Top Ways to Help Children Keep Christ in Christmas

Keeping Christ as the center of Christmas for children becomes increasingly difficult in these days of "Happy Holidays" and the proliferation of Santa and his friends. Many parents wonder, "What can I do help my kids keep Christ in Christmas?" The following ideas spring from personal use, ideas from friends, and various other sources, including the internet.

Say Merry Christmas!

Letting your kids hear you say "Merry Christmas," especially when someone says "Happy Holiday," helps them to know that you want to keep Jesus as the focus. By having them create their own Christmas greeting cards for friends, parents, grandparents or other relatives, you not only keep them occupied, but encourage creative ways to wish loved ones a Merry Christmas.

Decorate!

Your home needs some kind of a visual reminder for children that we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Display a nativity scene or at least a picture of the nativity. Some ideas can be found by an internet search for "Nativity Scene" or (Click Here) for an interactive scene the kids can arrange on-line.

Make and use an Advent wreath to mark off the weeks leading up to Christmas day. Wreaths can be simple or elaborate. For instructions on making one and a discussion of its meaning, visit Ken Collins (Click Here) Advent calendars mark off the days of December. They can be purchased relatively inexpensively, but often fail to catch the true story. Look for one in a Christian bookstore, or try creating your own. You'll find some ideas at Thrifty Fun (Click Here).

Take Action

Most churches present some kind of a Christmas program, from simply having children sing a carol to a full-scale stage production. Look through your newspaper or the bulletin board at the supermarket and find one to attend with the children. Depending on the ages of your children, they will probably love to visit a living nativity program. These programs present the Christmas story with live actors and animals, and your family will probably visit several different scenes depicting the original Christmas.

Have the kids draw pictures of the nativity story. If they are too young, check the internet for some interactive coloring pages where you can print out pictures to color, or have the kids color them on the internet and then print them out. One source is Apples 4 the Teacher (Click Here).

Get your kids to think outside themselves. Rather than sending a Christmas list to Santa, have them write a letter or send a small gift to some missionary children. Check with your church for missionaries with children the same age as yours. Christmas drives like Operation Christmas Child (Samaritans Purse), Angel Tree (Prison Fellowship) or Toys for Tots (U.S. Marine Reserves) present great opportunities to have your kids think about underprivileged children. Take them to the store and let them put together a package for a needy child

Let the kids play with the figures in your Nativity scene as you talk about the Christmas story. Also, try having them perform a Christmas pageant of their own with costumes and props found around the house. Make it age appropriate in both content and length, and the message will be delivered.

Create a mural of the Christmas story. Use poster board or mural/butcher paper. If your children color Christmas pictures (see above) cut them out and paste them on. Talk about the story as you create the mural. You could do it all at once, put pictures on once a week, or add something each day.

Watch some special Christmas videos like or "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (available at most on-line bookstores) or "The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever" (a great story if you can find it).

When you set the table for Christmas dinner, leave a vacant chair and place setting. Tell your family that you have reserved the place for Jesus. After all, it is His birthday.

Celebrate His Birthday!

Celebrate Jesus' birthday by preparing a birthday cake for Jesus. Bake it (or have your kids help you bake), or get one from a bakery and have them write Happy Birthday Jesus on it. Encourage the children to write a prayer or a letter to Jesus expressing why they are thankful for Christmas. Have each child decide what they will give Jesus for His birthday... do something kind for a neighbor, take them some cookies, visit someone in a hospital and sing Christmas carols, send a letter to someone far away (like a missionary child) and wish them a Merry Christmas. Even if you don't have a birthday party, they can sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus during your family celebrations.

Do some Christmas Reading!

Have a daily Advent devotional with your family. The Lutheran hour has some good ideas (Click Here). Read the Christmas story from an open Bible or children's Bible (using an open Bible subtly illustrates where the story comes from). If they are old enough, have the kids read it to you. If not, have them tell you as much as they know about the story. As a family, read some inspirational Christmas Stories. Check the internet for "Christmas" at How Stuff Works. (Click Here) to find some suggestions for these stories.

Listen to Music!

Try to concentrate your Christmas background music on songs with a religious, or at least a neutral theme. For a source of good internet-based Christmas music, check the article Best Internet Radio Sites for Christmas Music (Click Here).

Use Santa!

You can't get away from him unless you crawl in a hole, and for many people Santa represents the fun of Christmas, so use him to talk about the Christmas story. First do this by making certain your children know about the real St. Nicholas (Click Here)

The Kneeling Santa statue or picture graphically portrays Santa taking a subordinate position to The Baby in the manner. Find a copy, display it, and make sure you explain the significance of this scene to the children. Click Here for one source.

Consider having Santa send your kids a letter (oops, did that come out?). Several internet sites offer letters from Santa where he reminds them of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Two sites to check out are Santa Letters and Christian Santa Letter.

Your author once visited a small country church for a Christmas program and Santa showed up at the close of the program. Shocking! But sitting in the second row of this small church one could hear Santa as he took each child and placed him/her on his lap. As he talked about the things Santa usually discusses with kids, he made it a point to tell each child that the real meaning of Christmas is not Santa, but the birth of Jesus.

Enjoy the season, keep the kids focused and ...

Merry Christmas!

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