The reason I entitle this teaching creating a memory is because this is a time when you can help the Children create something that can be carefully put away each year and it will bring smiles out as it is unpacked with the Christmas decorations.

I still have the strangely shaped snowman made out of pottery my first born made at school, I am so grateful for it. My point here is, it is made of clay, I am able to bring it out each year, craft made of paper for this time of the year just won’t last the test of time. So when making christmas crafts try and use materials with longevity.

I like to make something that is Christian based, I definitely stay away from the snowmen and the reindeer, they will get enough of that from the World, let’s keep it Jesus focused.

Nativity Scene

Over the years I have made many Nativity Scenes, for years I have been going to shoe shops and begging for old boxes, I remember storing 26 shoe boxes that I always use for the Nativity scenes these work out perfectly as they are easy to take home and all the little characters fit inside.

Here is how I make them - take the shoe box and then cover it in little wooden sticks that you buy from the craft store. Then get the children to paint the sticks and let the boxes dry. Inside the shoe box (which is used on its side) I get the children to stick in hay.

After this, I go about working out how to make the characters, most years I stick with

Mary - Joseph - Manger - Shepherd - sheep - King the box won’t hold much more, the stable is at capacity.

One year I was really lucky and got given some lovely wooden round curtain pole ends I used these as heads and then we made the bodies out of toilet rolls and covered them with felt. The additions are beards and Crowns, Crooks etc. I usually work out what the figure will look like, do lots of cutting out and then show them how we stick the felt on.

For the manger we made these out of cardboard and the baby jesus I got my lovely mother to believe it or not crochet 26 little baby Jesus’, she was amazing. They were all very excited about putting their tiny baby Jesus in the cardboard manger. They all took them home on the very last day of the term.

Other things I like to do are making a tree decoration each week that relates to the story. So for the December craft relating to the teaching this is the craft I would do.

Week One - Angels

The story for week one is very much about the Angel Gabriel. For this I like the site “The DIY Mommy” it is an angel that will last. The craft items you will need are nice material, bells for heads, jewel, ribbon. This is how it will look:

Week Two - No room at the Inn

So for this week I do a Door hanging decoration. I use card and the great site Etsy will allow you to download the following image for a small one off price.

I print the above on card, then using a craft knife make a slice down the left hand side of the stable, cutting out the same shape slide in a stable door, securing it behind the back of the stable with cellotape/sticky tape. This allows the door that they have coloured in to open and close.

Week three - Making a shepherd

For this the site Daniels Place (one of my favourites, much like Etsy) shows a brilliant shepherd made with cupcake holders! What imagination. Have a good look at the picture and you can easily see how this is put together. Once again prepare as much as you can so the children can easily help the children produce this gorgeous shepherd.

Week Four - This week is Kings, I love this King hanging ornament from Etsy.

For this the base is wooden, rooting around in craft stores, you will find the perfect “bodies” for decorations like these, some people use wooden pegs, I look for something that has a lovely round head. Obviously this is nicely cut felt attached with glue gun or prit stick/glue stick. The preparation you can do is the stripe at the bottom and cutting out and making the crowns the right size, the hands are a pipe cleaner which keep the arms in a nice shape and take a look at that kings gift, having a good look around for little shapes like this is the key. I have a bit of a thing for faceless decorations, don’t ask me why. When my class did the Nativity scene and I had the brilliant curtain rod ends, the children wanted to draw on faces, most felt tips wouldn’t stay and I was certainly not going to hand out permanent markers to 3-6 year olds, so in the end we did have faceless gorgeous nativity scenes.

Extra craft

I have to include these two as I think they are beautiful, the Manger Scene is again from Etsy and you pay to download it, definitely worth it as you can use it year after year.

You can resize this once downloaded and print out on card. Then get busy with the glitter attaching some pretty ribbon. Just gorgeous. The last one is a star decoration.

Isn’t this one adorable? You would need to source the little wooden head from a craft shop and stars like this you can find in craft stores. This is a Christian decoration that will last for many years. Lot’s of gluing and possibly gitter and ribbon attaching for a fun activity that will bring a smile to any mum or dads face.