What's A Yule Log?

The custom of the Yule Log dates back to 12th century Europe (mostly France and Italy). It was a ritual that involved fetching an enormous freshly cut log to burn in the also enormous hearth of the house during the 12 days of Christmas (later modified to 12 hours). The log was so big it usually needed to be pulled by a team of horses or oxen! It was placed on the hearth and sprinkled with oil, salt, and mulled wine before igniting, using holly as kindling. The burning of the Yule Log was accompanied by much music, fun, and games. A celebration!

As great hearths began disappearing in favor of smaller ones, the big log was replaced by a smaller one, usually decorated with candles and greenery. It was placed on the table as a Christmas decoration. It further evolved into a "Buche de Noel" (the French words for "Yule Log") which is actually now a cake! Typically it is a sponge cake shaped into a log with lots of icing, decorated with sugared holly leaves and/or flowers.

The song "What's A Yule Log?" should inspire discussion about this ancient tradition. After all, the lyrics never do reveal what it is. Suggestions are made in typical kid fashion - wonderful, innocent curiosity. Depending on the age of your students, you may want to share some of the history of the Yule Log. But not until they have had lots of fun trying to guess themselves!

The jazzy rock style of the tune might also inspire some movement, such as shrugging shoulders with hands in the air or facial expressions frozen in a "huh?" look. Let them move to the music and help them illustrate the lyrics with their own actions.

An activity you may consider doing with younger singers is creating their own Yule Logs. Make a simple line drawing of a log (basic is okay). Label it, copy it for each student, then let them decorate it. Markers, crayons, watercolors, glitter, sequins, foam shapes, macaroni, pretzel sticks, marshmallows - whatever options you want to give them go on and on!