Art Activity: Mural of Christ

We do not advertise or sell things on this site, but when I found this beautiful project for our family to make I knew I had to share it here.

It is a stunning mural of the nativity which is downloaded and printed off in about 35 pages, then pieced together and colored or painted by you. We will be creating our masterpiece as our family travels home to gather for Christmas. A great project we can all work on down to the very youngest. Kind of like doing a  puzzle together, only much more interactive and creative. The download is 5 dollars.

Happy coloring!

"M" and "M" poem

This little poem is a simple reminder of the real meaning of our celebrations this time of year.


The M and M Nativity

As you hold these candies in your hand
and turn them,
you will see
the M becomes a W, an E and a 3.

They tell the Christmas story,
it's one I'm sure you know,
It took place in a stable,
a long, long time ago.

The E is for the East where the star shines so bright.

The M is for the Manger
where baby Jesus slept that night.

The 3 is for the wise men bearing gifts,
with haste they came.

W is for Worship, angels sang praise to His name.

So as you eat these candies
or share them with a friend,
Remember the true spirit of Christmas
and never let it end!

This poem could be attached to a small snack packet of M and M's or a large bag of M and M's to give to a neighbor. We saw this at a craft boutique with the poem and small bag of M and M's packaged in a small clear bag tied with a ribbon. There are several versions of this poem all with the same basic message. Elementary age children really like the symbolism in this poem.

Source

Christmas Books to Share

I remember helping mom put out the Christmas decorations and my favorite part was when Dad would heft the large box of Christmas books out of the storage room. These books were special because we only broke them out once a year. We would read this books together at bedtime throughout the season in place of our usual storybooks. This is a tradition I would like to establish as I am starting my own family, but I'm not worried about buying a whole bunch of books at once. You can build a collection with one new book a year.

The following is a list of beautiful Christmas stories you might consider adding to your own collection.

Picture Books:
Dozen Silk Diapers by Melissa Kajpust

Christmas Oranges by Linda Bethers
The Gift of the Magi
A Dress for Ellen by Thomas S. Monson
Christmas Trolls, Wild Christmas Reindeer, Christmas Trolls by Jan Brett
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechoski
The Story of the Three Trees
The Christmas Visitor by Annaliese Lussert
Santa Mouse by Micheal Brown
This is the Star by Joyce Dunbar
Carl's Christmas by Alexandra Day

We also enjoy books about how other cultures celebrate Christmas as well as books with illustrations from various cultures depicting the nativity of Christ.

Chapter Books:
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Does your family have a favorite book to read around Christmas time?

Door-bell Ditch at Christmas

One of our favorite traditions through the years has been sharing a nativity with another family. Early in the season (now is a good time to look) I purchase a nativity set and wrap each piece individually and tie with a pretty ribbon. Then, beginning either at the first of December or 12 days before Christmas, we leave a piece of the nativity at the doorstep of someone who is new in the neighborhood or someone who may need a little lift. Each night we deliver, ring the doorbell and run! The last piece that is delivered is the baby Jesus. Ruddy cheeked conspirators head home to mugs of hot cocoa and laughter over nearly being caught!

Clay Pot Nativity

We had so much fun with our grandchildren making nativities out of small clay pots, large wooden beads and felt. The one pictured above was made by our 5 year old grandson. Total cost for materials for one set was less than $2, but I think the result is priceless!

Materials needed:
2 small clay pots
1 small clay saucer
2 large wooden beads
1 wooden clothespin or wooden craft person (for baby Jesus), could use wood craft stick
scraps of felt or other fabric
rafia or hay
glue gun
paint or perm. marker for faces

FHE Nativity Game

About.com has a Family Home Evening Nativity Game complete with files to print off the cards either in color or b/w. It's Go fish game using pictures from the nativity including the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the angel, shepherds, wise-men, and more.

The Wonderous Nativity

Here is a print out published in this month's Friend magazine of a nativity scene you print, cut, and assemble.

Decorating for Christmas

Now that Thanksgiving is over it is time to get into the Christmas spirit. I am always excited to pull out the Christmas decorations and transform the house. I love having Christmas lights all over inside the house, garlands, and of course the Christmas tree. I love the atmosphere that all these decorations create. There are many ways to make the decorations in your home Christ centered. Obviously there is the nativity, or in my case multiple nativities, but there are also other things you can use to emphasize the true reason for Christmas.

One idea is to display beautiful pictures of the Savior in prominent places in your home. We have moved pictures to place on easels with evergreens around to make them become an important part of the Christmas decorating of our home. An inexpensive source for pictures are old calendars or church publications.

What do you do in your home to emphasis Christ in your decorations?

Nativities

Collect nativities from around the world reminding your family that "every knee will bow and every tongue confess." Nativities representing different countries remind us that we are all God's children.

It is wonderful to have a set or two that the children in the family can touch without worry of breaking.

At the beginning of the Christmas season, purchase a nativity set to give away. Wrap each piece of the nativity in pretty paper or celephane bag and tie up with a bow. Each night for 12 nights leave a piece of the nativity at someone's doorstep, leaving the Christ child on the last night. Our children have always loved the secrecy and close calls of being found out.

It is always exciting to unpack the Christmas decorations each year. Why not make a special event of setting out the nativity and retelling the story with the figures at the beginning of the season. It only takes a little bit of time to remind our children or grandchildren the true meaning behind our Christmas celebrations. Some familiies do not set out the figure of the Christ child until Christmas eve.

Arts and Crafts

I love children's artwork and always have some displayed in prominent places in my home. At Christmas it is wonderful to sit down with your children or grandchildren with paper and art supplies and encourage them to draw or paint pictures of the nativity. Encourage their creativity and you will be rewarded with the sweetest artwork that reminds your children and you of the reason for the season.

Help children to make their own nativity. We have done this with simple cut out shapes of felt that were then played with on a flannel board to retell the Christmas story. We have used wooden spools bought at the craft store and painted, and playdough and clay shapes molded by small hands.

We have bought a big slab of red potter's clay and made small clay lamps that are similar to the lamps used at the time of Christ. Even teenage boys like the process of lighting these.

Look for more arts and crafts in the weeks to come. We will link to many of the amazing things other people are doing.

Three Kings Game

We use very inexpensive figures of the wisemen (my most recent kings were from the dollar store) or you could draw or have a child draw the kings, or use 3 big fancy buttons that fell from the wisemen's cloaks.

Each night before bedtime, or after the kitchen is cleaned up from dinner etc., have someone in the family hide the 3 wisemen. We start in a room in the house that is farthest away from the nativity set. The wisemen are hidden, the children find them and that is all there is to it, but for some reason children love doing this. The next night someone else hides them and they are moved a little bit closer to the nativity, eventually going through most of the rooms in the house until on Christmas they finally find the Christ child.