Celebrating a Sunny Kiwi Christmas: Traditions, Gifts, and Goodies

Introduction

While the majority of the world envisions Christmas with snow, cozy fires, and warm blankets, Christmas in New Zealand is a whole different story. Down under, Christmas falls during the peak of summer. The season brings not only sunshine but also unique traditions, gift ideas, family activities, and delicious food. In this blog post, we'll explore what it's like to celebrate Christmas in summer in New Zealand, including some fun facts and incorporating the Kiwi Kids Gifts online store for those looking to make the season even more special.

Christmas Traditions

Outdoor Decorations: In New Zealand, we still hold onto some Northern Hemisphere traditions by using winter wonderland decorations and Christmas card scenes featuring snow. However, there is also a strong preference to showcase our summery festivities. Santa is often seen in shorts and sunglasses on front lawns with twinkling ferry lights. The native pōhutukawa tree with its bright red flowers is in full flower at this time of year and can be seen adorned with twinkling festive lights.
Outdoor Celebrations: Christmas Day is often spent at the beach. Families pack up their picnic baskets, grab their beach towels, and head to the coast to enjoy the sun, surf, and sand. Building sandcastles and playing beach cricket are common beachside activities. Campsite around the country are full at Christmas with families packing up and heading towards the beach, river or lake. Families come together for big happy outdoor celebrations filled with family games, swimming and outdoor sports.
Long summer holidays: Because it’s mid summer this is the time of year Kiwis have their long Christmas break which means families often go on long road trips exploring our beautiful country, taking in the scenery on hiking and biking trails and other outdoor pursuits.
Christmas Carols: Although Kiwis love traditional Christmas Carols and croon away to Songs like “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” we have our own summer themed Christmas songs. These are fun and light and festive with lyrics depicting a summer Kiwi Christmas. Some titles include Jingle Bells (Kiwi style), Aotearoa Christmas, Pūkeko in a Ponga Tree (our take on A Partridge in a Pear Tree), and the great Summer Wonderland song by Ronan Keating. These and others songs are all available on You Tube.

Family Activities

Backyard BBQ: Kiwis love a good barbeque, and Christmas is no exception. Families often gather for a backyard BBQ, where they grill up delicious meats and enjoy salads, fresh fruit, and pavlova for dessert.
Christmas Carols at the Park: Most communities host outdoor concerts and carol singing events in local parks. It's a wonderful way to bring people together with their picnic baskets and celebrate the season.
DIY Christmas Decorations: Since many Kiwis spend time outdoors, crafting DIY Christmas decorations with natural elements like leaves and flowers is a popular family activity.

Delicious Christmas Goodies

Pavlova: A quintessential Kiwi dessert, pavlova is a meringue-based treat topped with fresh fruit and cream. Favourite fruits for the good old pav include kiwifruit, raspberries and strawberries. It's light and refreshing, making it perfect for a summer celebration.
Trifle: Trifles originated in 18th century Britain and New Zealand has vigorously adopted this as a favourite summer pudding and it adorns many summer Christmas dinner tables. Made from sponge soaked in fruit juice topped with fresh fruit, jelly, custard and cream it is utterly delicious
Seafood: With an abundance of seafood available, New Zealanders often incorporate dishes like green-lipped mussels, whitebait fritters, and crayfish into their festive meals.
Turkey and Ham: Roast turkey and ham are very popular Christmas meats but are often eaten cold with a range of salads.
Fresh Fruit: The summer season brings an array of fresh fruits to the table, such as cherries, strawberries, raspberries, kiwifruit and feijoas, which are enjoyed as snacks or in desserts.
Ice Cream: Nothing beats the summer heat like a scoop of ice cream. Kiwis enjoy a wide variety of flavours, from classic vanilla to unique options like hokey pokey.

Gift Ideas from Kiwi Kids Gifts

Kiwi Kids Gifts offers a wide range of gifts that can be perfect for a Kiwi summer Christmas. Some of the popular options include:

Beach Toys: From colorful buckets and spades to beach ball sets, these make great gifts for kids to enjoy at the beach.
Outdoor Games: Fun outdoor games like frisbees, kite-flying kits, toss the ring, cricket and beach volleyball are perfect for active children.
Colouring and activity books: for the quieter times after a busy day outdoors.
Craft Kits: For indoor crafting on hot days, consider craft kits that children can enjoy at their own pace.
Card and board games: very popular nighttime or rainy day activities for all the family to get together for lots of fun and laughter not to mention cheating!
Stocking fillers: Kiwi Kids Gifts has heaps of gadgety stocking fillers for fun filled play, some examples are sticky men wall crawlers (we even have Santa wall crawlers!),Jigsaw puzzles including Christmas themed, dinosaur pop up eggs, slap bands (including Christmas themed) sticker books, removable tattoos for kids, jewellery and hair accessories for kids and so much more!
Build your own Christmas Box: with so much to choose from we make it easy for you to choose multiple items to suit your young recipients interests and your budget and we will make it up all Christmassy for you and send it off in time for Christmas. How easy is that!

Conclusion

Celebrating Christmas in summer is a delightful experience in New Zealand. From beachside picnics and outdoor activities to delicious treats and unique traditions, Kiwis know how to make the most of the sunny season. Incorporating gifts from Kiwi Kids Gifts can add a special touch to your summer Christmas celebrations, ensuring that children have the best of both worlds: the joy of the season and the excitement of the summer.

So, whether you're spending your day at the beach, the lake or the campsite, or around the BBQ, embrace the Kiwi Christmas spirit and create lasting memories with your loved ones in the sunniest way possible.