DRAFTING …. A record of the ways three generations have celebrated Christmas with Christ-focused and family-focused activities.
She asked, What are the Christ-centered ways you celebrated Christmas?
I decided to answer with a blog post.
These are things we have done over the years, first with my children and then with my grandchildren. Some became traditional, past down from one generation to the next. Some are secular, celebrating the season. And some are religious, remembering the birth of Jesus, the reason for the season.
Our tree.
We hang angels along with our homemade ornaments on our tree. Some angels are paper ones the kids made. Most are commercial angels made from different things: crystal, glass, straw, wood, etc. We are having two trees this year and I have been discussing with my twelve-year old granddaughter about making one an angel tree.
We have a bin of Christmas books.
Each year after Thanksgiving, we pull our bin of Christmas books. Many are tied to the celebration of the biblical Christmas story. Some are secular stories.
An all-time favorite is an Advent Calendar with a 24 mini-book series.
The Story of Christmas Story Book Set and Advent Calendar, Carolyn Croll
Some of the picture book titles are —
Great Joy, Kate DiCamillo
Christmas in the Country, Cynthia Rylant
The Legend of the Candy Cane, Lori Walburg
The Candymaker’s Gift, Helen Haidle
Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend, Julie Stiegemeyer
Christmas Cricket, Eve Bunting
The Legend of the Christmas Tree, Pat Matuszak
The Legend of the Christmas Stocking, Rick Osborne and James Griffin
An Orange for Frankie, Patricia Polacco
The Little Drummer Boy, Bernadette Watts
The Christmas Story, Jane Werner Watson
In addition to the picture books, include novellas by Charles Dickens.
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
A Little Christmas Carol: The Illustrated Edition
The Cricket on the Hearth, Charles Dickens
And there are famous poems–
“The Birth of Christ,” Alfred Tennyson
“Christmas Carol,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Christmas Carol,” Sara Teasdale
“Christmas Song,” Lydia A.C. Ward
“The Three Kings” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
We share the biblical account of the Christmas story.
Sometimes we just read it, but some years it was an animated retell. The little ones dressed up as a character. using bathrooms and headbands for shepherds or just a piece of fabric over the shoulder and belted with rope. A couple years we had a stuffed lamb for a shepherd to hold. We had a couple sturdy “walking sticks” for shepherd’s rods. We draped white sheets (twin size cut in half with head hole in center) for angels and used decorating tinsel wire to shape halos that sat on their heads. One of the dolls that looked most like a baby was Baby Jesus. Then everyone gathered around and just retold the Bible story and the ones dressed up acted out the parts and said the words with promoting from the older ones.
Memorization of scripture has always been a part of Christmas.
Our church children’s ministry had an annual Christmas play in which all the preschool and elementary students perform. Usually they had Scripture parts to memorize. So from Thanksgiving to the program, we worked on reciting those passages.
When I was a child our public school put on a big Christmas production. Each year the fourth grade class memorized the Christmas story from Luke and performed as a speaking choir while some of the students created the various scenes on stage. So, in fourth grade I, along with my classmates, memorized Luke’s account of the Christmas story.
Link to post of the Christmas Story
Nativity scenes.
We always set up a nativity scene. In fact, we have several we’ve collected through the years. My granddaughters have given me handcrafted ones from other countries, souvenirs from their mission trips.
One year we made nativity characters from toilet paper rolls. As we made the characters, we talked about the Christmas story: What it must have been like to be a shepherd seeing the host of angels. How the wisemen must have felt seeing the star… so impressed that they made the long journey. How Joseph and Mary must have felt having to spend the night in a stable. Here’s a LINK to a website with patterns to create your own.
Christmas music.
We play lots of Christmas music. Some are religious songs, especially Silent Night, Away in the Manger, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Joy to the World. and more. They tell the story in song. We love “The Little Drummer Boy.” We have fun with some secular ones like Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.
Santa.
We didn’t make a big deal out of Santa Claus. We read and talked about Saint Nicholas and how the story tradition began, including how Coke-Cola made the fat, white-beard, Santa in a red suit popular through their advertising. We told our children from the beginning that Santa Clause was not real. We believe in being truthful with our kids.
Crafting.
We made Christmas chains that we used to count down to Christmas Day, removing a link each evening. It can be made with scriptures from the Christmas story on each link. Some other fun activities include making Christmas decorations, like paper angels or stain glass windows. We used a wooden coffee stirrers, paper doilies, cotton balls.
Here is a LINK to a really cute easy-to-make angel.
Here’s another LINK to a video how to craft another type of doily angel.
Baking.
Baking special Christmas cookies is an important tradition. utting cookie shapes of Christmas objects from our special cookie dough–a cross between sugar cookies and shortbread cookies. Then we use a special “paint” made with egg yolks to paint and decorate the cookies before we bake them. Baking Christmas cookies is the subject of another post.
Activity papers
We had Christmas-themed activity papers: coloring pages—religious and secular, and word finds made from all the Christmas words, mazes (like helping shepherds find the stable).
“Altogether Christmas” is a website with great Christmas resources. It has a collection of Christmas poems and stories
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