I'm Thankful for Christmas

I love the Christmas songs and the season never lasts long enough - for me, anyway. 

Choose some songs familiar to the children - I'm using all Christmas songs.  Don't forget to try some Christmas hymns from the Hymn Book - "Silent Night," "Joy to the World," "O Come, All Ye Faithful," and others the children might be familiar with.  Print the titles on strips of paper.  Cut out shapes of Christmas ornaments from colored paper or use real ornaments.  Tape the strips of paper on the back or bottom or the ornaments.  Tie a long piece of ribbon (yarn, string, curling ribbon) about 3 feet long onto each ornament.  Hang them from the top of the board so they dangle down. 

Tell the children that the greatest gift God gave us was His son.  Christmas is a time to celebrate His birth and to be grateful for for His life.  Ask the children to think of something that they are thankful for this past week.  Choose a child to share their thoughts and then have them choose an ornament.  Sing the song.  After the song, you could ask what in the song could we be thankful for, or continue choosing a child to share their thoughts and then picking an ornament.

Some ideas could be: getting together as families, quiet times with family, giving a special gift to someone, enjoying special holiday foods or family dinners.

Gifts

Children love to tell what they received for Christmas.  This activity allows the children to share a favorite gift they received for Christmas, then ask them to either share a gift that Christ has given them or a gift they can give to Christ.  Example:

• I got a very special art set that I have wanted for a long time.
• Christ has given me a loving family.
• I can share my testimony with someone.

If you have a large primary, time will not permit to have each child share, so choose names from a jar as time allows.  After a child shares his thoughts, ask another child to choose her favorite song from the past year and sing it.  Or you can have a list of songs that you know are favorites and sing one.