christmas craft Archives - Let their light shine!

Is Jesus the forever king?

Is Jesus the forever king? This lesson is the final part of our toddler group Bible story series, “Who is the Forever King?” If you are looking for a simple toddler group Bible story for Christmas, this interactive lesson shows young children how Jesus fulfills God’s promises in the Bible. We began with King David and God’s promise to David,

Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ 2 Samuel 7:16.

We have told simple stories about David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah. These kings are all mentioned in Matthew 1 in the genealogy of Jesus, the son of David.

Why did we put the Christmas Toddler Group story in a series about kings?

We tell a toddler friendly Bible story every week at toddler group and we wanted to place the Christmas story in the context of the whole Bible. If you need a Christmas toddler Bible lesson that connects the Old and New Testaments, this approach helps children see the bigger picture.

You can also explore our Journey to Bethlehem series of toddler Bible stories in this post for more inspiration.

This time we shifted our focus to the promise given to David that there would be a forever King on his throne.

Links to the stories in this ‘Who is the forever King?’ toddler Bible story series

To tell each Bible story you need six weeks (this includes the Toddler Christmas Bible story)

Week One – Is David the forever King? read the post here
Week Two – Is Solomon the forever King? Bible story idea here
Week Three – Is Jehoshaphat the forever King? Bible story and craft here
Week Four – Is Hezekiah the forever King? read the post here
Week Five – Is Josiah the forever King? the story is here
Week six – Is Jesus the forever King?

Props and pictures to use in the series

We made use of free printables from Free Bible Images for the kings. They are available here. The chosen images were printed onto card, cut out and a lollipop stick was added to make a puppet.

We also made an A3 poster with the series title, ‘Who is the Forever King?’ a name card for each King and added velcro to the back of the King puppets so we could build up our picture board each week. The ‘yes’ or ‘no’ was added at the end of each Bible story.

Although toddlers won’t be reading these names the adults will and it helps them to be involved and listening to the Bible story.

King puppet for the Toddler Bible Story series, 'Who is the Forever King?' — The King puppets for the Toddler Bible story series, ‘Who is the forever King?’

Toddler Group Christmas Bible Story Script – Is Jesus the forever King?

This short, 10-minute toddler group Bible story script is designed for preschool children, toddlers, and their parents. It uses simple repetition and props to keep young minds engaged. Read through the narrative below or use it as an outline for your toddler group nativity story session.

Is Jesus the forever king? visual aid for telling a toddler group Bible story

To tell the story – you need puppets or dolls representing the following plus a manger. If you don’t have puppets or dolls there is a paper plate alternative below.

Mary
Angel Gabriel
Joseph
Donkey – optional as it isn’t mentioned in the bible
Baby
Shepherds

Here’s the links to how to make a paper plate nativity – angels, manger with baby, shepherds

Preschool nativity made from paper plates

OR you could use dolls –

Is Jesus the forever king? storytelling dolls

Is Jesus the forever king? Toddler Group Bible story

Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-16

We are still looking for the forever King! The king that will be on the throne of David forever. Lets see if we find him today.

A long time ago there was a woman called Mary. One day she had a very surprising visitor with a very surprising message!

It was an angel, a big strong messenger sent from God who said to Mary, ‘ You are going to have a very special baby. You must give him the name Jesus. He will be God the son and God will give him the throne of David. His kingdom will never, ever end.’

The forever king was going to be born! He was going to be the very best king and the most powerful king in the whole world.

Mary listened to the angel and she was willing to be the bay’s mum.

But then just before the baby was going to be born Mary and Joseph had to go on a long journey to Bethlehem. Bethlehem was their home town (and it had also been King Davids home town). They might have taken a donkey to carry their bags. It took quite a while.

‘Are we nearly there yet?’ No not quite. They carried on. Are we nearly there yet? Almost. They carried on. Are we nearly there yet? Yes we’re here! But oh no there’s no where to stay.

Mary and Joseph ended up staying where the animals were. And that night the Lord Jesus was born. He was an ordinary baby – with fingers and toes and a nose and mouth and eyes. But he was God’s forever king too.

Outside Bethlehem there were shepherds looking after their sheep. It was really dark with stars shining in the sky. Suddenly an angel was there with them. They were terrified.

‘Don’t be afraid’, the angel said, ‘today in the city of David, a Saviour has been born. You will find him all wrapped up and lying in a manger.’ Then lots of angels filled the sky singing. And then they were gone and it was dark again.

‘Let’s go and find him’ the shepherds said to one another. So the rushed down the hill, through the town and they looked for the forever king who is the Saviour – and they found him.

Jesus is the Saviour sent for you and me. Is he the forever King? Yes! The shepherds found him and we can find him too.

Easy Toddler Christmas Craft: Stained glass Paper Plate Nativity

This paper plate nativity craft is a fun, easy toddler group Christmas craft that doubles as a keepsake decoration for parents. It works brilliantly alongside any preschool nativity Bible story. It doesn’t matter if the picture isn’t coloured neatly! Allow the toddlers to make it their own.

Materials needed for the Toddler Craft

Paper plates – I used brown plates
Yellow tissue paper – this can be shredded like straw. This is quite messy so if you prefer less mess use torn tissue paper.
Crayons (avoid very dark blue and black)
Christmas wrapping paper odds and ends cut into shapes toddlers can easily pick up.
Glue
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.

Christmas Toddler craft free download

Nativitiy-Scene-paper-plate Download

To make the paper plate Christmas Toddler craft

decorate the nativity first
then fold along the line marked (adult help needed)
add glue to the plain are of the nativity picture and stick in the centre of the plate.
Cover the plate with tissue paper straw and add any other decorations to the rim of the plate.
Make sure to add the toddlers name too

If you tried this interactive toddler Bible lesson or paper plate nativity craft, I’d love to hear how it went! Leave a comment below or share your group’s finished creations with us.

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.

Nativitiy Scene (paper plate)Download

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.

Button Craft Christmas tree

Button craft Christmas tree. This is a lovely simple craft to make at home or with a group. It’s fairly flexible – you don’t need to use buttons, tissue paper, wrapping paper, stickers will all work well. Children don’t have to fill in all the circles but if you want to make this a little more educational they can do some shape matching.

The buttons in this craft make the tree a little bit extra special. Older children can match the correct sized button to the circles. Use PVA glue as buttons are heavier than paper/card and will need a strong glue to stick firmly. Make sure there is plenty of time for the glue to dry before these are taken home or the buttons will fall off!

If under fives are going to be doing the craft use stickers instead as buttons are a chocking hazard.

If you like you can also add glitter glue/ glitter and a star on the top. For the star a star shaped sticker would be great.

Use the PDF file to print the trees onto card – it will work better than paper, although if paper is all you have that’s OK. Coloured card works really well, take a look at the example below.

Finally, the tree can be cut out, some ribbon attached to the top, and you have a lovely, home made Christmas decoration. Don’t forget to add the child’s name and the date to the back.

Christmas_Tree_(Buttons)

Button craft Christmas tree

For another Christmas tree craft have a look at this post – Stained glass Christmas tree

To buy some Buttons suitable for crafts from Amazon follow this link. This post contains affiliate links, if you click and purchase the item I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your support in this way is really appreciated.