Follow the Star
Play this Christmas version of Red Light, Green Light with younger kids to remind them of the star that led the magi to Jesus.
One child holds a flashlight and stands across the room with his or her back to the rest of the group. The other children stand in a horizontal line. When the flashlight is on, kids walk forward, but when it's off they freeze. If kids move, they go back to the start line. The first one to touch the flashlight holds it during the next round.
Berry Heart Ornament
Kids can create these sweet-smelling ornaments, which can be used for Christmas gifts. They can be used again as Valentine's Day decorations.
Materials: Chenille wires, pony beads, cranberries, glue, and ribbon.
Have each person thread one pony bead onto a chenille wire. Push the bead until it's approximately 1 inch from the end. Then thread a cranberry onto the chenille wire until it meets the pony bead. Alternate pony beads and cranberries, leaving enough room to connect and twist the wire at the ends. Mold the chenille wire into a heart shape. Glue a ribbon bow to the heart's bottom point. Tie a loop hanger made from ribbon at the top of the heart.
Let's Talk: Have family members describe what love feels or looks like. Allow time. Say: God showed his love for us on Christmas when he sent his son, Jesus, into the world. Hang your sweet-smelling ornaments on the Christmas tree as a reminder of God's love for us. Then save your ornament and give it to a friend on Valentine's Day. Include a note with the heart to share God's love with others.
Gingerbread Nativity Scene
Materials: Graham crackers, straight pretzels, unshelled peanuts, chow mein noodles, marshmallows, decorator's gel, frosting, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, gumdrops, plastic knives, paper plates, and clean scissors
Give each child a paper plate and equal portions of the ingredients. Have kids each create a Nativity scene, complete with a stable, family, and animals. Kids can create a stable by spreading frosting on the edges of graham crackers and sticking the crackers upright onto the paper plate. Attach a graham cracker roof using frosting, too. Create family members by stacking two marshmallows with frosting and breaking a straight pretzel in half for arms. Use decorator's gel to draw faces and clothing. For Magi, attach a large gumdrop to the top of the stacked marshmallows for crowns and portions of gumdrops to the pretzels for gifts. For baby Jesus, place an unshelled peanut in a bed of chow mein noodle "hay." Create a donkey using marshmallows for the body and head, with half pretzels for the legs.
No Room Here! Game
Materials: Activity area, masking tape, and a Bible
Here's a high-energy game that'll give kids a sense of what it was like when Mary and Joseph couldn't find a place to stay for the night.
Choose one child to be the Traveler. Have the rest of the children form a circle, standing an arm's length apart. Give each child in the circle two strips of masking tape to create an "X" on the floor beneath his or her feet. The X represents their inn. To stay at their inn, they must keep their feet on the X. Have the Traveler stand in the center of the circle. To play, have the Traveler approach a child in the circle and say, "I need a place to sleep tonight."
The child responds, "There's no room here! Ask (child's name) and (child's name)."
The two children whose names are called must try to switch places before the Traveler can take a spot. Whoever's left in the center becomes the Traveler. If the original Traveler is still in the center, he or she claps and says, "I still don't have a place to stay!" That's the signal that everyone must run to find a new inn.
Once everyone has been the Traveler at least once, ask: How did it feel to be the Traveler? How did it feel when you found a place in the circle? How did it feel to lose your place? How do you think Mary and Joseph felt when they couldn't find a place to stay in Bethlehem?
Christmas Cone
Have children make these gift cones for their families for Christmas.
For each child you'll need an 8-inch square of construction paper, a 5x10-inch strip of tissue paper, a 10-inch piece of ribbon, stickers, glue, scissors, and individually wrapped candies.
Have each child roll the square into a cone shape, and glue the overlapping edges of the construction paper together. Trim away the excess paper to make the top of the cone level. Glue the tissue paper inside the cone 1 inch from the top, with the remaining tissue sticking above the edge. Decorate the cone with stickers. Fill the cone with candies and tie the tissue with a ribbon.
Bethlehem or Bust Relay
Material: large jingle bell; stick horse or broom; cleaning tool other than a broom, such as a dustpan; laundry basket.
Form teams of six or less, and have the teams line up at one end of the room with the props at the other end. Give the first person in each line a jingle bell to shake as he or she runs to the other end of the room and performs a series of four activities. Once they've completed all the activities, have them shake their bells as they return to their teams and pass the bells to the next people in line. Play until everyone has had a chance to do the activities.
The activities:
- Donkey Ride -- Ride a stick horse or broom in a circle and say, "Giddyup, giddyup." Lay down the "horse."
- The Inn -- Wave a cleaning tool (other than a broom) in the air, and say, "No 'broom' in the inn."
- Manger -- Sit in a laundry basket and say, "They laid him in a manger."
- Angel -- Flap your arms like wings and say, "Glory in the highest."
Puzzle Tree Ornament
Material: small puzzle pieces, black poster board, green and brown tempera paint, gold star stickers, gold sequins, glue, scissors, hole punch, and ribbon.
Have each child paint 10 pieces from the center of the puzzle green and one border puzzle piece brown. Then glue puzzle pieces onto poster board to form a triangle "tree." Glue the brown puzzle piece at the bottom for the trunk. Kids can decorate their tree with a star sticker and sequins. Once dry, cut around the tree, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Make a hanger at the top using a hole punch and ribbon. The star at the top reminds us of Jesus, the star born on Christmas.
(Excerpted from Children's Ministry Magazine)
copyright © 2009 Group Publishing Inc.
