Celebrate Christ’s birth with these Christmas ideas and a complete Fa-la-la-la-la Festival!

Kids love Christmas more than any other time of year — and who can blame them? Adults can get just as caught up in the excitement of this blessed season. So let’s get festive! Let’s truly celebrate Jesus’ birth and the awe-inspiring things he has done for us. Let’s celebrate, sing our praises, and say “thank you” for the most
precious gift the world has ever been given.

We’ve pulled together ideas that focus on celebrating Christmas in many different ways— from giving to others to receiving God’s most awesome gift. Kids are sure to love the fun candy crafts and delight in the moving-and-grooving celebration of God’s Son.

There are so many things for kids to celebrate during this time of year—families, friends, the ability to give, and most importantly, Jesus. Let’s make the most of this wonderful celebration!

Christmas Idea 1. Gift Jars

Age level: 6 to 9

Scripture: Matthew 2:7-12

You’ll need:

• Clear glass or plastic jars with lids,
• craft glue,
• water,
• paintbrushes,
• small paper cups,
• several colors of tissue paper,
• scissors,
• felt,
• yarn,
• gold-covered chocolate coins,
• frankincense and myrrh resin blend (available at www.internatural.com),
• mesh netting cut into 4×4-inch squares,
• ribbon,
• resealable plastic baggies,
• and parchment paper preprinted with the Scripture.

These stained-glass gift jars are filled with ways to remember how the Magi celebrated Christ’s birth with gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

First, have kids cut out 15 to 20 small different sizes and shapes of tissue paper. Then mix craft glue and a small amount of water in paper cups. Have kids “paint” glue on the jar and then apply tissue paper pieces. Set aside the jars to dry.

Give kids one or two frankincense and myrrh resin nuggets, and have them put the nuggets in the center of a piece of precut mesh netting. Have kids tie the nuggets inside the netting using ribbon. Place the frankincense and myrrh resin inside the jars.

Then have kids place several gold-covered chocolate coins inside a resealable baggie and place them inside the jar. Then have kids roll a piece of the preprinted parchment paper to give it an aged look. Put the papers inside the jars.

Have kids cut a piece of felt 2 inches in diameter larger than each jar’s lid. Then seal the jars with the lids, and center the felt over the lid. Using a piece of yarn, tie the felt to the jar around its neck.

Have kids take home their gift jars to share with their families as they read the Scripture.

Christmas Idea 2. Mega Birthday Bash

Age level: 5 to 9

Scripture: Luke 2:8-20

Sponsor a huge birthday bash at your church to celebrate Jesus’ birth.

Two weeks prior to the event, send birthday party invitations to kids to announce the birthday bash and encourage them to bring their friends and neighbors.

For the birthday bash, create booths with party games such as Pin the Gift on the Wise Man, Christmas Musical Chairs, and Christmas Star Twister. Include face painting and a cupcake stand where kids receive a cupcake with a birthday candle they can blow out. Stock another booth with paper, markers, decorative scissors, glitter, glue, and stickers to make Christmas cards for people in a nursing home or at a shelter.

Decorate with streamers, balloons, and banners and play kids’ favorite Christmas carols. Give kids birthday hats and party bags to collect candy from each booth. Hire or recruit clowns and balloon artists to wander through the party as they share the story of Jesus’ birth and the amazing gift God has given us.

Kandi Elliot
Lansing, Illinois

Christmas Idea 3. Beaded Bookmarks

Age level: 6 to 12

Scripture: Romans 12:6

You’ll need:

• Waxed jewelry cording,
• medium-size mixed glass beads,
• decorative cardstock,
• hole punch,
• scissors,
• and decorative pens.

These beaded bookmarks make gifts that are beautiful and practical.

Precut the jewelry cording to 12-inch lengths. Have kids cut a 1×2-inch section of cardstock and punch a hole in one end. Kids can write “We all have different gifts, according to the grace given us. -Romans 12:6” on one side of the card stock. Have kids thread the cardstock to the cording as a gift tag.

Have kids tie a double knot 2 inches from each end of their piece of cording. Kids can choose any combination of beads they’d like and thread beads on both ends of the cording to the knots. Have kids tie off each end as close to the base of the beads as possible. Clip off any extra cording.

Julianne Winkler Smith
Morrisville, North Carolina

Christmas Idea 4. Sweet Snapshots

Age level: 6 to 12

Scripture: Romans 8:14-16

You’ll Need:

• Assorted decorative rhinestones, buttons, glass beads, and other items;
• craft glue;
• cardboard photo frames;
• and photos.

Children will love to make these unique Christmas photo frames using “gems” and lots of imagination.

A week or two before the activity, have kids bring in a photograph of themselves or their families.

Have kids decorate the outside of the frame using craft glue and different combinations of the gems. Once decorated, set the frames aside to dry. When dry, insert or glue the photos in place.

Read aloud the Scripture. Ask:

• What does it mean to be one of God’s children?
• What do you think this Scripture tells us about how we should live?
• How does it feel to think of your parents as God’s children?
• How can we celebrate being part of God’s family this Christmas?

Christmas Idea 5. Wise Men

Age level: 6 to 12

Scripture: Matthew 2:7-12

You’ll Need:

• Three round papier-mâché craft boxes with lids (ranging in diameter from 2 to 8 inches) for each child,
• felt,
• scissors,
• yarn,
• glue,
• tempera paints,
• paintbrushes,
• and various decorations.

Have kids create their own “wise men” to celebrate Christ’s birth. First, give kids each three round papier-mâché craft boxes of different sizes. Kids will stack the boxes from largest to smallest. Then have them glue bottoms of the smallest and mid-size boxes to the center of the lids of the boxes just larger. Allow the glue to dry.

Kids can decorate their boxes with paint, felt, and yarn to represent the wise men. Encourage kids to be creative as they imagine what these men might’ve looked like on their visit to see the baby Jesus. Once decorated, allow the creations to dry completely.

Kids can use their wise men as candy keepers or give them as gifts.

Christmas Idea 6. Manger Puppets

Age level: 3 to 9

Scripture: Luke 2:13-18

You’ll Need:

• Empty pudding boxes (two per child),
• yarn,
• cotton balls,
• pompoms,
• tempera paint,
• masking tape,
• large googly eyes,
• and construction paper.

Kids will love to re-create the barn animals that kept Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus company on the night Jesus was born.

Before class, cut or tear off the “open here” flaps from the end of each pudding box. For younger children, stack two pudding boxes with the open ends on top of each other. Then use masking tape to create a “hinge” between the boxes by placing strips of masking tape along the area where the boxes meet. (Older kids can do this for themselves.) Apply tape to both sides of the hinge. The child’s hand will slip inside the pudding boxes to create a puppet’s head and mouth.

Kids can make their puppets into any barn animal they choose, such as a lamb, a donkey, or a pig. Use items such as paint, cotton balls, googly eyes, and yarn.

Read aloud the Scripture, and ask kids to imagine what it may’ve been like that first night for Jesus and his family.

Christmas Idea 7. Baby Gifts From Preteens

Age level: 10 to 12

Scripture: Matthew 2:10-11

You’ll Need:

• Large cardboard collection box
• and gift wrapping supplies.

We have our preteen kids sponsor a baby-item collection in the weeks leading up to Christmas. We place a collection box outside our classroom door for kids to fill and for congregation members to add to. Most of the gifts come from local businesses’ donations or from our preteens.

Just before Christmas, we have a wrapping party. On each gift, we attach a bow, a Scripture message, information about our church, and a short message about God’s love for children. Then we deliver the gifts to a hospital that caters to economically disadvantaged people. The gifts are then given to parents of new babies born on or after Christmas Eve. The preteens love doing this unique serv­ice project, and they look forward to being part of it every year.

Lois Green
Kansas City, Missouri

Christmas Idea 8. Stained Sugar Glass

Age level: 10 to 12

Scripture: Psalm 29:2

You’ll Need:

• Water,
• sugar,
• light corn syrup,
• food coloring,
• flavor extracts,
• wooden cooking spoons,
• a saucepan with a lid,
• access to a stovetop,
• an aluminum pie tin for each child,
• small bowls,
• cooking oil,
• paper towels,
• glass or ceramic liquid measuring cups,
• hot pads,
• toothpicks,
• and a large work area.

Alert: Have an adult cook the recipe and then distribute the liquid candy. Adult supervision is necessary for this activity, so consider recruiting extra volunteers to help kids.

Kids can create edible stained glass with this activity.

You’ll need the following ingredients (makes enough candy for five pie tins).

• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• cooking oil
• food coloring
• flavor extracts

Creating Stained Sugar Glass

While an adult cooks the candy mixture, have kids oil the inside of their pie tins using a paper towel and cooking oil.

Then have an adult bring the water to a boil. Add the sugar and syrup and return the mixture to a boil. Cover the saucepan with a lid, and allow it to boil for two minutes. Then remove the lid. Allow the mixture to continue boiling for about 10 to 15 minutes without stirring. While the mixture is boiling, fill a small bowl with cold water and set it near the stove. Test the mixture for the “hard crack” stage by dribbling a small amount of the mixture into the cold water. If the mixture makes long threads that crack in the water (test this with your fingers in the water), the candy has reached the hard crack stage. Once the candy has reached this stage, remove it from the heat immediately.

Distribute the candy mixture into the glass or ceramic measuring cups. Then add food coloring to each batch of candy until the desired color is reached. Add 1/4 teaspoon of the desired flavor extract to each batch, and stir until the color and flavor are thoroughly mixed. Have adults pour equal amounts of each color of candy into
one part of kids’ pie tins. The goal is to keep the colors as separate as possible (the candy will cool and will become much thicker). Once all the colors have been added to the pie tins, the candy thickness should be no more than 1/4-inch.

Have kids use toothpicks to blend and swirl the colors. Allow the candy to cool completely before kids take their stained-glass creations home. Kids can break the candy into shards or leave it as a complete work of candy art.

Debriefing This Activity

As the candy cools, read aloud the Scripture. Ask:

• Where do we see lots of stained glass?
• Why do you think many churches have stained glass in their worship areas?
• What does ‘splendor’ mean in this verse?
• Why do you think we like to make the places where we worship beautiful?
• How do you think God wants us to worship him?

Christmas Idea 9. Musicals

Age level: 6 to 12

Scripture: Psalm 98:4-6

You’ll need:

• Paper plates,
• soft drink bottle tops,
• heavy thread,
• various sizes of empty tin cans with plastic lids,
• 12-inch wooden dowels,
• various sizes of empty glass jars,
• empty paper towel rolls,
• metal jar lids,
• waxed paper,
• rubber bands,
• staplers,
• masking tape,
• an ice pick (for adult use only),
• water,
• large pompoms,
• 1/4-inch elastic,
• glue,
• hole punch,
• scissors,
• dried rice or beans,
• and large beads.

Create a joyful noise with these exciting musical instruments kids will have a blast making and playing as they celebrate their Savior’s birth.

Noise Shaker

Have kids seal one end of an empty paper towel roll using a 4×4-inch piece of waxed paper and a rubber band. Fill the tube with 1/4 cup dried rice or beans, and then seal the open end of the tube with another 4×4-inch piece of waxed paper and rubber band. Cover each end with masking tape.

Twirling Drums

Have kids staple two facing paper plates together around the edges. Punch two holes along the edges on opposite sides of the plates. Tie a large bead to an 8-inch section of heavy duty thread, and tie the other end through one hole on each plate. Repeat this for the second hole. Tape a wooden dowel on the center edge of the plates below the two holes. Once the dowel is attached, kids will roll the dowel between their hands to twirl the drum and create a unique beat.

Crystal Bells

Fill various size glass jars with different amounts of water and line up the jars according to size. Have kids use wooden dowels to tap the jars and test their sounds. Adjust the sounds by adding or subtracting water from the jars.

Tambourines

Have kids staple two facing paper plates together around the edges. Using a hole punch, punch eight evenly spaced holes around the edges of the plates. Have an adult punch a hole in the center of 16 bottle tops using an ice pick.

Kids can string two bottle tops on 3-inch pieces of heavy-duty thread and then tie the thread through the holes in the edges of the plates. Keep the bottle tops on the same side of the plate, and tie them so that when the tambourine is shaken, the bottle tops will clang together.

Bongo Drums

Seal tin cans with their plastic lids. Have kids glue pompoms to the ends of wooden dowels and set them aside to dry. Once dry, kids can tap on the lid tops to create a great beat. Remember, bigger cans will make deeper sounds, while smaller cans will create higher sounds.

Castanets

Have an adult punch two holes in metal jar lids using an ice pick. Each child will need four lids to make a set of castanets. Have kids tie 3-inch sections of 1/4-inch elastic through the holes and cut off any extra. Kids will wear one castanet on each thumb and the other on their forefingers or middle fingers. Once the music starts, kids can click their fingers together to create the rat-a-tat-tat beat of the castanet.

Once kids have made their instruments of choice, have everyone practice playing them. You can recruit one child to “conduct,” or just have kids march around the room playing their instruments as they praise God for his Son, Jesus.

Christmas Idea 10. White Chocolate Snowmen

Age level: 6 to 12

Scripture: Psalm 145:8-9

You’ll Need:

• White chocolate melting pieces,
• marshmallows,
• toothpicks,
• 3-inch round cookies,
• chow mein noodles,
• black and white tube icing,
• a saucepan,
• Hershey’s Kisses chocolates,
• access to a stovetop,
• and paper plates.

Alert: You’ll need an adult to heat the white chocolate candy and several adults to supervise kids as they dip their marshmallows.

Making Cholocate Snowmen

Make these cute, delicious snowmen with your class as you celebrate the glory of God.

Have an adult heat the white chocolate candy over very low heat in a saucepan. While the candy is heating, give each child a paper plate, one round cookie, two marshmallows, two chow mein noodles, and two toothpicks. Kids will place their cookies in the center of their paper plates and spear the flat end of each marshmallow with a toothpick.

Once the candy is completely melted (this may take a while, since you must use the lowest heat setting on the stovetop), have kids carefully dip one marshmallow into the melted candy, completely covering the marshmallow. Then kids will place their marshmallow on the center top of the round cookie, using their fingers to slide the marshmallow off the toothpick.

Then have kids dip their second marshmallow into the melted candy using the same technique. They’ll place the second marshmallow on top of the first, and then place an unwrapped Hershey’s Kisses chocolate on top of the second marshmallow for the snowman’s hat. Have kids place the chow mein noodles on opposite sides of the top of the marshmallow to create the snowman’s arms. Allow the snowmen to cool completely.

To finish decorating the snowmen, have kids draw buttons, a nose, mouth, and eyes on the snowman using black tube icing. They can put a white icing “puff” on top of the snowman’s hat and trim on the bottom of the hat.

Check out all these Christmas ideas!