Every year on January 6, Día de los Reyes Magos is celebrated by many Christians in many countries. The day is also known as Epiphany or Three Kings Day. It’s actually one of the oldest festival days of the Christian church along with Easter and Christmas. It celebrates the day that the Magi, or three wise men, gave gifts to baby Jesus in Bethlehem, which is why in countries like Mexico people exchange gifts on that day and also mark the occasion with all sorts of traditions that get passed on from generation to generation.
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Perhaps you didn’t grow up celebrating Día de los Reyes Magos, or maybe you did and let the celebration slide once you were grown up. Regardless of your previous relationship with the holiday, if it’s a celebration that you would like to be a part of your own children’s lives, we’ve got some ideas for ways that you can celebrate the holiday with your kids. It’s a beautiful way to extend the magic and spirit of the holidays and teach children about cultural and religious traditions.
Guide the kings to your home with homemade star decorations.
The story goes that the three kings were guided to baby Jesus by the Star of Bethlehem. Why not make a star decoration or multiple stars to place in your windows to guide the kings to your home? You can use a star craft tutorial or let your kids get creative with whatever art supplies you already have at home.
Explain why there are gifts involved.
In the United States, Santa or the baby Jesus may be responsible for delivering the majority of gifts to kids, but in many Latin American countries and in Spain, the three kings show up with the bulk of the holiday gifts. A way to teach your children about Three Kings Day is by sharing the story of the Magi and the gifts they brought.
Have a Three Kings movie night.
Many of us have movies that we watch every year to celebrate the Christmas season. Why not do the same for Día de los Reyes Magos? A great option would be the animated special The Three Wise Men, which is available for streaming on Amazon. The special is perfect for younger kids because it’s only 27 minutes long.
Make your movie night bilingual.
If your family is bilingual or you are trying to raise bilingual children, be sure to add some Spanish language content to your movie night screening. A quick search for “tradición de los Reyes Magos” will lead you to plenty of video content that you can watch.
Read stories to them out loud.
Make hot chocolate for everyone to sip on while you read books about the three kings out loud. We’ve got some bilingual suggestions for you on this list. If your kids are old enough to read, let them read out loud, too.
Bake your own rosca de reyes.
A rosca de reyes is a wreath-shaped sweet bread decorated with dried and candied fruits. It symbolizes the crowns of the three kings. When the rosca is prepared, the baker adds a baby Jesus figurine. Whoever finds the figurine gets to host Candlemas, which is celebrated on February 2. If you don’t celebrate Candlemas or have no plans to leave your home that day, you could have whoever finds the baby Jesus do something else.
Buy a rosca de reyes.
Even if you don’t bake your own rosca de reyes, you can still enjoy eating one. Plenty of bakeries make them, and you can even find them in supermarkets nowadays. There was a time not so long ago that finding a rosca de reyes at a grocery store in the US would have been impossible.
Have a DIY crown-making party.
Another great way to tell the story of the three kings—who are believed to have been kings because the gifts they brought to Jesus were so valuable—is by making DIY crowns. You can set out paper bags or construction paper and all kinds of decorations and have a crown-making event. You could even give out a prize for the most elaborate crown.
Don’t take down holiday decorations until after January 6.
Part of the wonder of Three Kings Day is that it extends the joy of the holiday season. While other families take down their holiday decorations as soon as Christmas is over, those who celebrate Three Kings Day keep them up. Heck, you can even keep adding decorations because the party is not over.
Make your own Three Kings Day decorations.
You can make your own beautiful set of three kings out of glass bottles. It’s a great way to spend time together making something beautiful that you can use as decorations for the holidays for years to come.
Give them a geography lesson.
Pull out a map or globe and show your kids where Bethlehem is and how the three kings traveled there. You can also show them the places in the world like Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico, and Argentina where Día de los Reyes Magos is celebrated.
Leave out refreshments.
Santa may like cookies, but the three kings are fine with just beverages. You can set out three glasses of water or anything that’s hydrating for them the night before. FYI, if you do leave other treats, they won't mind.
Don’t forget about the camels.
The three kings travel via camels, and camels need fuel. Set out grass or hay for the camels. If you don’t have any available, some salad greens will do. Camels are pretty healthy eaters, so you wouldn’t want to give them sweets.
Have kids put their shoes outside.
One of the traditions that many follow for the holiday is putting shoes outside their door on January 5. The next morning when kids go to grab their shoes, they find them filled with candy or gifts left by the Magi.
Have your kids write a letter to the three kings.
Santa gets a lot of letters from kids asking for what they would like on Christmas. Letter writing is a great skill to encourage in children, so why not have them write a letter to the three kings as well? A lot of kids put their letters or wish lists in their shoes when they put their shoes out on January 5.
Hide their shoes.
Instead of leaving the shoes with the gifts from the three kings right where your kids put them, hide them. That way, the next morning they can have all kinds of fun running around the place trying to find their shoes stuffed with gifts.
