After reading O. Henry's short story, "The Gift of the Magi," before Christmas break and a nonfiction article on this Latin American holiday upon their return from break, 8th graders celebrated "Three Kings Day" - or the Feast of the Epiphany - in English class to get a hands-on understanding of its traditions. Honoring the biblical gift-givers - the three wise men - "Three Kings Day" occurs on the 12th day of Christmas, which is the anniversary of when the Magi finally arrived to baby Jesus's stable in Bethlehem and delivered their famous gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. According to tradition, children leave hay for the Magi's camels and leave their shoes out for the Magi to fill with sweets and small gifts. In addition, families enjoy King's Cake and Mexican hot chocolate. 8th Graders participated in these traditions and then some - in adapted, COVID-friendly ways!

On Three Kings Day, families often enjoy King's Cake dunked in Mexican hot chocolate (which is just cinnamon-infused, chocolately drink). Therefore, 8th graders received packets of Nestle's Abuelita Mexican hot chocolate mix. In addition, since Kings' Cake is a sweet bread, students munched on sweet Animal Crackers after - in honor of the wise men arriving on camel - counting the number of camel-shaped crackers in their individual bags. Some students had zero camels, while others counted four!



Each student put out a paper shoe - modeled after the classic Dutch wooden shoe - for the Magi to fill with sweets! Find the paper shoe pattern here to make your own!



Add some fake grass to mimic the tradition of leaving hay and grass out for the Magi's camels! Similar in concept to leaving milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve - and carrots for his reindeer!



The Magi left each student a cup of gold-wrapped candies in their shoe! 



From carmels and candy bars to gummy bears, the cups of candy held a large range of gold-wrapped candy. However, just like how Kings' Cake is baked with candied fruit on top to represent's the jewels on the Magi's crowns, green and red-wrapped Rolos could be found at the bottom of their golden cups!




In addition to golden sweets in their paper shoes, the Magi left some other presents for 8th graders - sports equipment for outdoor recess, some games for indoor recess that can be played with social distance in mind, a new book, and a new 2021 pun calendar for their 8th grade homroom class decor!




Read Matthew's biblical story of the Magi here.