Easy Nativity Crafts!

Hello again friends!  Earlier this week I shared a post with a some ideas and resources for teaching the Nativity and promised to be back with some easy crafts that to fit right in with those activities.  Today I'm going to share four projects that your little learners will love!

If you read my last post you'll know that I teach the Nativity in a similar way every year, by focusing on four main 'events' from the story.  This craft fits in with our first set of lessons, when we talk about the angel visiting Mary.  To make these gorgeous angels, you'll need a paper plate, yellow paint, glitter, a paper circle and a piece of gold ribbon or pipecleaner.

To get started, paint the outer edge of the paper plate yellow (or your preferred colour!).  Most paper plates have a ribbed edge - telling kidlets to paint over that is the easiest way to make sure the whole plate isn't covered.  Use glitter and sparkles to decorate the painted area, either by sprinkling it on while the paint is still wet or using glue later.

To turn the plate into an angel you need to cut out a wedge shape.  I usually do this step for the kidlets, because it ensures the pieces are the right size and it's also much quicker!  If you wanted to have your class cut their own plates you certainly could.  You can see in my photo I've added star sparkles to the small piece - this is totally optional. It will become the angel's skirt.

Glue the wedge back onto the rest of the plate as in the photo - the large part becomes the wings and the small wedge is the angel's dress.  Draw a face onto the paper circle and glue it on top of the dress, with a piece of gold ribbon as a halo.  The finished angels will look something like this:

When we move onto the birth of Jesus, I love to make a Jesus in the manger tree ornament.  It looks tricky but really isn't!  You'll need 2 giant craft sticks per child, some brown paper (or white paper painted brown!), craft wood shavings and a paper circle.  Begin by gluing the craft sticks together in a 'V' shape.  Cut your brown paper into a triangle shape and glue it to the sticks.  You can see both a front and back view in the photo below:

Take some of the craft wood/straw and glue it along the top of the paper.  Draw a face on the paper circle and glue it on one side of the manger - this becomes Jesus lying in His bed. :)  Add a piece of ribbon or twine so the ornament can be hung on a Christmas tree.

Next up is my favourite craft - just because they always turn out so cute!  This paper plate sheep is made when we learn about the shepherds visiting Jesus.  You'll need a small paper plate (saucer sized), cotton wool, black card, googly eyes, 2 wooden pegs and a bit of black paint.  Cover the plate with cotton wool using glue.  Have your kidlets trace a circle onto their card and cut it out to make the face, but let them free draw 2 ear shapes - this is what makes each sheep look unique!  Glue the ears and eyes onto the face, and then onto the cotton covered plate.   When everything is dry, clip the pegs onto the bottom of the sheep's body so he can stand up by himself!

The last event we learn about during our Nativity lessons is the Wise Men following the star to  bring gifts to Jesus.  We make a hanging star ornament with a card star shape and some ribbon.  If you want to make these more sturdy you could buy wooden star shapes from a craft store and have your kidlets paint them a nice bright colour.  Make sure you have a look through your collage supplies before you go and buy new ribbon, too - if you're anything like me you'll have a tonne of spools with bits left over from previous projects!

To decorate the star, just wrap lots of different coloured and sized ribbons around the star shape.  If you've used card, a small piece of tape will secure the ends at the back.  For wooden shapes, you might need to use hot glue and complete this craft in small groups of kidlets.  Don't forget to add some ribbon for hanging! 

I hope one of these gorgeous projects will inspire you to do some crafting with your kidlets this Christmas season!  Don't forget that most crafts can be adapted so you can use whatever materials you have on hand (or can afford!).  Sending home a Nativity craft is a great way to encourage children to talk with their family about the true meaning of Christmas. :)

The Nativity - Teaching Ideas and Resources!

Can you believe it's almost Christmas again?  Today I'd like to give you an overview of how I like to help kidlets know and understand the Christmas story, as well as a peek into a new unit I've made that puts together some of my tried and tested activities and printables! 

Late November and December are my favourite time of the year by far - I love decorating for Christmas, shopping for gifts, spending time with family and eating good food!  The lead up to Christmas is also my favourite time in the classroom. :)  Here in Australia we only have a few more weeks of the school year left, usually assessment is all done and there's time in the schedule for a few fun activities and crafts.  Most of my teaching career has also been in a school where the focus of Christmas is the Nativity - and there's so many wonderful ways to teach this story!   (I've also got some great crafts to share, stay tuned for that post later in the week.)

I like to break the Christmas story up into 4 main 'events', teaching one each week with matching crafts and activities (usually on 3 days of the school week).  This gives kidlets an opportunity to really think about the story as they're learning about it, and it also means that you're not rushing through - because with end of the year concerts, parties and other things that need to be done we often have to reshuffle our planning as the weeks go on! :)  My Nativity resource includes a suggested teaching sequence, but you can take as little or as much time as you want (or have available!).

Before each lesson I like to go over the story in full - using a different Bible, storybook or video clip each time.  My favourite paraphrased Bible storybook is 'The Jesus Storybook Bible' - the language and illustrations are really engaging for little learners.

There's lots of clips on YouTube about the Nativity -  but be sure you watch them before you show them to your class to make sure they're accurate. :) Every year I use this one from 'The Beginners Bible'.  (This channel also has lots of other Bible stories presented in a really kid-friendly way.)

I also love this little video from St Pauls Arts and Media. It is just too cute!

Having Nativity scenes or puppets that children can retell the story with is also great - there's plenty of printables online but if you're after something a little more durable try searching Etsy for 'Nativity finger puppets'.  There are some seriously gorgeous sets you can buy!  If you have any Bible costumes, kidlets can also dress up and tell the story themselves.  This is a great opportunity for them to think a little more deeply about the story.  As children are becoming familiar with the Nativity story, we set up our word wall and use these sequencing posters during our whole class learning time. 

During week 1 of our Nativity learning, our focus is on the angel visiting Mary to tell her that she will be the mother of Jesus.  Taking this event and looking at it alone is a great opportunity for kidlets to think about Mary and the type of woman she might have been.  This leads perfectly into conversations about what personality traits we might have that let others know we are part of God's family (I like to link to the fruits of the Spirit).   This cut & paste worksheet lets kidlets choose adjectives they think might describe Mary.

Next up we learn about the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.  Now is the perfect time to teach your kidlets some traditional Christmas carols and songs!  'Little Donkey', 'Away in Manger' and 'Silent Night' are such beautiful songs that lots of children don't know.  Thinking about Jesus being born in such a humble place (even though He is a King) is a big focus of our discussions in this week.  There are so many gorgeous baby Jesus crafts to work on, too!  I'll have a post later in the week with the tree ornament we make, but I love this paper craft from Doodle Bugs that's available as a freebie! 

  We complete this 'Road to Bethlehem' maze and code cracker puzzle, too!

Our next focus event is the Shepherds!  I love talking about the Shepherds being chosen as the first to hear the Good News and go to visit Jesus, because it helps children understand that God doesn't care about what you look like, how much money you have or whether you have an fancy job!  We often talk about what a real Shepherd would smell like after living in the fields caring for their flock. :) Children complete a response worksheet after thinking about how they would feel after a chorus of angels visited them in the middle of the night, and a fun little 'Shepherd's Sheep Hop' counting maze.  We make a Christmas story booklet to take home and read to our family, too!

I think my favourite week of learning comes when we talk about the Wise Men and their gifts!  It's so interesting to see the links between the gold, frankincense and myrrh and Jesus' life.  Do yourself a favour and read up on this if you've never had the chance! (If you teach K you might like to enlarge this matching worksheet and complete it during whole class time - it might be a bit tricky for them to read alone.)

These 'My Gift for Jesus' flip flap pages make a gorgeous bulletin board display in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and you'll be amazed at the thoughtful responses you get from your kidlets!

This week we also make a cute Christmas story sequencing crown which is always lots of fun.  Wearable craft is the perfect way to spark discussion at home!  My Nativity pack includes the option to sequence pictures or sentences - but I find that using the pictures encourages children to retell the story in their own words.  

I usually leave the last week (or lessons) to go back and talk about any concepts that my class found either really interesting or difficult to understand.  Sometimes we have a worksheet or craft that we didn't have time for, too.  I've included a 'Find-a-Word', puzzle and question page to complete if you need them - but you might like to let your class lead you towards the activities they need to reflect on the story. :)

Enjoying the spirit of Christmas and reflecting on the birth of Jesus is such a great way to connect with your class!  Click on any of the images in this post to see my Nativity resource on TpT - and please leave me a comment if you have any other activities that you love to complete in your classroom.  I'll be back in a few days with a post all about Christmas crafts!