Commercial activities during Christmas today are often decried as making

the celebrations of many pagan festivals. The hope was that Christmas would also

become a holiday that would gain much popularity.

Long before the birth of Jesus Christ, people in various parts of Europe would

celebrate light and birth in the darkest days of winter. The winter solstice,

when the harshest part of winter was over, was a time of celebration for many

peoples because they would look forward to more hours of sunlight during the

longer days ahead.

The Norse in Scandinavia celebrated Yule from the winter solstice on

December 21 through to January. Men brought home logs that were lighted and a

feast would take place until the log was completely burned. Each spark from the

fire was believed to represent a new pig or calf to be born in the coming new

year.

The pagan god Oden was honored by Germans during the mid-winter holiday. Oden

inspired great fear in the Germans who believed that Oden traveled at nights

through the sky to observe people and make a decision about who would perish or

prosper in life. This belief caused most people to stay inside during the

period.

In Rome it was the god of agriculture, Saturn, who was honored in a

holiday called Saturnalia. It was a holiday that started during the week that

led up to the winter solstice and continued for a month with hedonistic

celebrations. There was plenty of food and drink and the normal social class

rules of who had privilege and power in Roman society were totally disregarded

as everyone participated in the festivities. Some Romans also had a feast called

Juvenalia to honor children and the birthday of the sun god Mithra was sometimes

celebrated by the upper classes.

In the early years of the start of Christianity the main holiday was

Easter. It was in the 4th Century that church officials made a decision to have

the birth of Jesus celebrated as a holiday and Pope Julius I chose December 25

as the day of Jesus' birth. The holiday, which was first called the Feast of the

Nativity, spread to England by the end of the 6th Century and to Scandinavia by

the end of the 8th Century.

Church leaders achieved the goal of having Christmas celebrations, including

attendance at church, become popular during the winter solstice, but they were

unable to control other pagan-like celebrations during Christmas. Believers

would attend church on Christmas and then participate later in raucous and

drunken celebrations. But by the Middle Ages, from around the 5th to the 16th

Century, Christianity had outgrown paganism as a religion.

The celebration of Christmas in Europe changed in the early 17th Century

when Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans gained power in England in 1645. To remove

decadent behavior from the society, Cromwell cancelled Christmas as the Puritans

noted that the Bible doesn't mention any date for Jesus' birth. The lack of this

information and specific Biblical references to Christmas is also cited by

religious groups like Jehovah Witnesses as the reason they don't observe or

participate in Christmas. Christmas celebrations returned in England around 1649

when Charles II was restored to the throne.

Christmas wasn't a holiday in early America because the Pilgrims who came

to America had even stricter beliefs than Cromwell and the Puritans. Christmas

celebrations were even forbidden in Boston from 1659 to 1681. During the same

time however, settlers in Jamestown in Virginia were reported to have enjoyed

Christmas.

After the American Revolution Christmas again lost popularity and it wasn't

until June 26, 1870 that Christmas was declared a federal holiday. Christmas in

the United States gained popularity as a holiday period during the 19th Century.

Christmas celebrations also changed at that time to be more family-centered

rather than being carnival-like.

The Christmas season and all its activities are geared to the big day,

that attending church is a big tradition on that day. It is seen as mandatory

for devout Christians and for others who are concerned about retaining the

sacred meaning of the day. Many people fear that the sacred aspects of Christmas

are being lost and overshadowed amid the bustle of commercial activity now

associated with the entire season.

Church services therefore take place early on Christmas morning. Attending

those services is the first official activity that many people do on Christmas

Day. Unlike the Midnight Mass and other earlier church services on Christmas

Eve, Christmas Day services do not usually include the dramatization of the

birth of Jesus. They may be more subdued with a sermon that recounts the birth

of Jesus and his purpose to save mankind. The congregation is then exalted to be

as giving as Jesus and to help out those who are in need.

Consequently, many people will take some time on Christmas Day to

volunteer in a charitable activity such as serving dinner to the poor and hungry

at a church, charitable organization or other social services center. Others

will also work with charitable organizations to distribute toys to needy

children at shelters, hospitals and other places.

As part of the religious aspect of Christmas Day, groups that sing Christmas

carols will also be out very early on Christmas morning.

Although Christmas Dinner is the most significant meal of the day, a large

breakfast will also be served in most households that will be shared by all

family members. The occasion of all family members having a meal together is a

disappearing tradition in many American households and so Christmas is seen as a

perfect time to return to the tradition. Christmas Day after all, is all about

family, sharing and togetherness.

Throughout the day, greetings of 'Merry Christmas' will be exchanged by

telephone calls with family, friends, acquaintances, and loved ones who are

located elsewhere in the country and overseas. It is a common occurrence for so

many people to be trying to make international calls to loved ones and friends

on Christmas Day that telephone communication systems to some countries often

are overwhelmed. The availability of technology and the Internet eases that

somewhat nowadays however, as emails and instant messaging can also be used as

other communication channels to exchange greetings on Christmas Day.

Christmas Day Dinner is undoubtedly the central activity of the day. Family and

friends gathered for dinner take pleasure in enjoying and sharing a delicious

meal and also are mindful and thankful for the opportunity to be able to share

the meal, to have each other and for the material things that make their lives

comfortable and give them happiness.

Some of those material things are then shared in absolute delight as everyone

will gather around or near to the Christmas tree after dinner to exchange and

open Christmas presents. It's an activity that is relished and which is filled

with much laughter, happy chatter and merriment, especially by children who are

usually much delighted to get a toy that they had wished for.

After dinner and the exchange of presents, adults may have light conversations,

play games or even watch a movie. Children are often taken up with experimenting

or playing with their new toys. It has also become a tradition on Christmas Day

for members of some families, such as teenagers and young adults, to end

Christmas Day by attending the movie theater on Christmas evening or Christmas

night to see a recently released film.

Fun Team Building Activities

Team building activities allow you to improve productivity at work by utilizing creative and critical thinking, trust-building, problem solving, and conflict resolution skills.

Keywords:

team building, team building activities

Article Body:

The number of fun team building activities you can utilize to improve productivity at work are limited only by the imagination. From more simple and traditional games and sport-related activities, to more elaborate adventures drawing inspiration from popular reality tv shows, there are many ways to have fun while learning to work together as a team.

Creative and critical thinking, trust-building, problem solving, conflict resolution, and more are involved in many of these activities that give you and your team a chance to get to know and appreciate one another better as people outside of your typical environment, and help strengthen and revitalize work relationships. Some popular ideas include scavenger hunts, music and rhythm exercises, and other physical activities or games that require people to interact, work together, and have fun. Even a team cooking activity can provide a valuable team building experience. Many approaches to team building incorporate humor as an essential component to helping people lighten up, relax, and explore their potential as a group working together.

Some of the essentials to building an effective team include:
- helping each individual feel like a valuable member of the team with a unique purpose to fulfill that contributes to a common goal.
- encouraging open, non-threatening communication
- overcoming any barriers to group cohesiveness
- providing safe ways to manage conflict
- facilitating group interaction

Whether you have a new group of people who need to quickly get to know one another in order to form effective working relationships; renew an atmosphere of enthusiasm in a work environment that has grown stale or unproductive; or tackle some difficult issues such as the need for restructuring, or work on interpersonal conflict, there are many fun and helpful activities that can help accomplish these goals.

Depending on the size of your organization, the seriousness of the issues you need to address, and your current leadership capabilities, you may want to bring in a professional consultant, or order products you can implement on your own. Try browsing some of the latest ideas in fun team building activities online to get inspired and start considering the best approach for your team. Although the right solution will depend on the particulars of your situation, most team building activities are designed to suit a wide variety of groups, and can generally be adjusted to accommodate your needs.

Enjoy getting your group together for some enjoyable time outside of the office, and bring new vitality and cohesiveness to your organization. This investment in your people will have innumerable rewards in improving job satisfaction, reducing employee turnover and the associated expenses, and creating a better work environment for everyone. Why not take advantage of some proven strategies to creating a more effective team, and have a little fun while you’re at it?

Evaluating Your Team Building Activities

Don't be fooled into thinking that any weekend activity will pull your organization together into a team. A real team building event meets a number of important criteria that will help transform your work group into a cohesive team that works together seamlessly.

Keywords:

team building, team building weekend, team building day

Article Body:

Team building has become one of the newest buzz words in the corporate lexicon. In fact, for at least the last decade surveys of business leaders in every industry have shown that the prime characteristic they look for in new hires is the ability to work with a team. And why not? Research has shown that when people work in teams, they can accomplish far more than a group of individuals working together. But not all team building activities are created equal. Over the last few years, some industry experts have leveled criticism at the ‘quick-fix’ attitude that has been adopted by many companies who attempt to create or sponsor their own team building activities.

In order to be effective, say experts in corporate teams, a team building event must:

- Be integrated with real work goals.
o It’s not enough to plan a fun day of activities for your team. The team building event that you plan should help focus the members of the team on what’s not working and what needs to happen for the team to work together.
- Be part of an overall company goal.
o Plan team building activities and events as part of the company’s overall plan for success. That means more than just a one off event to go buggy riding. Team building events should be an ongoing, annual or semi-annual event.
- Be planned by a team.
o After all, the goal is to promote teamwork. The planning team should model the behavior that you expect it to promote.
- Be followed up with real work integration.
o A one off event that has no follow up in the work world will be seen as a holiday at best – and a cynical attempt at manipulation at worst. To be meaningful, team building efforts must continue beyond the event day.
- Be reinforced by rewarding teamwork and team behavior.
o Once you have a team that’s working as a team, you need to reinforce that behavior by rewarding it. Recognition of teams that are working exceptionally well, specialcorporate events to mark team accomplishments and notice in the company newsletter are all ways to reinforce and reward teamwork within your company.

If planning an event that will do all that seems daunting, keep in mind that there are companies who make this their business. A corporate events planner can offer your company custom team building activities that are designed to help your employees and coworkers focus on the importance of working together as a team by providing focused activities that require each participant to work as part of a team. Don’t just hire on a company to throw a do for your organization. Seek out a real professional with experience and expertise in building exercises that build teams.