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One question I asked was "For those who are non-Christian or who do not celebrate Christmas is there anything you wish you could tell the rest of us about the holiday season and your children?" This post is a compilation of the responses to that question. I know it is long but I really thought the best way to share these people's thoughts was to show them in a fashion only edited for clarity, spelling etc., so grab your favorite drink, put up your feet and scroll away. Each paragraph below is the response of a different person.
Our family is wiccan/pagan - although we do not celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, we do celebrate winter solstice. Within our home we're open to a great variety of things and would not restrict kids from exploring different points of view. I wish more people felt as flexible. Like we don't get offended when someone says Merry Christmas and don't feel the need to correct them. There are far more important things to be concerned with. Within our troop we make a lot of effort to make sure that we do not bridge into "faith based" activities any more than necessary. We do a pre-break Winter Fun party every year for the troop. Nativities & dreidel making would not be included. Offering a variety of coloring sheets might be ok since they could choose, but we would not go out of the way to offer such. We don't do a gift exchange. As a a big multi-level troop that would just be too much to coordinate. The troop usually will gift each Scout with something at the party - but its not considered a Christmas present. Also everyone gets the same thing so its fair and no one feels excluded. (winter break "survival" activity kits, new Troop t-shirts, scout travel mugs, & similar things....) Donating to Toys for Tots and similar organizations would be ok as they promote community need awareness - however, we tend to focus on helping food banks instead. Gathering food donations isn't directly related to any specific holiday and the food bank always needs donations and volunteer support.
We celebrate Christmas for non religious reasons. Ours is mostly geared towards the pagan traditions which most religious sectors have adopted as "Christian" traditions. We teach our children about being kind and generous and helping others. We have educated our children about all faiths and their traditions as we feel that knowledge of others is important as it makes them understand others views. We do not shun other people's beliefs or how they choose to celebrate and we celebrate Christmas for non religious reasons. This makes things hard because most people just assume we are Christian especially where we live and often incorporate Christian things into Christmas activities. Since my children have been allowed to explore other religions they often just go along with it and smile although they do wish people would be more open to understanding where a lot of the "Christian" traditions like why Christmas falls in December or why we decorate a tree comes from. When my kids try and explain a lot of these things it is often met with anger from both adults and kids who believe so much in their own faith that they don't like when others believe in different things. If non-believers can be open and accept others, why can't religious people do the same for non-believers? This is why Christmas for us focuses on kindness, generosity and giving back to the community even though we classify ourselves as atheists.
Even when you celebrate secular aspects of Christmas those are STILL Christmas activities. As an atheist I don't care, but I know our Jewish families care very much about it. They have no use for ornaments. Candy canes ARE religious. If the girls want to do a gift exchange that is fine, but it has to be centered on celebrating the end of year, not Christmas. Our girls always plan a December party. We have Hindu, Christian, Catholic, Wiccan, atheist, and Jewish girls. We go with polar bears and penguins--and snow flakes! It is easy to think of winter activities that are NOT religiously coded if you are willing to put in some thought and intention.
I’m an atheist and my family celebrates Christmas. I believe it is widely celebrated by non-Christian’s. Also for the last question, we celebrate Winter to cover all the bases and we celebrate the GS holidays too.
I am a non Christian that celebrates Christmas.
Even being non-theist, we still discuss holiday traditions practiced by other religions so our child can be educated about holidays around the world.
Thanks for asking. I am an atheist but do not have a girl in the troop. I am open to Christmas and Hanukkah in general but not if very religiously celebrated.
I am not Christian but celebrate Christmas. I reject any activities that are not secular for my troop, regardless of which religion. I prefer to leave ALL religions out of the equation.
We are not Christian but celebrate Christmas as a cultural holiday - I don't like that everyone assumes that all kids are Christian or are ok with “faking it” - we live in a very Christian area, and it’s often assumed that my kids are familiar with the nativity story, that they are ok with stuff that references god and Jesus, that even if we don’t practice Christianity, certainly we accept it and are ok pretending (it makes me very uncomfortable). These same families wouldn’t be comfortable attending a Jewish, Hindu, Pagan, or Muslim event and “faking it” - but Christianity is assumed to be the default.
We celebrate a secular Christmas, so as a leader and educator, I would never incorporate Christian religious symbols or traditions—Santa, Christmas trees, ornaments, etc. unless I knew all winter holidays were included. I would prefer to focus on giving and serving others during the holidays as well as a secular celebration of winter lights and nights. There is no shortage of Christmas in our culture, both religious and secular, so I do not feel like this needs to be a focus of Girl Scouts when the group is not inherently religious in nature.
We celebrate all the great things that we have done throughout the year. We are a family of atheists but we still gifts. We show gratitude for each other through our winter traditions and incorporate some "religious " traditions such as gift giving in our winter celebration. My child believes in Santa, thanks to school, and enjoys making Christmas cookies for all our neighbors. Many "Christmas" traditions are not religious based and we participate in many holiday traditions in our own lives.
We don’t actually mind doing any of the secular Christmas stuff in groups even though it’s not our thing. It’s the especially Christian stuff that makes me uncomfortable unless it’s explicitly paired with other religious traditions to show a range. I’m not anti religion for other people! I just want everyone to have space for their own holiday to feel special and not overshadowed by Christmas.
Most of what Christians do at Christmas are actually holdovers from the pagan holiday precursor, which is hilarious to an atheist like me. Nonetheless, I will not do anything with the troop that celebrates any specific religious holiday. Even having girls talk about their family traditions is icky to me if there is no diversity in the troop.
We are happy participating in learning about any other traditions. Our community has an issue with being inclusive of non Christian girls. For example, we did a float with every troop in the area being invited. They had all Christian signage and nothing else. We sing Carol's, but no Jewish, Kwanzaa, etc ones. It's infuriating.
There’s plenty of wonderful winter crafts and activities to do that have nothing to do with Christmas, Santa, Or Hanukkah. You can also tie into Giving Thanks and Giving in general. Also, there are plenty of non-Christians, such as myself, that celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday with a tree and Santa.
We celebrate a secular Christmas as an excuse to spend time with family, bond as a family, and light up an otherwise dark season with light and love. Overt Christian symbolism makes us uncomfortable and we steer clear of events where the Jesus story is the focus. Especially as a two-mommy family.
It's ok to enjoy the giving, receiving, friendship and family of it all without religion. My kids know and respect different religions, and they are super respectful to others... I wish that same respect for our non-religious family was returned more often.
I am open to my children learning about all religions. I am also a teacher in a public school and I love that at our school we teach about religion in a historical and cultural context to build knowledge and understanding of the world around us.
Our house celebrates secular Christmas as well as the winter solstice. I think everyone can get behind the days starting to get longer!
I don't even ask them what they believe. It's not my business. If they want to offer it that is okay though.
We are Jewish and focus on the theme being a light to others, as all the holiday season has a lot of light theme built in. Also talk about being respectful to others, and enjoying the season even if we don't celebrate all of it in our house.
We celebrate Chanukah but that is not a major holiday for Jews. It would be better to celebrate the Jewish new year in the fall than Chanukah.
As a Jewish mom and educator, I am of the opinion that leaders should never assume all girls celebrate Christmas. Ask families what they celebrate and how they want to participate! If Christmas activities are planned, don't assume girls or their parents will necessarily speak up--many want to be included and will participate even if it is uncomfortable. In addition, please don't assume that things that are non-religious are neutral. Rudolph, candy canes, ornaments--all are associated with Christmas "culture," even if not Christianity. Even Daisies will notice when they are not being represented. On the other hand, I am all for including holidays when it is for the purposes of education or skill development. Sharing about the holidays different families celebrate--absolutely! We should learn about different cultures and celebrate our differences. Even a toy drive, if it is for the purposes of charity, and not just to celebrate Christmas, can be valuable. My daughter knows that sometimes we help people celebrate their holidays, even if it's not one we celebrate. Two last things I wish I could tell everyone-- The "holiday season" for Jews is in the fall, when we have several major holidays over the course of a month--not in December. And finally, please don't say "holiday" when you mean "Christmas." It's ok to say Christmas if that's what you mean!
47-year-old Jewish leader weighing in here. My 15 year old daughter weighs in that calling at the holiday season is a really good first start. Good job. One of the activities above that I really struggled with was learning how to play dreidel. I keep celebrating religion out of my troop as much as possible, but I am always open to learning and experiencing anything that is not from the default. So Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, or any of the other holidays that are not the Christmas majority are of interest to me. But that’s a whole lot of nuance that really deserves a conversation and not just checked box, ya know? My kid wants you to know that there are lots of ways to celebrate winter without celebrating Christmas. In the above section, you could do holiday decorations, that are non-denominational, but when you call them ornaments, it automatically makes it “Christmas.” Everyone can decorate their space, but not everyone wants to display an ornament. It’s again very nuanced. Most of it is more nuanced then I can answer here.
Our troop is in a pretty white/Christian area, but we proudly have 2 Muslims (twins) and 2 Jewish members—one of which is my child—I am not Jewish, but my husband is and our family is. I would never feel comfortable having religious parts of Christmas (Nativity, etc) at meetings. I was not raised religious, but also feel GS isn’t a place for it, unless your troop is through a religious group. We’ve celebrated a Muslim holiday at the twins’ house, and served latkes at international Friendsgiving. Our service unit also has GS Sunday, GS Shabbat, and GS Jummah each March so girls can learn about different religions to promote understanding. If you sing carols, please include some Hanukkah songs and general winter songs so others feel seen. Invite families to share their culture—even if they say no, they will appreciate being asked, and show the girls that all are welcome.
GS is not a religious organization. I’m a teacher. Of course kids are excited for the holiday season. But, we do not do anything holiday related other than talk. I don’t understand why leaders feel the need to exclude girls. I’m a proud Jew. Would those leaders like it if I only did Jewish holidays, even though girls on my troop are not Jewish? I think not. BTW, three of the first GS leaders were Jewish. Juliette was inclusive. Leaders need to be as well.
They want to be included and not given something different. Our SU does caroling at a town wide event and they participate even though they sing Christmas songs. If there is a meeting during Hanukkah, we will light the menorah with the troop to share that tradition. But I would not do Hanukkah activities unless there is a Jewish girl in the troop-share the traditions that your girls celebrate.
I have a troop that is all Jewish girls and they are very into their religion. I had a mom ask if I could do Jewish field trips and I said no. We are a Girl Scout troop and they get that at school. The girls love to share their beliefs which is fine. I too am Jewish but not conservative like them.
This isn’t a direct answer to the question you asked, but in context to the check mark grid above. I believe that in Girl Scouts, activities should have a Girl Scout purpose. So, I would not think it appropriate to just sing “Frosty the Snowman” at a meeting just because it’s seasonal (which is why I marked it that way). However, if the girls chose to carol at a retirement home, then absolutely! Sing away! Spread joy to others! I wouldn’t have any coloring sheets at my meetings - even for Daisies - so I wouldn’t have Rudolph ones either unless we were coloring cards to send to troops or some other service project. Girl Scout time has enough opportunities for sisterhood fun built in to what we are doing. While we certainly can acknowledge the season with some merriment like hot cocoa at a meeting or a secret sister exchange, the main point of what we do at Girl Scouts is Girl Scouts …. Not any one holiday whatever it is. For me, Sunday school, AWANA, etc. has a faith formation purpose. If families want that for their kids, they will prioritize those activities. In my opinion, Girl Scouts is certainly complimentary to religious education, but it is has its own (important) mission that we should align activities with regardless of the season.
While I am Christian, I still try to keep everything non-religious in scouting. While some of the stuff I said could be ok in scouting, I would still reconsider before I actually presented it. If it seems too religious, I'll absolute nix it. If we were to ever do anything, I really liked the idea you mentioned of allowing the girls to present their holiday traditions. Especially since there are cultural traditions that aren't exactly religion-specific. Or they are Christmas specific, but celebrated differently. It took going to college for me to be able to meet people of other religions, but I really appreciated learning about their culture and religion. I also appreciated learning more from my agnostic and atheist friends as well. As long as traditions are being shared in a positive and inclusive way, I would encourage it. (i.e. some of my atheist friends don't celebrate Christmas, but still enjoy giving presents because they like to show friends/family that they are loved. Or my Jehovah Witness friend didn't celebrate Christmas, but still enjoyed gatherings with friends and food).
I am Christian, but live in an area that is predominantly Mormon. They also celebrate Christmas but have different beliefs about who God/Jesus are than non-LDS Christians. So I have to often be careful with how I answer questions. Sometimes I will preface an answer with at my church we believe… and always leave all religious questions to the girls to bring up as they desire. There is a sizable portion of the population here that is offended by everything religious (usually people who have left the LDS church). I’m checking in with the girls’ parents to double check if they celebrate another religious holiday besides Christmas. If they do, I’ll ask them to help me incorporate something from that into our holiday party. This year the girls are bringing a cookie/treat recipe & ingredients to make it to an overnight. They all love Christmas music and will probably decide on a craft as well.
Very diverse troop, we did winter holiday's around the world and it was a big hit. Girls who celebrated other holidays shared with us their holidays and we learned about Christmas in Mexico and United Kingdom (we made Christmas crackers, had snacks from Diwali and made candle holders, we played dreidel and listened to stories from Hannukah and Mexico Christmas and did a place mat for Kwanza) Every girl brought something to eat that the have around the holidays. This was an afternoon meeting as it took several hours. (We also do a winter fun event after the holidays as it's easier for parents)
Another answer is probably needed above, which is “appropriate with the approval of families.” We are not religiously based (nor, in our opinion, should we be), though we meet in a very, very open minded Christian place of worship that encourages learning about different faiths and our similarities. We strive to expose our girls to all faiths and beliefs - we just struggle to find people to help present authentically (we are not qualified to speak of the Sikh faith, for example, and would not do so, and would love to find a follower to present).
December is a difficult month for anyone who does not celebrate Christmas. We are drowned with music and religious displays everywhere. Our troop does nothing "holiday" related. We do have a winter party with fun winter themed activities. It's 100% inappropriate for a leader to ask a parent who doesn't celebrate Christmas if it's ok for the troop to do Christmas activities. Just don't. We literally are drowning in Christian propaganda this time of year. Girl Scout should not make Scout feel "othered".
When they were younger, it was challenging to navigate how much Christmas was incorporated into school, etc. It's everywhere. We have to answer why we don't celebrate, why we don't have a tree, all those questions. We do celebrate with family, but not in our own home (we are Baha'i). In our troop, I have girls who are atheist, agnostic, Jewish, Christian, Baha'i, and have had Muslim girls in the past. So we steer clear of anything religious, focus on winter themes only.
There are so many holiday options that don't involve Christian themes. Our troop decorates cookies for our last meeting in December. The cookies are shaped like sweaters, stars (our troop crest), trefoils, and GS vests. While Christians may have incorporated things like cookie decorating into their celebrations, they don't belong to them in the way Nativity scenes or tree ornaments do. We don't even call it a holiday party. We call it a cookie decorating party.
As there are different types of families in our society, there are different religious beliefs too! It’s important to respect everyone’s beliefs and know about different ways of living! There is no one good or bad religion, they are different beliefs. There are few reasons why a person believes the way they do! If you don’t want to learn about different beliefs, atleast acknowledge and respect individuality!
It really is not necessary to celebrate the holidays as as a troop. While it’s nice to be in inclusive Reindeer, candy canes , frost the snowman, silent night etc are associated with Christmas oriented holidays and really really make the rest of of feel left out. If you do feel like it’s important to acknowledge holidays have each girl talk for three minutes about a favorite family tradition.
Kids who are in the minority with regards to religious and holiday beliefs often do NOT want to be put on the spot to explain their own beliefs and traditions. They don’t want to have to speak up about feeling different or left out, and they should not have to.
We actually just fill out the sensitive topics forms and for those who want to attend can. Otherwise, we do a season of giving back with boxes for homeless youth. This way no denominations are called for and we have given what we can.
Lately we just tend to keep religion out of our troop activities. We do have a family in each of our troops that is Jewish and they share traditions throughout the year, because the other girls ask questions so we can support them.
Celebrating the winter theme with snow and generic winters things is fine. If you are going to mention a holiday, mention all the holidays for that time of year eg Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and winter solstice.
We teach our children that "Santa" brings smaller toys or socks or clothes because I don't want another child to think they were not good enough to deserve a large expensive gift.
The holiday season is a fraught time of year. Unless the troop has a religious affiliation, I prefer to keep religious and cultural content out of GS settings.
I am non-Christian, I think learning about different religions and holidays is what GS is about, learning about and working with your community!
The season tends to feel like Christmas overload. Educational activities focused on the wide range of other winter holidays would be welcomed.
There are dozens of holidays between the end of October & middle of January, most of which aren't connected to the Abrahamic religions.
Most winter holiday traditions are religious and carry great value so respect them.
We just try to make it inclusive.
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