Holiday schedule 2020/2021 below!
About Holiday Programs at Christianne’s Lyceum
Now more than ever is a time for us to come together, to unite on common ground and celebrate life’s joys, both little and large.
This festive period we want to gently (and virtually) knock on your door, offer to put the kettle on, and ask how you’re doing…but really, how are you doing?
We’ll explore annual crafting favourites as well as some new additions, and invite you to get creative using the new perspectives we’ve gained.
This holiday season let’s get reacquainted…
We’ll be capping classes at 12 registrants and ask that participants come with a mask. We will, of course, be following covid-19 protocol at all times with regular hand washing and social distancing (using our sneeze guards).
Preschoolers
If you have a preschooler who is looking to get in on the holiday merriment, we’re offering a drop-in option during the last week of the fall term for our Preschool Literature and Art class. We’ll be sharing some of our favourite holiday crafts and stories on the following days:
Monday, December 14 from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Wednesday, December 16 from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
The drop-in fee is $55 + GST. If you’d like to join us, please get in touch to register.
Download our 2020/21 brochure here.
Bringing back the light
ALL AGES
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11
6:00 PM TO 9:00 PM
Cost: $54 + GST
Let’s envelop ourselves in festive cheer, shared traditions and stories while we work to create something truly special. In the run up to winter solstice, campers will make their own twinkle light hoods from delicate scrapbooking paper, following the folds of ancient traditions and becoming immersed in its art.
Granny Blake's Toffee
AGES: 10 AND UP
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13
5:30 PM TO 9:00 PM
Cost: $63 + GST
Now’s your chance to join us for a Lyceum tradition that our students beg to attend every year. With an hour to stir, an hour to cut and an hour to wrap, there’s still plenty of time to hear a story. We’ll also wrap our confection in small portions ready to share when the spirit takes us.
Pay It Forward
AGES: 5 TO 14
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15
10:00 AM TO 3:00 PM
Cost: $90 + GST
Campers will work on producing handcrafted items; small rolled candles, original artwork, a mason jar of hot chocolate and marshmallows, a mug, a bag of toffee and a specially selected book to name but a few.
We’ll explore the young readers edition of Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde and facilitate discussions about the importance of giving back over a cup of the Lyceum’s famous hot chocolate (with marshmallows of course).
Mask Making
ALL AGES
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15
5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Cost: $54 + GST
Something we never thought would become a daily necessity is now just as much a part of our mental checklist as the true essentials. Keys? Wallet? Phone? Mask?
Join us for this camp and rifle through the Lyceum’s fabric stores to find something wonderfully festive. Campers will receive help in resurrecting the skill of hand sewing as they create suitably Christmassy face coverings.
Latkes, dreidels and applesauce
AGES: 5 TO 12
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16
4:30 PM TO 8:30 PM
Cost: $72 + GST
Participants will help in the warming of traditional latkes and preparing from scratch our own applesauce.
Even if Hanukkah isn’t a holiday you celebrate, the delicious aromas emanating from the Lyceum and the chance to shout out gimmel will surely entice you in!
Take home your own dreidel and a mason jar of applesauce.
Old fashioned ornaments
ALL AGES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17
4:00 PM TO 8:00 PM
Cost: $72 + GST
We’ll take a deep dive into the past with fanciful decorations from generations past. Paper chains, Oyster shell Santas, and clothespin reindeer will quickly evolve as we embrace the festive traditions that everyone remembers so vividly. This is one for the whole family, no matter the age. With the Lyceum’s expansive art material catalogue at your disposal, our suggestions are really just the jumping off point for your own creativity.
Story and wreath making
ALL AGES
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18
6:00 PM TO 9:00 PM
Cost: $54 + GST
During this camp we’ll make miniature willow wreaths from branches we collected ourselves, making the most of recycled organic materials. Christianne will draw from her extensive collection of holiday stories and read while campers intertwine their branches with sweet and spicy greenery and sumptuous adornments.
Help the Faeries Get Ready for Solstice
AGES: 5 TO 12
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19
10:00 AM to 4:30 PM
Cost: $117 + GST
Faerie lovers are invited to join us as we put forth offerings, creating tiny candles, garlands and gifts for the faeries who choose the Lyceum garden as their place to celebrate. We’ll also spend part of the day learning the fae’s way of communicating with runes, and demonstrate our literacy by writing these runes in tiny books to have at home or in the garden. The Lyceum faerie garden will be all a-sparkle to mark the season.
N.B. Participants are asked to bring a packed lunch.
The Gift of Tea
AGES: 5 TO 14
MONDAY, DECEMBER 21
9:30 AM TO 4:30 PM
Cost: $154 + GST
Each camper will have their own china teapot with 2 accompanying tiny cups that will be adorned with beautiful coloured ceramic paints. We’ll take things slowly and spend time designing, sketching out and painting delicate designs onto our set before making up the perfect tea blend to nestle inside. Christianne will help participants to select a book for themselves or the lucky recipient and voila, you’ve got the perfect offering…bespoke tea and a good book. All that’s left is to curl up in front of the fire.
The Nutcracker & The Mouse King
AGES: 5 TO 14
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22
10:00 AM TO 4:30 PM
Cost: $127 + GST
This is a festive tale that will continue to be timeless long after we leave this earth and Christianne’s way of storying it makes it accessible to all.
We’ll use shadow boxes and paint magical scenes onto our backgrounds before adding in our own hand-painted Nutcrackers and Sugar Plum Fairies to nestle in the scene, dancing as if they were on the grandest of stages.
Campers will hone their painting skills, focusing on fine lines, intricate detail and festive adornments. Put your request in for a one person showing after hours.
The Night Tree
ALL AGES
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23
10:00 AM TO 5:00 PM
Cost: $126 + GST
Christianne will share a selection of these throughout the day, beginning with Night Tree by Eve Bunting, and The Trees of the Dancing Goats by Patricia Polacco, both stories of selfless giving during the holidays. Then, using the stories as our inspiration, we’ll create our own natural food ornaments - some to share, and some to take home. We’ll walk to Jericho Park*, and hang our ornaments on our own Night Tree, an unexpected gift for Vancouver’s furry and feathered friends. We’ll also sing some songs, including one we’ll write ourselves and walk back to the Lyceum by candlelight.
Wishes for the New Year
AGES: 8 AND UP
SUNDAY, JANUARY 3
1:00 PM TO 6:30 PM
Cost: $99 + GST
Let’s start afresh…you plan the New Year’s Sunday dinner and we’ll do dessert. Along with something truly delectable, campers will craft beautifully ornate miniature paper lotus flowers, each of which will contain a wish for the year ahead and one you’d prefer to discard. Inside each blossom, a tealight will be nestled - three make a centrepiece. Lighting these lotus candles, as they float in a punch bowl will release the wishes into the atmosphere and burn the bad feelings from the past.