New Year's Traditions Around the World

​あけましておめでとう！

Happy New Year!

Do you clean your house for New Year’s?

Do you eat special food on New Year’s Day?

Do you visit a shrine or temple?

New Year's Traditions

Multiple Choice

What do people in Spain eat at midnight for good luck?

• Apples 🍎

• Rice 🍚

• Bread 🍞

• Grapes 🍇

At midnight, the clock chimes 12 times.

People eat 12 grapes.

This is a New Year's tradition in Spain.

Multiple Choice

Which country eats round fruits for New Year’s?

• The Philippines 🇵🇭

• Italy 🇮🇹

• Brazil 🇧🇷

• Thailand 🇹🇭

Round fruits look like coins.

People wish for money.

This is a New Year's tradition in The Philippines.

Multiple Choice

What kind of beans 🫘 or peas 🫛 are eaten in Trinidad and Tobago on New Year’s Day? 🇹🇹

• Black-eyed peas

• Red beans

• Chick peas

• Black beans

We eat stewed black-eyed peas with pigtail on New Year’s Eve and New Year's Day.

Black-eyed peas represent coins. A New Year's tradition in Trinidad and Tobago.

Multiple Choice

When is New Year's Eve?

• December 31th

• December 31st

• January 1st

• December 25th

Multiple Choice

What do people in Denmark throw at their friends’ doors on New Year's Eve? 🇩🇰

• Shoes 👠

• Hats 🎩

• Flowers 🌷

• Plates 🍽️

On New Year’s Eve, they break plates on each other’s front doors.

Many broken plates mean a very lucky year.

This is a New Year's tradition in Denmark.

Multiple Choice

Look at this picture. What is this called in English?

• fire-flowers

• fireworks

• fire lights

• hanabi

Multiple Choice

In which country do people jump over (飛び越える) seven waves (🌊) for New Year’s?

• Brazil 🇧🇷

• The USA 🇺🇸

• Greece 🇬🇷

• South Korea 🇰🇷

​People wear white clothes and go to the beach.

They jump over 7 waves and make 7 wishes.

This is a New Year's Eve Tradition in Brazil.

Multiple Choice

What do people put on their houses in Greece 🇬🇷 on New Year’s Day?

• Flowers 🌷

• Bananas 🍌

• Fish 🐟

• Onions 🧅

Onions represent change and growth. People put onions on their houses.

​​This is a New Year's Day Tradition in Greece.

Multiple Choice

What country has these popular New Year’s traditions?

10 second countdown, singing, a midnight kiss, 1360 kg of confetti (紙吹雪)

• Canada 🇨🇦

• Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹

• The USA 🇺🇲

• Egypt 🇪🇬

Multiple Choice

The New Year's song, "For Auld Lang Syne" is from Scotland. Which Japanese song uses the same music?

• Niwa no chigusa

• Hanyu no Yado

• Hotaru no Hikari

Multiple Choice

What do people in Russia do after they write their wishes? 🇷🇺

• Make origami hearts

• Burn 🔥 and drink them

• Throw into a river

• Put under a pillow 枕

People write a wish on paper. Then they burn it.

​​They put it in champagne and drink it before midnight. This is a New Year's Eve Tradition in Russia.

Multiple Choice

What is December 31st called in Trinidad and Tobago? 🇹🇹

• Omisoka

• Ole Year's Day

• New Year's Past

• Fireworks Day

Ole Year's Day = Old Year's Day

The last day of the year!

Trinidad and Tobago Creole dialect (方言) we sometimes don't say the sound at the end of words.

Example: old = ole, don't = doh, sound = soun, end = en
~ing words = in

Multiple Select

What do people in Trinidad and Tobago do on December 31st and January 1st? Choose many answers!

• Go to beach

• Buy omikuji

• Play with fireworks

• Go to parties, nightclubs, bars

• Go to church

Multiple Choice

What time is midnight?

• 12:00PM

• 10:00AM

• 12:00AM

• 11:59PM

Multiple Choice

Review:

(1) Going to the shrine (2) eating mochi or toshikoshi soba, (3) visiting family and (4) Cleaning your house, are Japanese New Year's ( ? ).

• vacation

• events

• hatsumode

• traditions

Open Ended

What is your resolution for 2026?

Example: I want to travel around Tohoku.