Use this Children’s Message Christmas Quiet to help kids focus on the real meaning of Christmas.

Truth: It is good to pray in silence and stillness—even during the excitement of Christmas.

You’ll need:

• CD players (or media players)
• three CDs of different styles of Christmas music (or Christmas song tracks)
• index cards
• pencils
• a figure of baby Jesus from a crèche scene

Children’s Message: Christmas Quiet

Have kids sit in a circle. Place the three CD or media players around the edge of the circle. Pass out index cards and pencils, and invite kids to make lists of what they’d like to get for Christmas. As kids begin to write, play Christmas music on all three CD or media players with the volume turned as comfortably loud as your classroom location (and children’s sensory thresholds) will permit. You want the music to be distracting, but not distressing.

After about a minute, stop the music, and have kids place their lists and pencils behind them. As you place the figure of baby Jesus in the center of the circle, say: I’d like everyone to be perfectly silent for the next two minutes. You may close your eyes or look at this figure of baby Jesus, but please don’t look at each other until I call time. During this quiet time, please pray and ask God to show you what’s important about this Christmas season.

Discuss and Pray

After two minutes call time and ask:

• You were asked to pray and think about what’s important about this season. What would you say that is?
• How was the noise from playing music like what happens at Christmastime?
• How can noise or other distractions make us forget what Christmas is really about?

Pray: Dear Lord, it’s so easy to be caught up in noise and confusion and busyness. Help us find time to be quiet this season and to be thankful that you came to earth to be our Savior. Amen.

Needing Christmas music? This album is full of traditional carols that tell the true story of Jesus’ birth KidMin Quick Picks: Songs of the Christmas Story.

Looking for more Christmas ideas? You can find lots of fun and practical ideas in the book Seasonal Specials for Children’s Ministry: All-NEW Ideas for 13 Holidays.

Check out all these Christmas ideas!