Winter Solstice and Christmas

Science -
Learn how the earth moves - make a model of the earth/sun system with a globe, thermometer and strong lamp to see how the angle of the light affects the temperature.
Point out that the southern hemisphere is experiencing their summer solstice.
Look at how the date of the solstice changes year to year here
Simple explanation of the solstice written for kids by National Geographic Kids
Build your own Stonehenge! Directions here
Suite101 has some Awesome Christmas science, including What was the star of Bethlehem, what are frankincense and myrrh, and exactly how fast does Santa have to travel?

History -
Read together from http://www.candlegrove.com/solstice.html
Learn about the evolution of Christmas at http://www.oldandsold.com/articles03/santaclaus4.shtml
Nice overview for younger kids here - http://www.brownielocks.com/wintersolstice.html
Wikipedia has a pretty good history overview of how our Christmas celebration came to be here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
Most comprehensive listing of various cultures'/religions' winter celebrations at Religioustolerance.org
History of Christmas from the History Channel

Math -
Make a graph of the sunrise and sunset over the next few weeks to observe the shortening and then lengthening days.
Fractals of Christmas

Celebration ideas -
Great things to think about and ideas here!
Don't be put off if you are Christian! The ideas and sentiments here are great!

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