Celebrate twinkling neighborhoods, glowing traditions, and the science hiding inside every strand of lights.
National Christmas Lights Day kicks off December with one of the seasonโs brightest traditions: decorating with glowing lights! Long before today's LED strands and synchronized displays, Christmas trees were sometimes illuminated with candles. Electric lights offered a safer alternative, but it took decades before they became affordable and familiar enough for ordinary families to use.
๐ Early electric Christmas lights were expensive and hand-wired, nothing like todayโs easy plug-in strands, so only wealthy families could usually afford them.
by Joanna Cole
Hop aboard the Magic School Bus for a trip inside the world of electricity. This playful science adventure helps children see how electric current travels and gives them useful background for understanding the circuits hiding inside a strand of Christmas lights.
As you read, look for the path electricity follows. What has to happen for the circuit to stay complete?
Try saying these words aloud:
glow โข shimmer โข sparkle โข twinkle โข flicker โข blink โข flash โข pulse โข beam โข gleam โข glimmer โข dance โข trace โข spill
Do they all create the same picture?
Glow might make you picture warm white lights around a quiet window.
Flash might belong to a bright, fast-moving musical display.
Twinkle might feel like tiny lights scattered through a tree.
There may not be one perfect answer. The goal is to notice how one carefully chosen word can completely change the picture in a readerโs mind.
Bundle up, grab a warm drink if you’d like, and take a walk or drive to look for Christmas lights together.
Instead of simply choosing a favorite house, give everyone a few things to hunt for:
At the end, let everyone choose one display they would give an award to and explain why.
Every adventure has another path to follow. Choose a trail and see where your curiosity leads!
A strand of Christmas lights works because electricity travels along a complete circuit, a closed path that lets electric current flow from the power source, through the wires and bulbs, and back again. If that path is broken, the current canโt complete its journey. Some light strands are designed so that one failed bulb affects part or all of the strand, while others allow the remaining bulbs to stay lit. Want to see a circuit in action? Explore this hands-on Christmas light circuit activity and see how a simple circuit can make a tiny bulb glow.
Wonder Challenge: Before trying the activity, predict what will happen if one part of the circuit is disconnected. Then test your prediction. What does the result show you about a complete circuit?
Before electric lights, Christmas trees were sometimes decorated with real candles. In 1882, Edward H. Johnson created one of the first known electrically lighted Christmas trees using 80 red, white, and blue bulbs. Decades later, the National Christmas Tree lighting tradition began when President Calvin Coolidge helped illuminate a 48-foot balsam fir with 3,000 electric lights.
Wonder Challenge:
Imagine seeing an electrically lighted Christmas tree in 1882! What do you think would have surprised you most? Do you think we sometimes forget how amazing Christmas lights really are?
LED stands for light-emitting diode. Different LEDs are made to produce different colors of light, and many modern Christmas displays use combinations of red, green, and blue LEDs to create a wide range of colors and effects. Check out this video How Christmas Lights Make Color to learn more!
Wonder Challenge: Look closely at a color-changing Christmas light. Can you spot separate red, green, and blue points of light? What happens when all three colors shine together?
Would you rather...
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Be kind. Be helpful.
Be inspiring! ๐
Our family has always been divided on white vs. colorful Christmas lights! Last year, we found a light set that can alternate between the two, so now everyone gets their favorite. โจ๐
Every National Day is a starting point for curiosity! Read, write, play, and explore together as ordinary days lead to unexpected discoveries.
Follow curiosity, not the calendar. Choose the adventures that spark your interest and enjoy them whenever the time is right. โจ
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