Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Pencil Bounce
Materials: plastic cups, unsharpened pencils with erasers, marker
Write the letters J, E, S, U, S on cups, one letter per cup. Make several sets. Place each set of cups in a line on a table. Lay a group of pencils with each set of cups.
Guide kids to take turns bouncing the pencils on their erasers and into the cups. Groups of kids can work together to bounce a pencil into each cup to spell Jesus’ name. Or form teams and have groups compete against one another to complete the task first. Tell kids that today they will hear about men who learned of Jesus’ birth and traveled to find Him.
Live It Out
Game – Pass the Star
Materials: cardboard star, metal star, or other durable star; recording of worship music or religious Christmas music
Guide kids to sit in a circle. Play the music and pass the star around the circle. Stop the music. Ask a review question to the kid holding the star. (He can ask a friend for help if needed.) Start music to pass the star again. Continue several times to recall the Bible story. Talk about the Life Point.
Craft – Wrist Reminder
Materials: heavyweight paper cut into 3-by-9-inch strips, colored masking tape, colored duct tape, decorative paper tape, permanent markers, yarn, hole punches
Guide each child to wrap a tape pieces around a paper strip. She can create a design or cover the strip with all one color of tape. After the paper strip is covered (or decorated as the child chooses), lead her to write the Bible verse on the strip. Help kids punch holes at each end of the strips, tie yarn in each hole, and tie the yarn ends together around their wrists. Recall the Bible story and what the wise men did.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Name That Song
Materials: paper slips with titles of Christmas songs
Tell kids to guess the Christmas song you are singing. Sing the tune “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” but only sing “Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do” instead of the words. Keep singing until kids guess the song. Sing another song (with “Do”) or choose a kid to sing a song. He can select a paper strip to know which song to sing. Say: “We sing lots of songs at Christmas. Some of them are about Jesus. Some of them are not. Today we will learn about worshiping Jesus, the Savior.”
Live It Out
Game – Light the Star
Materials: tap lights with star shapes attached to the top (one per team)
Group the kids into teams. Place the tap lights on a table or on chairs. Guide teams to sit a few feet away from their tap lights. Read a review question. A player from each team can move to hit the tap light. Call on the player who lights the light first; the player should answer immediately or the other team can answer. Guide players to move back to their teams and read a new question. A different player should hit the tap light each time. Say the Life Point and talk about how people at your church worship Jesus at Christmas time and throughout the year.
Craft – “Stained Glass” Stars
Materials: poster board star shapes, aluminum foil, permanent markers, rulers, glue
Guide kids to cover stars with foil and smooth it carefully. Use glue to hold the foil on the stars as needed. Show kids how to use rulers and black marker to make 4-6 straight lines across the star. Then kids can use colored markers to fill in the spaces (to make the stars look like stained glass). Talk about the Bible story and how the wise men traveled to find Jesus. Say the Life Point and talk about how the wise men worshiped Jesus. Encourage kids to think about ways people worship Jesus today.
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