the happy skaters go by. Of course, the Swiss love winter sports, so there are plenty of ice-skating rinks to choose from. There is the famous and Zurich city favourite Dolder Open-Air Ice Rink, but also others in the Canton of Zurich including: Heuried Ice Rink (at the foot of the Uetilberg), Ice Rink Rapperswil, Eispark Erlenmoos (Wollerau), Lachen Ice Rink by Lake Zurich, and Wallisellen Rink Winter World.
Our teachers at Children First love being creative during this time. Here are some of their ideas for creative holiday traditions:
Night/Sleep shirt
Make a holiday nightshirt. All our children love making T-shirts at school. It is not difficult and lots of fun. In the end, the children are always sooo proud of what they have created. You can find plain oversized T-shirts for all of you where you normally buy your clothes or, of course, online at Amazon. There are plenty of holiday stencils: Christmas trees, reindeer, and more! We recommend when you buy any T-shirt colouring materials, whether it be tie-dye, markers, or paints – make sure it is child-friendly or children safe. But be prepared; your child/children may insist everyone sleeps in it every night!
Article written by the Children First team.
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