Date : December 21, 2018
It’s that time of year again and what better way to celebrate Christmas than with May Gibbs and her beautiful, magical world full of Australian bush characters?
Every year, Australians are bombarded with images of northern hemisphere Christmas’s that just aren’t relevant to us – images of snow falling, fires burning, huge roast dinners and families snuggled together for warmth. It’s just not what Aussies experience every December. This year, why not turn to the old classic favourites, beloved by Australian children for generations – May Gibbs and her uniquely Australian bush stories! With beautiful imagery and timeless morals and messages to impart, May Gibbs is ripe for the picking when it comes to Christmas. Using May Gibbs as inspiration, we’ve come up with a few wonderful ideas full of Australian flavour to help make your family’s festive season one to remember! Read on to find out how to create your own May Gibbs Christmas!
Christmas is warm and fuzzy with May Gibbs
Visions of sugar plums, snowflakes and sleigh rides aren’t high on every Aussie kids’ list of priorities come Christmas time, so why not ‘Aussie-fy’ your Christmas with a beautiful May Gibbs-inspired native Christmas tree? A gorgeous native Australian eucalyptus tree will make a wonderful addition to your home this December. The olive green and light wood colours contrast beautifully with the more traditional greens and reds of a northern hemisphere Christmas, and the decorations can all be May Gibbs themed! Invite your kids to go on a treasure hunt and discover gum nuts, native flowers and other hidden native treasures to help decorate the tree. You can also either create your own gum nut baby decorations by printing out our colouring sheets on to card and cutting them out, or else buy these beautiful baubles.
May Gibbs takes centre stage at your table
Native Australian foliage makes for stunning garlands for your Christmas table. Get the kids to help you choose a variety of branches, flowers, interesting twigs and gumnuts, and arrange them artistically on the table. Encourage your children to imagine what it would be like to have Snugglepot and Cuddlepie join them at the Christmas table – you’ve set the scene with a few of their favourite parts of the Australian bush, and with the magic of Christmas, who knows what will happen?
Read May Gibbs’ Christmas stories with your children
Let’s face it – all kids love Christmas-related stories this time of year, and there’s nothing better than gathering around the Christmas tree and sharing in a story. To help add to the overall atmosphere of your May Gibbs-inspired Aussie Christmas, why not pick up a copy of May Gibbs’ wonderful Christmas-themed story? It’s a story that will be loved by the whole family.
