Make a gingerbread house paper craft scene

Make a gingerbread house inspired scene with bits and pieces of paper and wrapping. Making a real gingerbread house is lovely but sometimes it’s good to just have a rummage through odds and ends of paper and card and create something festive.

I always keep wrapping paper scraps and christmas card pictures as they make great almost free craft materials.

Here’s some inspiration for your pictures..

Here’s my finished gingerbread house street scene

Gingerbread house street scene made with paper and craft materials

This would be a great activity to make at home in those days between Christmas and New Year or on Christmas Eve!

All you need to make a gingerbread house inspired scene

  • Paper for the background – I put two A4 pieces together with tape. (Have the tape on the back of your picture)
  • Paper to cut into house shapes and trees. I went with simple shapes.
  • Wrapping paper and Christmas cards cut into shapes
  • Small hearts, snow flakes, circles
  • Optional – glitter, sequins, tinsel
  • Glue

Use whatever you like – and whatever you have.

If you want to do this with very young children prepare the shapes of paper beforehand and make them slightly bigger so they are easier to hold and stick. Children’s interests vary so if children love making they will spend a bit longer creating a paper picture. If you are doing this at home make your own version alongside your child or create a street scene together.

Older children can be encouraged to make the shapes for the trees and houses themselves and create their own gingerbread paper art from scratch. Give them lots of choice of materials.

There’s an idea in this post for making a mini ‘gingerbread’ house using biscuits. It’s very easy to do and lots of fun!

If you would like to make an edible gingerbread house here’s a link to a Mary Berry recipe.

The Saviour is here! – Christmas 3

The Saviour is here is our third Christmas Story in a series of three. We began with Isaiah foretelling the birth of Jesus, The Saviour is Promised and then we told the story of Angel Gabriel visiting Mary, The Saviour is on his way.

The story is based on Luke 2:1-20

The Saviour is here! Bible Story

Bible Truth for Toddlers – Jesus is the Saviour

In the story bag you need – Mary, Joseph, a donkey, the baby, a manger,shepherds, sheep and angels. Take them out as you need them.

‘Say hello to Mary and Joseph! They had to go on a long, long journey. All the way back to Joseph’s home town of Bethlehem. It wasn’t a good time to travel, Mary was soon to have her baby that the Angel Gabriel had told her about. But they had to go. Maybe they had a donkey.. Off they went..

Down the road, over the hills.. Are we nearly there yet? No! On and on they went. Are we nearly there yet? Almost!

But oh no, Bethlehem was so busy. So many people. Where could Mary and Joseph stay. They asked at the hotel. ‘No room here’, the man said. But you can stay in the stable with the animals.

And that’s where the special baby, sent from God, was born. Mary wrapped him up and put him in the manger – all safe and snuggled up.

That same night, out on the hills outside the town there were shepherds looking after their sheep. It was dark! When all of a sudden there was a bright light, the brightest light they had ever seen and there was an angel! The shepherds were scared. ‘Don’t be afraid’, the angel said, ‘I bring you good news! Today a Saviour has been born for you. You will find him in a manger and all wrapped up.’ And then there were loads of angels filling the sky and singing. Then they were gone and it was dark again.

The shepherds looked at one another. ‘Let’s go and find this baby, the Saviour who has been born,’ they said. So off they went..down the hill, through the town, are they nearly there? Not yet! Looking here, looking there, are they nearly there? Almost! – until they found Jesus. They found the Saviour.

Jesus is the Saviour, he is the Saviour God sent for everyone everywhere.

Christmas craft idea

To make the stained glass nativity you need

  • Paper plates – I used a brown plate
  • Yellow tissue paper – this can be shredded like straw. This is quite messy so if you prefer less mess use torn tissue paper.
  • Crayons
  • Christmas wrapping paper odds and ends
  • Nativity picture printed on card – see download. This needs to be cut out beforehand. Older children could do this themselves – just cut the page in half for them.

To make – decorate the nativity first then fold and glue to plate. Cover the plate with tissue paper straw and add any other decorations to the rim of the plate.

The Saviour is on his way – Christmas 2

The Saviour is on his way is our second Christmas story in a series of three. We began with, The Saviour is Promised – a Story all about Isaiah and now we meet Mary and the Angel Gabriel. The Bible Story is from Luke 1:26-38 and includes the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary.

If you have told the first story in the series include the four things Isaiah said about the special baby to be born and have an action for each sentence

  • A child will be born – rock a pretend baby in your arms
  • A Son will be given – point up to heaven and then bring hands down
  • He will be King forever – put a pretend crown on your head
  • He will bring peace – clasp your hands together

The Saviour is on his way – Bible story idea

Bible Truth for Toddlers – God keeps his promises

Do you remember Isaiah? He told people what God wanted them to know. He had written down a promise that God had made – God was going to send someone – Isaiah told everyone that…

  • A child will be born – rock a pretend baby in your arms
  • A Son will be given – point up to heaven and then bring hands down
  • He will be King forever – put a pretend crown on your head
  • He will bring peace – clasp your hands together

But a long, long time had passed. Days, weeks, months and years and years and years went by. Had God forgotten his promise? No! God never forgets anything!

One day a young woman called Mary was at home. (Say hello to Mary!)It was just an ordinary day. Mary was cleaning the house (some actions here – maybe dusting or sweeping).

But then something extraordinary happened! An angel came to see her! Now angels are not like fairies. Angels are big and strong! (actions here too – make a big shape with your arms and then flex muscles). The angel that came to see Mary was called Gabriel (ask everyone to repeat the name). He had a message from God.

You are going to have a very special baby,’ he said to Mary. ‘This baby will be God’s Son and he will be King forever.’

The Baby was going to be born! rock a pretend baby in your arms

The Son was going to be given! point up to heaven and then bring hands down

He was going to be King forever! put a pretend crown on your head

The Saviour God promised was on his way. God always keeps his promises.

Craft Ideas – make Angel Gabriel

Joseph and the Angel

Joseph and the Angel is from Matthew 1:18-25. In Luke’s Gospel we hear about the Angel visiting Mary and in Matthew’s Gospel we find out how Joseph knew that the baby was from God. In this story we have the special name – Immanuel, a name that only appears a couple of times in the Bible, here in Matthew and Isaiah 7:14. Matthew is telling us that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise.

We also read that Joseph is to name the baby Jesus.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Matthew 1: 21

In Luke’s account we read that Mary has also been told to name the child Jesus.

..you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

Luke 1: 31b-33

To tell the story – if you are tellling a series of Christmas stories you will probably want to focus on the message the angel gave to Joseph.

In the story bag – Joseph doll or puppet, some carpenters tools, Mary puppet, an angel,

Actions to include – sleeping!

Joseph and the Angel story

Mary (take her from the story bag) knew that she was going to have a very special baby. An angel had been sent from God to tell her!

But someone was very sad that she was having a baby. He didn’t really understand. He didn’t really know what to do. His name is Joseph. Are you ready to say hello to Joseph – ‘Hello Joseph’ (take him out of the story bag)

Joseph was all ready to marry Mary but then he found out she was having a baby. He wasn’t the father. He didn’t know what had happened but he decided that he couldn’t marry Mary. He was sad. Oh dear!

Joseph was a carpenter – he spent the day making things with wood, hammering, sawing.. and then he went home and went to bed. Soon he was fast asleep. (Pretend to be sleeping)

Now that was when something extraordinary happened. An angel appeared in his dream (this isn’t something that happens when you or I go to sleep). But it happened to Joseph. The angel had a really important message from God.

‘Joseph, you can marry Mary. Her baby is sent from God. He will be Immanuel, which means God with us. He is the one that God promised to send. When he is born you must name him Jesus because he is the Saviour’.

The next morning Joseph woke up. He got up. What was he going to do? He did what God had told him to do. He believed that this baby was God with us, the one who is the only Saviour. He married Mary and he cared for her.

You could finish with a question for the adults – ‘who do you believe Jesus is?’

angel craft

Make a rocking angel.

All you need

  • Paper plate folded in half
  • Circles for faces
  • Wool for hair
  • Shiny paper to decorate
  • Paper doilies cut into 1/8’s (depending on size). They just need to be a right fit for wings.
  • Glue
  • Crayons to decorate faces of angels

Here’s a link to the Bible story – The Angel visits Mary

The Saviour is Promised – Christmas 1

The Saviour is promised is the first of three Christmas stories. We begin seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus with Isaiah and the prophecy of Jesus’ coming into the world.

Why tell this part of the Christmas Story? It helps to put Christmas into context. It reminds us and helps us to see that this was God’s plan and that Jesus’ coming as a baby was a fulfillment of God’s promise.

Tell the story simply – there is a story idea below.

The Saviour is Promised – Bible Story

Bible reference – Isaiah 9:6-7

Bible Truth for Toddlers – God promised to send The Saviour

In the story bag we have Isaiah and a scroll with some key sentences (these remind the storyteller of key sentences!)

‘Today someone who lived a long, long time ago has come to see us. His name is Isaiah. Are you ready to say hello? Hello Isaiah! (Take him out of the story bag).

Isaiah was God’s prophet – he told people the things that God wanted them to know.

Now God’s people were in trouble. Everything was getting worse and worse. People were sad and frightened. God knew all about the trouble they were in. God sent Isaiah to talk to them and give them a message

I wonder what that message was? Isaiah wrote it down so we can read it too!

Take your scroll from the story bag and read it out. God says..a baby will be born, a Son will be given, he will be King forever, he will bring peace.

Wow – what an amazing promise from God. A real baby will be born who will be just like you and me and yet also different from you and me because this baby will be God’s Son given to us. He will be the king and he will bring peace between people and God and people and each other!

The people heard what Isaiah said but not everyone believed the promise. But God always keeps his promises. Next time we find out more about this promised baby.’

If you’d like to do some background reading about Isaiah 9 have a look at this article from Desiring God

The Saviour is Promised craft ideas

You could make scrolls but as this story is part of a Christmas series you could make a Christmas Collage using pictures cut from wrapping paper and Christmas cards. Add sequins, shiny stars – anything you fancy that is seasonal.

Here’s a link to a similar idea Christmas Star to make

The Cast of Christmas are ready!

The cast of Christmas are ready! I’m really looking forward to telling the Christmas Story with these guys .. made by my super talented mum. The Wise Men are my favourites 🙂 Here’s a link to the Alan Dart pattern my mum used. (Affiliate link – if you click and buy the item I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)

You can use the characters over several weeks and build up a nativity tableau. They are a great size and fit well in a story bag or basket. I add some toy sheep for the shepherds and we have some soft toy camels for the Wise Men.

If you are planning on making them give yourself plenty of time or ask for help! My mum used Stylecraft Special DK from Wool Warehouse. It is reasonably priced yarn that comes on lots of colours. Of course you could also ask for donations of yarn from friends and family.

If you don’t have time to do some knitting you can make a nativity set from paper plates – have a look at this post.

The cast of Christmas is ready

Use what you have Christmas Collage

Use what you have to make a Christmas collage. There is so much for us to spend money on at Christmas that it’s a nice change to use what we already have have to make crafts.

I always keep Christmas cards as they have great pictures. And those bits of wrapping paper that aren’t quite big enough to wrap any of the gifts I’ve bought come in handy too.

If you have any paper punchers you can cut out shapes but if not just use scissors. Older children can doing the cutting out themselves.

Just use what you have – sweet wrappers, greeting cards, wrapping paper, pictures from magazines. Whatever you fancy!

Sometimes we do a ‘cover the paper’ challenge. The idea is to fill an A4 piece of paper with collage materials. It’s a lot of fun!

This year we have quite a lot of sequins left from other crafts so we’ll be adding those to the selection of materials that the children can choose from. I think that is part of the pleasure of making – choosing what to use.

Here’s a couple of my attempts – the children will no doubt do a better job than me!

A use what you have snow themed collage

These crafts would be great to make at home between Christmas and New Year. Keep your wrapping paper and cards and enjoy giving them a second life!

Here’s a link to some family ideas on the blog

Let’s meet Anna and Simeon!

Let’s meet Anna and Simeon who saw Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem. We read about them in Luke 2:22-38. This story isn’t always told at Christmas time but it fits in between the visit of the Shepherds and the arrival of the Wise men. (When Herod starts to anxiously look for Jesus in Matthew 2 – the new King, Jesus has already been in Jerusalem.) Most people didn’t see anything special about this visit but Simeon and Anna recognised who Jesus is. Simeon knew that Jesus was God’s salvation and Anna saw that Jesus was the one bringing redemption.

Let’s meet Anna and Simeon Bible Story Idea

In the story bag have the main characters to show at the right time in the story – Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, Simeon and Anna.

Jesus had been born! Mary and Joseph gave him his special name – Jesus – which means ‘The Lord saves’. Then some days later they needed to go to the big city of Jerusalem to the Temple. The temple was a very special place. People went there to worship God. Mary and Joseph needed to go there to say thank you to God for the new baby.

It wasn’t too far to travel. Let’s walk with them. (make the sound of walking by tapping hands on knees)

They arrived at the temple and went inside. It was a very special place. Lots of people were there. One of them was an old man called Simeon. (Say hello to Simeon) Simeon had been looking forward to seeing someone. He was looking forward to seeing the Saviour that God had promised to send. And today was the day! Simeon saw Jesus. And even though he was a baby Simeon knew he was the saviour sent from God. Simeon held Jesus in his arms and said thank you to God for sending the Saviour.

And then a woman saw Jesus. Her name was Anna. (Say hello to Anna) She was very old and came to the temple everyday. And on this day she saw Jesus and she knew that he was the Saviour! She began to tell everyone and she said thank you to God for sending the Saviour.

We can say thank you to God for sending Jesus – the Saviour.

Anna and Simeon to make

This is a variation of the Yarn wrapped candle. You need cardboard tubes – you can purchase these or use a halved kitchen roll. Add a face, hair or beard and wrap yarn around the tube for clothing. Take a look at the Yarn wrapped candle post for instructions about that. You don’t need to glue the yarn! Add a headdress and secure with a pipe cleaner.

Simeon and Anna made from cardboard tubes and wool

Birth of Jesus Story Video

The Birth of Jesus story video for young children to enjoy. Jesus’ birth is the heart of Christmas. This story video begins with the journey to Bethlehem and ends with the Shepherds visit.

Feel free to use and share.

A lovely craft idea to do – make a Christmas collage using wrapping paper and Christmas cards. If making with young children cut the shapes beforehand. If making with your own child at home you could have a go at teaching some cutting skills using child friendly scissors. Always take care!

Birth of Jesus Story video craft idea to do.

Here’s a link to a pinterest board with lots of Christmas craft ideas

Candle decoration to make

Candle crafts are lovely for homemade Christmas decorations. I saw this idea on pinterest. It’s from Kidscraftroom.com which is a great place for craft ideas. This craft combines two of my favourite things – yarn and Christmas! If you are making this at home with your own children you can use what you have – cardboard tubes from toilet rolls and kitchen rolls and paper and yarn you already have. If making in a group then it’s better to avoid toilet rolls or check with your group first. If you don’t have shiny paper or card for the flame just use what you have – silver foil or sweet wrappers would work just as well.

To make the candle decoration you need

  • Cardboard tubes
  • White paper to cover the tube – or any colour you choose
  • Yellow and gold card to make the flame. This needs to be the same width as the tube at it’s base as you are going to slot it into the tube.
  • Yarn.

Before making something with children I always try it our first. It’s the only way to know if it will work! I had a few different attempts at wrapping yarn around the cardboard tube and decided to go with a variegated chunky yarn. I used a pink based colour that is really bright! It’s available from amazon. (affiliate link – if you click on the link and make a purchase the blog recieves a small payment from Amazon at no extra cost to you). You can use any yarn that you have but you need it to hold to the tube without using glue.

Candle decoration To make

  • Cover the tube with paper. Secure with glue and then cut and tuck in extra paper at both ends. The tube should still stand up.
  • Cut two slits opposite each other at one end.
  • Slot the begginning of the yarn in one of the slits and start wrapping
  • Wrap the yarn from top to bottom and then back to the top and secure in the other slit. Push the end of the yarn into the centre of the tube
  • Make the flame
  • Slot the flame into the top of the candle
Cardboard tube wrapped in wool to make a candle decoration

Another Christmas craft from the blog is here – A Christmas Star to make.

The Wise Men find The King

This story is from Matthew 2:1-18

To tell the story you need – some Wise Men, toy camels and a star. You can add some actions too – stars with hands (like in twinkle, twinkle little star), running, looking, kneeling.

The story

Bible Truth for Toddlers – Jesus is King

Far away from where Jesus was born there were some Wise Men. They read books and knew a lot. They loved to look at the stars in the dark night’s sky. One night they saw a new star! They looked at the new star and they looked at each other. ‘Wow! they thought, ‘this new star means that a new king has been born in Israel. Let’s go and worship him’.

So they packed their things and set off for the important city of Jerusalem. They travelled for a long time. It took days and days to get there. When they arrived in Jerusalem they asked everyone they met, ‘Where is the new baby king?’

Now, there was a king in Jerusalem called King Herod but he wasn’t a baby; he was a grown up and he wasn’t at all happy. He didn’t want a new King! He heard that there were men from a far away place who were asking people, ‘Where is the new king?’ This upset him and it upset the people who were living in Jerusalem. He sent for the men from the temple. ‘Where is this new King to be born?’ he asked. The men from the temple knew the answer because it was written in the Bible. ‘In Bethlehem.’ they said.

Herod sent for the Wise Men and he told them to go to Bethlehem and find this new King and then come back and tell him where the new King was so he could go and worship him too.

So off the Wise Men went. It wasn’t too far to go now. As they got nearer something very special happened. The star was there again and this time it went before them and shone right over the house where Jesus was. The Wise men had found Jesus and they knelt down and worshiped him. They took their treasures out of their bags and gave them to Jesus. They gave him gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were special gifts for a King.

The Wise Men never told Herod where Jesus was. God warned them not to in a dream and they travelled home.

Herod didn’t want to worship Jesus. He wanted to get rid of him. An angel told Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and run away to a different country till it was safe to go back home.

Joseph did what the angel said and took Mary and Jesus to somewhere safe far away from Herod. When the danger was past they went to back home to Nazareth.

Some star craft ideas

For a star craft – decorate a star wreath shape and add some tissue paper for a stained glass window effect. Or use Christmas card pictures to decoarate a star.

Make a Wise Men stained glass window. For instructions see this blog post Christmas stained glass – paper plate!

Paint a star shape. This is a wooden star but card would be fine too.

Some festive baking! Yum!

Some festive baking! Yum! Christmas is a great time of year to make biscuits. There are loads of cookie cutter shapes to choose from, I chose Christmas trees. I used a favourite recipe that never fails. This is a very easy recipe called 1-2-3 biscuits from ‘Cakes and Cake Decorating’ by Rosemary Wadey.

The recipe for some festive baking! Yum!

2oz/50g butter

1oz/25g caster sugar

3oz/75g plain flour

To make 

Cream butter and sugar together and then gradually add the flour. Knead till smooth. I made this in my mixer but it is easily done by hand.

Chill the biscuit dough for at least an hour. If you miss this it will be very difficult to roll out and cut into biscuit shapes.

Once chilled roll out on a floured surface. Cut into shapes. I used a christmas tree shaped cutter. Bake at 150C /300F /Gas 2 for about 25 minutes (less if you have a fan oven. Check often anyway). They should be lightly browned. I have a gas oven that has a mind of it’s own so please don’t take my timings as exact!

Once cooked allow to cool and then decorate using icing (icing sugar and water mixed- add water little by little). I added green colouring jell. Decorate any way you like. And enjoy!

Hundreds and thousands cake decorations
Decorating biscuits with icing
Some festive baking! Yum!
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Star Christmas decoration to make – using lollipop sticks

Star Christmas decoration to make to hang on the tree! Lots of sequins are needed for this simple star shaped decoration for the Christmas Tree. It’s a fun craft to make and looks lovely as a special home made decoration. The printable banner, ‘Joy to the World’ is a reminder of the great news of the first Christmas.

Luke 2:10-11 And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Everything you need for the star decoration

  • Six lollipop/ popsicle sticks per star. (plus some spare in case of any mishaps!) Try to buy the coloured sticks. (Please consider purchasing through this link as the blog will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!)
  • Sequins (different colours, shapes and sizes)
  • PVA glue and spreaders
  • A button and thread
  • ‘Joy to the World’ mini banner (download available below)

How to make the star

1. Glue the lollipop sticks together – layer the sticks as shown in the photo and wait for the glue to dry.

2. Meanwhile thread the cotton through the button – tie in a knot to make a loop. This will be used to hang the star from the tree.

3. Glue the threaded button to the top of the lollipop stick star.

4. Before you add sequins to the lollipop stick glue the mini ‘Joy to the World’ banner in place and then add sequins to the star.

Diagram showing how to put a lollipop stick star shape together
Star decoration made with lollipop sticks and sequins
Star decoration for the Christmas tree made with lollipop sticks and sequins

Here’s another star idea that’s suitable for under 5’s. A Christmas Star wreath shape decorated with pictures from Christmas cards. If you don’t have Christmas cards use wrapping paper scraps!

A Christmas Carol to enjoy!

How to make a shepherd

How to make a shepherd printable instructions.

You can make a shepherd to add to a Nativity display or use when telling the Christmas Story. Below is a photo of a nativity to give you an idea of how you can use paper plate Christmas characters to build a Christmas scene. In the picture we have Mary and Joseph, angels and shepherds. The manger is a party bag with yellow tissue paper inside – see this post for instructions and a printable baby , the stable is made from a cardboard box lined with yellow tissue paper on the inside and covered with brown tissue paper on the outside.

How to make a shepherd printable

How to make a shepherd printable instructions

You can print the above by clicking on download…

There is a similar printable all about making an angel available in this post

Enjoy making a Christmas scene to use in storytelling or as a decoration.

Angel tree topper instructions

Angel tree topper instructions that are easy to print. We made these angels last year in our toddler group. There are some instructions here on the blog in a previous post but this printable instruction leaflet is much easier to print and share. It can be handy to have some instructions for the adults to look at on the craft table. You could also make them available as a take home for parents and children to make during the Christmas holidays.

Printable instructions showing how to make an angel tree topper

Happy Christmas!

‘Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, love divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and angels gave the sign.’

Christina Rossetti

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10

Paper Plate Nativity

Angels, Mary, Joseph, shepherds and the manger with the baby. Great for a nativity decoration and for telling the Christmas story.

Links to ‘how to make’ the characters (specifically the angels but the same basic idea is used for Mary, Joseph and the shepherds too) and the manger

The stable is a cardboard box covered in tissue paper. If you cover the inside of the box with yellow paint or tissue paper the characters will show up better. You can add battery powered tea lights too!

You could make this over several weeks in toddler group or Sunday School or make at home.

Shepherd craft

Luke tells us that shepherds were told that the Saviour had been born!

‘For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord’ Luke 2:11

So here are some shepherds to make … using paper plates

All you need to make these shepherds – paper plates,pipe cleaners, wool, tissue paper and circles.

Jesus is born craft

All you need for this craft – paper party bags, shredded tissue paper, stars, baby picture, glue, crayons or material for the swaddling cloths.

There is a lot of cutting out to do beforehand and not loads for children to do – they decorate the baby, add the tissue paper and the star – so you may want to make a paper plate Mary, Joseph or a shepherd as well!

Another angel! or two…

A whole paper plate – cut out a triangle and use as the body. Add ribbon so this angel can be used as a Christmas dec
How lovely is this! Got to love that face.
ice cream pot angel – with a sparkly halo!
half a paper plate folded in three – a tree topper or an angel to sit in the stable
an angel picture with hearts for wings

Angel!

There are lots of Bible stories that include angels so this craft isn’t just for Christmas! But obviously we often make angel crafts at Christmas so here is a paper plate angel that stands up and could be used as a tree topper.

All you need – paper plates (cheap and quite thin as you want to cut them in half and fold them), doilies (not too large and cut or folded in half), wool for hair, stars and shiny paper to decorate, glue and crayons to draw on features and glue.

If you are making these in a toddler group do all the cutting out prep beforehand and have a made angel to give an idea. If you want to do the folding of the plate ahead of time you could.

Enjoy!

Christmas stained glass – paper plate!

I first made a paper plate stained glass window back in 2015! You can take a look at the blog post and instructions here – click this link

There is quite a bit of prep for this craft but it’s so worth the effort. It looks lovely!

This year I thought I would add some extra characters from the Christmas story.

There are templates – you may want to alter the shepherds head – it looks a little lopsided!! (sorry) The link to download – Christmas Stained Glass Window Template

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Make Your Own Advent Calendar

All you need to make an advent calendar with Bible verses that help us to prepare for Christmas

Are you looking forward to Christmas? One way of helping our children understand the real meaning of Christmas is to point them to what the Bible has to say about the Birth of Jesus. This ‘make your own advent calendar’ is a simple way of helping us to re-focus on Jesus as we get ready to celebrate Christmas. There is one picture for each day (tree, sheep, star and a manger for Christmas Day) with a Bible reference to look up and read as a family.

How to make this advent calendar

You will need…

Print the symbols onto card and cut out. Place each one in an envelope with a number on the outside (you can buy inexpensive special advent stickers for this), add small treats to the envelope too. At the beginning of December put up some string or ribbon and use pegs or paper clips to attach the picture each day during advent. You can leave the pictures black and white or colour them. There are Bible verses to read each day – help the children to find the verse in the Bible (some are a bit tricky to find) and read the verse with them.

You can add a chocolate treat too if you wish. When our children were small we’d have eaten the chocolate treat either straight after breakfast or straight after school and read the Bible verses at bedtime. But you pick a time that fits in with your family life!

The envelopes, pegs, stickers and string can be used another year and you can print out as many of the Christmas shapes as you like.

Free printable is here  Christmas 3-shapes 3 ( verses)  Christmas 3-shapes 2 ( verses)  Christmas 3-shapes 1 ( verses)

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on the link and make a purchase it helps fund this blog at no extra cost to you. 

Happy Christmas to you!

Thank you for visiting this blog! I just want to wish you a very Happy Christmas and a blessed New Year.

This is my last post of 2018. To finish, here are some photos from the Toddler Group parties that I’ve been involved with over the past week. One was a birthday party for Jesus – with a cake! Father Christmas came to see us last Thursday (real shame there were no elves to wrap gifts! – wrapping 60 books was not all that much fun). I put the gingerbread house and train together the night before one party. Some ideas seem so great till you are several hours into decorating and it still isn’t finished. But no doubt I will forget this and do another one next year. (Only with better decoration!)

Each Christmas I really enjoy telling the Christmas Bible stories. What a truly wonderful thing it is that Jesus came as a baby. It always fills me with a sense of wonder.

And while they were there (Bethlehem), the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.’ Luke 2:6-7

Journey to Bethlehem – week 6 – The Shepherds

So far we have had stories about Creation, the Fall, Abraham, the angel visiting Mary and the birth of Jesus. Our last story in our journey to Bethlehem series is all about the shepherds. Luke 2:8-20

Bible Story from Luke 2:8-20

Bible truth for toddlers – Jesus is the Saviour

The baby sent from God was tucked up in the manger. Mary and Joseph were there to look after him. Do you remember his name? He was called Jesus. There they were that night – just the three of them.

Meanwhile, out of the town, in the hills, there were shepherds. Shepherds look after sheep. What sound does a sheep make?

It was dark – the shepherds were making sure that all the sheep were safe.

Then suddenly something happened that made the shepherds really scared! There was an angel – and the angel was surrounded by bright light.

‘Don’t be afraid’, the angel said, ‘I bring you good news of great joy that is for everyone, everywhere. Today, a Saviour has been born. You will find him lying in a manger.’

Then lots of angels were there singing. And then they were gone and it was dark again.

The shepherds looked at each other, ‘Let’s go and see this thing that’s happened that God has told us about.’

So off they went – down the hill, through the town, looking here, looking there – until they found Jesus. They found the Saviour.

We can find Jesus too. He is still the Saviour sent from God for everyone, everywhere. We won’t find him in a manger – but we can know him as our Saviour.

Another paper plate…to add

All the paper plates from our Journey to Bethlehem

Days of creation paper plates
Week One – Creation https://lettheirlightshine.com/2015/11/04/journey-to-bethlehem/
Week Two – The Fall https://lettheirlightshine.com/2018/11/14/journey-to-bethlehem-week-2/
Week Three – Abraham https://lettheirlightshine.com/2018/11/23/journey-to-bethlehem-week-3/
Week Four – The Angel visits Mary https://lettheirlightshine.com/2018/11/28/journey-to-bethlehem-week-4/
Jesus is born paper plate picture
Week Five – Jesus is born https://lettheirlightshine.com/2018/12/05/journey-to-bethlehem-week-5/
The Shepherds and the angels paper plate picture
Week Six – The Shepherds find Jesus

Journey to Bethlehem – week 5 – Jesus is born

This week we arrive in Bethlehem!

The story is from Luke 2:1-7.

I often start story time by introducing the characters – in this story we’ll all say hello to Mary and then to Joseph as I take them out of the story bag. (The knitted characters are from an Alan Dart pattern – available from his website or from Amazon)

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The Story

‘Mary and Joseph had to go on a long journey. They needed to go all the way to Bethlehem. Maybe they took one of these with them – take donkey out of the story bag. What noise does a donkey make? Everyone join in with ‘eeyore (hee-haw)’

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When they got to the town of Bethlehem they needed to find somewhere to stay. Mary’s baby was soon going to be born.

They looked and they looked. They knocked on the door of the hotel. ‘We must find somewhere soon!’ they said to each other.

The hotel boss answered the door – ‘No room here!’ he said

Oh no! (Everyone repeat this)

‘But maybe you could stay where the animals are?’ he said.

It was better than having nowhere to go. So that was where Mary and Joseph went. And there Jesus was born.

He was a real baby – with 10 fingers and 10 toes and a nose and two eyes and two ears. But he was also very special because he is God’s Son. The Bible gives him a special name – Immanuel – which means ‘God with us’. ‘ (Matthew 1:23)

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We’ll add another paper plate to our Journey to Bethlehem display..IMG_3697

So altogether we have …..

We will be making Christmas star wreaths as our craft..

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Journey to Bethlehem – week 4 – The Angel visits Mary

This week we get very near to Bethlehem! The story is the Angel’s visit to Mary from Luke 1:26-38.

Bible story – from Luke 1:26-38.

(Include actions in the story if you can – ask the children and adults to join in)

‘One day Mary was at home. It was just an ordinary day. Mary was cleaning the house (some actions here – maybe dusting or sweeping).

But then something extraordinary happened! An angel came to see her! Now angels are not like fairies. Angels are big and strong! (actions here too). The angel that came to see Mary was called Gabriel (ask everyone to repeat the name). He had a message from God.

‘You are going to have a very special baby,’ he said to Mary. ‘This baby will be God’s Son and he will be King forever.’

Who was this baby? This baby, that the angel talked about, was Jesus.

Mary listened. (everyone touch their ears). She knew that this promised baby would be very, very special and important.’

All the paper plates so far will be on display…

New plate to add……

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And an angel craft idea…

All you need is paper plates cut into wedges, doilies cut into quarters, circles, wool, shiny paper and wool. You can either draw on the eyes and smile beforehand or let the children do it.

Another Christmas star idea!

Christmas star craft

Yesterday I posted a Christmas Card Star idea. Today another idea using the same star wreath. This time you can paint the star or decorate with stickers and then use tissue paper for a stained glass effect.

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I used paint markers to create the dots. As with all paint check that what you use is washable and have aprons or warn parents/carers that there will be paint! I bought Washable Dab and Dot Markers. They are for 3plus years but if you put the lids out of reach and keep a watchful eye they are ok. If you don’t feel 100% comfortable with using something in your group then don’t use it.

The two ideas…

Star wreaths are from Baker Ross

Christmas Star to make

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This is so easy and uses up Christmas cards! The star shape is from Baker Ross. I kept my Christmas cards from last year but wasn’t quite sure what to do with them until I was planning for Christmas and a friend told me about star shaped wreaths!

For toddlers I’m cutting out nativity themed pictures plus a few winter robins and I’ve added the choice of tissue paper too. I went with green and red but silver and gold would be lovely!

Older children could cut out their own motifs from a selection of cards.

Journey to Bethlehem – week 3 – God’s promise to Abraham

This week the Bible story was all about God’s promise to Abraham to give him a huge family and to bless all the people on earth through that family. During the story I use the names Abraham and Sarah for simplicity. (At this point in the Bible they are still using the names Abram and Sara – and you can use these names if you prefer)

Bible Story – God’s Promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3 and 15:5)

Bible truth for toddlers – Jesus was born into Abraham’s family

Say hello to Abraham! (take a puppet or doll from the story bag). Abraham lived a long, long, long time ago. 

One day God spoke to Abraham, ‘Pack up your things and leave the place where you are living. Go to a place that I will show you. I will make you a great nation and all the families on the earth will be blessed through you’. God was making a promise to Abraham.

Abraham listened to God and he did what God said. He and his wife Sarah (take another doll or puppet from the story bag) packed their things and off they went. 

God showed them where to go. 

Now after Abraham and Sarah had been living in their new home for quite a while God spoke to Abraham again.

Abraham was outside at night time. It was dark. God said to him, ‘Look up at the sky and all the stars. So many stars that you can’t count them. This is how large your family will be.’ 

Abraham listened to God and he believed God.

And Abraham did have a large family .. and from that large family came Jesus. He is the one that blesses the whole world.’

When we had finished the story we added another paper plate to all the others ..IMG_3692

So, altogether the story so far….

To make your own paper plates you need

Tissue paper

Stars

Cotton wool

A picture of Abraham

Spiral for the snake

Craft paper to decorate the snake

Cardboard tube for the tree

Feathers

Flower shapes

Pictures of animals

Two faces – for Adam and Eve

Be creative!

Christmas story paper plates

These paper plates can be used to tell the Christmas story and/or as craft ideas. They need some prep so I’m posting them now!

The Angel Gabriel visits Mary – Luke 1:26-38

 

Jesus is born – Luke 2:1-7

The shepherds are told about the birth of the Saviour – Luke 2:8-21

You can tell the story a little at a time over three weeks or use the plates altogether

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They are made from sturdy paper plates that have a rim (not the cheapest but they need to stand up to being taken out of a story bag). The picture backgrounds are made from tissue paper and the scenes and people use paper, sugar paper, crepe paper, cardboard rolls (stable) wool, cotton wool and shiny paper. The angel wings are hearts cut out using a paper punch. The bodies of the people are triangles and the head scarfs (I can’t think of a better word!) are material. Lots of different textures and colours! Use what you have 🙂

The Wise Men visit Jesus

The story of the Wise Men is from Matthew 2:1-15. As this story is being told to toddlers I don’t mention Herod’s plan to kill the baby boys. It is a very dark part of the story and reminds us the Birth of Jesus took place in a world where many people had rejected God.

To tell the story you need – some Wise Men, toy camels and a star. You can add some actions too – stars with hands (like in twinkle, twinkle little star), running, looking, kneeling.

The story

Bible Truth for Toddlers – Jesus is King

Do you remember how we heard about Jesus being born? He was a tiny baby. But then he grew and he was a toddler – just like you! He lived in a house with Mary and Joseph.

Far away from where Jesus lived there were some Wise Men. They read books and knew lots and lots of things. They loved to look at the stars in the dark nights sky. One night they saw a new star! They looked at the new star and they looked at each other. ‘Wow! they thought, ‘this new star means that a new king has been born in Israel. Let’s go and worship him’.

So they packed their things and set off for the important city of Jerusalem. They traveled for a long time. It took days and days to get there. When they arrived in Jerusalem they asked everyone they met, ‘Where is the new baby king?’

Now, there was a king in Jerusalem called King Herod but he wasn’t a baby, he was a grown up and he wasn’t happy. He didn’t want a new King! He heard that there were men from a far away place who were asking people, ‘Where is the new king?’ This upset him and it upset the people who were living in Jerusalem. He sent for the men from the temple. ‘Where is this new King to be born?’ he asked. The men from the temple knew the answer because it was written in the Bible. ‘In Bethlehem.’ they said.

Herod sent for the Wise Men and he told them to go to Bethlehem and find this new King and then come back and tell him where the new King was so he could go and worship him too.

So off the Wise Men went. It wasn’t too far to go now. As they got nearer something very special happened. The star was there again and this time it went before them and shone right over the house where Jesus was. The Wise men had found Jesus and they knelt down and worshiped him. They took their treasures out of their bags and gave them to Jesus. They gave him gold, farnkinsense and myrrh. These were special gifts for a King.

The Wise Men never told Herod where Jesus was. God warned them not to in a dream and they travelled home.

Herod didn’t want to worship Jesus. He wanted to get rid of him. An angel told Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and run away to a different country till it was safe to go back home.

Joseph did what the angel said and took Mary and Jesus to somewhere safe far away from Herod. When the danger was past they went to back home to Nazareth.

Craft Idea –

Decorate stars – we’ve used wooden stars from amazon and paint. Put the painted star on a white envelope so you can name it. It’s much easier than writing it on the back and then having to turn the stars over at home time.

Happy Christmas!

Thank you for taking the time to visit this blog and for leaving comments here and in a couple of Christmas cards 🙂 I hope that you have a very Happy Christmas.

‘And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.’ Luke 2:6-7

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Shepherds find the baby in the manger

The baby sent from God was tucked up in the manger. Mary and Joseph were there to look after him. Do you remember his name? He was called Jesus. There they were that night – just the three of them.

Meanwhile, out of the town, in the hills there were shepherds. Shepherds look after sheep. What sound does a sheep make?

It was dark – the shepherds were making sure that all the sheep were safe.

Then suddenly something happened that made the shepherds really scared! There was an angel – and the angel was surrounded by bright light.

‘Don’t be afraid’, the angel said, ‘I bring you good news of great joy that is for everyone, everywhere. Today, a Saviour has been born. You will find him lying in a manger.’

Then lots of angels were there singing. And then they were gone and it was dark again.

The shepherds looked at each other, ‘Let’s go and see this thing that’s happened that God has told us about.’

So off they went – down the hill, through the town, looking here, looking there – until they found Jesus. They found the Saviour.

We can find Jesus too. He is still the Saviour sent from God for everyone, everywhere. We won’t find him in a manger – but we can know him as our Saviour.

 

Christmas craft fun!

Lots of making today at Toddler Group – sequins and shredded tissue paper here,there and everywhere but beautiful baubles were made and a simple nativity. I think I prefer sequins instead of glitter for making baubles and the children loved them.

I love celebrating Christmas at Toddler Group 🙂

Christmas baubles craft

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All you need to make these decorations  – circles cut out of card (I use a paper punch), an oblong with a hole for string, glue and sequins. I’m going to ask parents to put the child’s name and date on the back so that this becomes a keepsake.

To minimise sequin spillage (!) each child will have a paper plate to catch sequins! (I hope this works)

Angel to make

To make this angel all you need is – paper plate (cut out a triangle for the angel’s body), circle for the angel’s face, shredded tissue paper for the hair, black felt tip to draw a face, ribbon to make a hook so the angel can be used as a decoration and yellow tissue paper, shiny paper and glitter to decorate the angel’s wings and body. And glue!

We aren’t using glitter at our toddler group because we made so much mess last year! The shiny paper was a good substitute. Sequins would be fun too.

 

Here’s some that the children made last week

The Cast of Christmas are ready!

The cast of Christmas are ready! I’m really looking forward to telling the Christmas Story with these guys .. made by my super talented mum. The Wise Men are my favourites 🙂 Here’s a link to the Alan Dart pattern my mum used. (Affiliate link – if you click and buy the item I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)

You can use the characters over several weeks and build up a nativity tableau. They are a great size and fit well in a story bag or basket. I add some toy sheep for the shepherds and we have some soft toy camels for the Wise Men.

If you are planning on making them give yourself plenty of time or ask for help! My mum used Stylecraft Special DK from Wool Warehouse. It is reasonably priced yarn that comes on lots of colours. Of course you could also ask for donations of yarn from friends and family.

If you don’t have time to do some knitting you can make a nativity set from paper plates – have a look at this post.

The cast of Christmas

The Angel visits Mary

angel visits Mary

The Angel visits Mary Bible story – from Luke 1:26-38.

(Include actions in the story if you can – ask the children and adults to join in)

‘One day Mary was at home. It was just an ordinary day. Mary was cleaning the house (some actions here – maybe dusting or sweeping).

But then something extraordinary happened! An angel came to see her! Now angels are not like fairies. Angels are big and strong! (actions here too – make a big shape with your arms and then flex muscles). The angel that came to see Mary was called Gabriel (ask everyone to repeat the name). He had a message from God.

‘You are going to have a very special baby,’ he said to Mary. ‘This baby will be God’s Son and he will be King forever.’

Who was this baby? This baby, that the angel talked about, was Jesus.

Mary listened. (everyone touch their ears). She knew that this promised baby would be very, very special and important.

Jesus is very, very special and important. He is God’s Son who came to earth to be the Saviour.’

Craft Ideas – make angels

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Square paper plate angel – cut out the wings and use tissue paper to create a stained glass effect.

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Paper cup/ice cream pot angel. Use a circle for the face and add a pipe cleaner halo.

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Story bag ideas – a doll to represent Mary or Early Learning Centre Nativity Set. You could add a duster and a dustpan and brush and your angel craft to represent Gabriel.

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Some more angels to make in this post using paper plates

Jesus is born – craft

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We made these last year and in a couple of weeks time will make them again at our Holiday Bible Club Christmas Special. The paper plate is cut to form a simple manger shape and then the plate is decorated using coloured tissue paper, a star and some shredded tissue paper. Once this is all done you fold the plate in half so it stands up! This is very simple to make and looks great.

This would be a lovely craft to make at home.

Here’s the one I made last year….SAM_1371

Christmas – paper plate stained glass nativity

‘And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.’

Luke 1:30,31

 

Make a stained glass ‘window’

You will need – black square paper plates, black paper for the stars (my paper punch wouldn’t go through the paper plate), star paper punch, assorted bright coloured tissue paper (torn or cut into smallish pieces), glue, cover film (Tacky back)

The paper plate is the window. Cut out the centre and fill the gap with the tacky back – sticky side on the same side as the black rim of the plate. Don’t discard the tacky back backing yet but use it to cover the sticky side till you are ready to make the window.

Cut the simple shapes to represent Mary, Joseph and the manger from the part of the paper plate that was cut out to make the window frame.

To make – stick lots of flat pieces of tissue paper over the tacky back covering it.

Glue on Mary, Joseph, the manger and star making sure that the black side of the shapes is at the front.

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Simple Christmas Craft – baby in the manger

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This craft has a bit of preparation – there is some cutting out for an adult or older child to do. I made a template to speed the process up!

All you need to make the ‘baby in the manger’ scene is :-

Good quality paper plates – preferably with a definite rim. You will be using the back of the plate.

Tissue paper cut into squares – dark blue and yellow

Shredded tissue paper – yellow

Brown paper cut into small squares

Grey/dark crayons to shade the silhouette of the baby’s head

Stars

Glue sticks

To make –

Have an example to show the children and explain what it is that they are making.

Stick the tissue paper and brown paper followed by shredded tissue to make the straw. Add the star and shade the silhouette of the babies head.

For this stage give children an additional paper plate to act as a support under the craft plate. It will make sticking much easier.

When everything has dried the final stage is to fold the plate.

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Make your own advent calendar

 

Chocolate has taken over advent calendars! So this is a set of printables to make your own set of pictures (that children can decorate every day of advent) with a Bible verse to read each day. In our family  we won’t do this instead of chocolate but alongside the chocolate eating advent calendar.

Use this any way that suits you – we have some Christmas twine and paper clips.

There is an extra picture for Christmas day.

Christmas 3-shapes 1 ( verses)

Christmas 3-shapes 2 ( verses)

Christmas 3-shapes 3 ( verses)

 

 

Nativity at home

We’ve had our Early Leaning Centre Nativity for about 14 years and it is still going strong. Sadly the new sets no longer have a stable 🙁 But with some shredded tissue paper for straw and a big catering size foil dish to keep the tissue paper contained, you  have a place to display an play with the nativity figures.

Luke 2:11 colouring – with a PDF that works!

Sorry if you had this post on facebook with a missing link. It’s all sorted now 🙂

Luke 2v11 colouring activityBLuke 2v11 colouring activityC

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