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Keeping Christ in Christmas with Children

You are here: Home /Holidays / Keeping Christ in Christmas with Children

December 16, 2016//  by Sallie//  1 Comment

Post may contain affiliate links to materials I recommend. Read my full disclosure statement.

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In the hustle and bustle of shopping, wrapping gifts, sending cards and attending special events, it is easy for families to miss the entire point of Christmas – Christ himself. It’s especially important to focus on keeping Christ in Christmas with children.

Here are several simple ways to focus on Christ during this special season of the Christian year. These ideas include Nativity and Advent activities, music, puzzles, Christmas cards, and advent calendars.

Keeping Christ in Christmas with Children

Nativity and Advent Activities

Make or purchase an advent wreath to use each week before Christmas. Light the candles and use readings from a book to celebrate each day.

Display a crèche or nativity set in your living room or another room where your family gathers each day. Each week as you celebrate using the advent wreath, make connections between the advent readings and the nativity display.

Purchase coloring or activity books that focus on Christ and the nativity. Set up a special area or put everything in a Christmas basket with new crayons or colored pencils.

Research the location of a living nativity in your area and attend one evening.

Select a puzzle that pictures the nativity. Set up the puzzle and work on it throughout the season, taking the time to ponder and discuss the puzzle subject while working on it.

Stained Glass Nativity Jigsaw Puzzle 1000 PieceStained Glass Nativity Jigsaw Puzzle 1000 Piece

Write a thank you note to someone who displays a nativity scene in their front yard. Leave it on their doorstep along with a small gift to show your appreciation for their witness and sharing of the Christmas story.

Christmas Music and Worship

Attend a performance of Handel’s Messiah. The week before the performance, read the Scripture passages used by Handel and consider their meaning and significance in order to prepare for the performance. If you are unable to attend a performance, purchase a high-quality performance on CD and listen to it throughout the season. This one is my favorite performance of Messiah.

Handel: Messiah

Go caroling and make a point of singing Christmas carols that clearly share the significance of Christmas. Give out small plates of star-shaped cookies and attach a little card about the significance of the Star of Bethlehem and Jesus.

Sing a different Christmas carol each evening after supper. After singing, discuss the meaning of the carol and then sing it again.

Attend a Christmas Eve service. Consider attending a service at a church other than your own so you can focus solely on Christ instead of all of the regular “church” stuff.

Christmas Cards and Letters

Make it a priority to send out Christmas cards that point people to Christ. Whether it is through the design or the wording, send out cards that focus on Christ and the meaning of Christmas as opposed to Santa or other secondary matters.

Enclose a Christmas letter with your card and make a point of sharing what Christ is doing in the life of your family. The letter can be brief, but this is the one time of the year it is especially natural to share what Christ is doing in your life with all of the people who are important to you. Ask your children what they would like to include in the letter.

Place all of the Christmas cards you receive in a pretty box or basket. Each day, take a card out of the box, read it, and pray specifically for the person who sent it. Consider going through the cards again and again, specifically praying for the sender all year.

Merry Christmas to you as you focus on keeping Christ in Christmas with your children!

Advent Calendars for Keeping Christ in Christmas

Children love Advent calendars. There are many different kinds including those with drawers for tiny gifts, velcro displays, and sets that slowly add elements of the Nativity scene to the overall display.

Kurt Adler J3767 Wooden Nativity Advent Calendar with 24 Magnetic PieceKurt Adler J3767 Wooden Nativity Advent Calendar with 24 Magnetic PieceKurt Adler Kurt S. Adler 11.81-Inch Battery-Operated Wooden LED Nativity Advent Calendar, MultiKurt Adler Kurt S. Adler 11.81-Inch Battery-Operated Wooden LED Nativity Advent Calendar, MultiPrecious MomentsPrecious MomentsLeeBoom sdghfhd QWERTY, RoseLeeBoom sdghfhd QWERTY, Rose

More Nativity Puzzles

If your family enjoys puzzles, here are some lovely ones to have out and work on during the season.

Piece on Earth Nativity Puzzle Board | Children's 11 pc. Chunky Wooden Inset Shapes | First Christmas, New Testament Christian Bible Story Toy for Advent, Religious Holidays, and LearningPiece on Earth Nativity Puzzle Board | Children's 11 pc. Chunky Wooden Inset Shapes | First Christmas, New Testament Christian Bible Story Toy for Advent, Religious Holidays, and LearningVermont Christmas Company Stained Glass Nativity Jigsaw Puzzle 1000 PieceVermont Christmas Company Stained Glass Nativity Jigsaw Puzzle 1000 PieceO Holy Night Nativity Scene 24-piece Wooden Christmas Jigsaw Puzzle with Inset Frame by Imagination GenerationO Holy Night Nativity Scene 24-piece Wooden Christmas Jigsaw Puzzle with Inset Frame by Imagination GenerationBits and Pieces - 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle for Adults - in The Manger - 500 pc Religious Holy Nativity Jigsaw by Artist Ruane ManningBits and Pieces - 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle for Adults - in The Manger - 500 pc Religious Holy Nativity Jigsaw by Artist Ruane ManningWhite Mountain Puzzles O Night Divine - 1000 Piece Jigsaw PuzzleWhite Mountain Puzzles O Night Divine - 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle

Plan a Memorable Christmas with A Cozy Christmas Planner – Available Right Here in My Shop


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Category: HolidaysTag: Celebrating Christmas

About Sallie

Sallie Schaaf Borrink is a wife, mother, homebody, and autodidact. She's a published author, former teacher, and former campus ministry staff member. Sallie owns a home-based graphic design and web design business with her husband (DavidandSallie.com). She hasn't achieved her dream of being a professor at a small conservative college in a small town, but hope springs eternal.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Peggy

    December 18, 2016 at 11:42 am

    This is a challenge for us, as most of our extended families are not Christian, and there always seem to be excessive busyness at the end of the year.

    We also have an Advent calendar with objects related to Christ and the Christmas story (although we are so far behind that we haven’t even started it this year).

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