Happy Birthday, Jesus!

For our Kids' Bible Club this past Wednesday night, we had a birthday party for Jesus. In this day and age when we're swarmed with other things to look at and do at this time of year, it's nice to keep the focus on why we celebrate Christmas.

I used my Nativity set from home to tell the story of Jesus coming to earth as a baby. I read from Luke 2:1-20 in my Bible. I put out the characters as they were introduced in the story. Because the wise men came later, I pulled them out last, explaining to the kids when and how they came. We sang, "Silent Night" as part of our Bible lesson, too.

The memory verse I taught the kids was Luke 2:11--"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." I found another neat review game in my stash of CEF materials. This one is called, "Letter Stand Up." To prep for this activity, you are to write the beginning letter of each word of the memory verse on construction paper. I used Scrabble tiles instead. You can use a container that fits with your theme or holiday. I used a stocking and placed all the tiles inside. I had Mieka and Sklar take turns drawing out a letter. We said the verse together, but when a word that started with that drawn letter was said, we had to stand up.

After the game, I sang "The Little Drummer Boy" to them, using a children's book of the same title (illustrations by Kristina Rodanas). They loved the beautiful pictures and hearing the story in song. I explained to them afterward how fiction was woven into a real life story. I asked them what they would have given to Baby Jesus if they were there. If you have a chance to swing by the library before Christmas, check out this book. Your kids will really enjoy it.

Then, I gave them their gifts--the Christmas Star ornaments I made. They gave me a gift, too, along with a card. It was a Precious Moments bell ornament that now hangs on my little tree.

I combined our craft and snack time together by having them decorate 4-inch chocolate cakes. After spreading frosting on them, they got to put cinnamon candies, sprinkles and crushed peppermint candies on their cakes. I also decorated one myself, and used my decorator tool on it to show them how they could use it. They really enjoyed putting on star flowers with green frosting to add extra embellishment on their tiny cakes. 

They came out so cute, so I had to show them to you. Here's Skylar's cake....

We put candles on them so that we could sing, "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, then blow them out. Here's Mieka's cake...

Did you see faces in each of their cakes? After blowing out the candles, I cut out small pieces for them to enjoy for our snack. We wrapped up the rest so that they could take it home.

We loved our time celebrating Jesus' birthday. What have you done (or are going to do) this year to keep the real meaning of Christmas alive? I would love to hear your stories.:)