This Christmas holiday program was inspired by my friend Anne, who on Christmas Eve opens her home to anyone without family.  She holds a Birthday Christmas Party to celebrate the birth of Jesus, complete with a Birthday Cake!  So when I was asked to prepare a Christmas Eve fun night for our Kid’s Church, I took a slice out of Anne’s birthday cake but you can use this lesson anytime in the lead up to Christmas.

Decorate Kid’s Church with Birthday Decorations!

• Balloons
• Streamers
• Happy Birthday sign
• Birthday tablecloths and serviettes
• Paper plates, serviettes, cups and cake forks

Leader:

‘Wow, what do you think is happening in Kid’s Church today?  Yep, looks like it’s somebody’s birthday!  The decorations look great but I can’t help feeling something is missing.  Balloons?  Check.  Streamers?  Check.  Party tablecloth?  Check.  Oh, I see what’s missing…party hats!

Make and Decorate a Party Hat!

Use a party hat template and photocopy it onto a thin white card.  Upper primary-aged kids can cut out their own hats, but pre-cut hats for lower primary-aged children.  If you have limited time you might like to have the party hats ready to decorate with lengths of elastic stapled on either side.  Have a variety of trims, stickers and collage items for the kids to design their own party hat creations. 

Leader:

Now that we have our party hats, I think just about everything is ready for a birthday party.  But whose party?  Hey, (Leader) are you having a birthday?  Well, (Leader) is it your birthday?  Does anybody know who is having a birthday?  You’re right!  It’s Jesus’ birthday.  Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus!

Storytime!

Read the Story of Christmas from a good-quality picture book with clear, colourful illustrations.

Discussion: 

(You will need to place a mirror inside a beautifully wrapped Christmas gift box.)

Leader:

Can you remember the presents Jesus was given by the Wise Men?  (Gold, frankincense and myrrh.)  Jesus is God’s Son.  He lives in Heaven.  You’re probably thinking He has everything He could ever want.  But there is one wonderful present Jesus really, really, really wants.  I can show it to you.  Yep, it’s actually inside this gift box.  Do you want to see?  No, I don’t think you really want to.  What’s that?  You do want to see the present Jesus really, really, really wants most of all?  Okay, when I call your name, you can come up and peek inside the box.  But don’t tell anyone what you see inside.  They’ll have to look for themselves.

(Call children up, one by one, for a peek inside the box.  They see themselves in the mirror.)

Leader:

So, what’s the present Jesus really, really, really wants most of all?  You!  Yes, you.  That’s why Jesus came to the earth.  That’s the reason we celebrate Christmas.  Jesus did not stay a baby.  He grew up just like you and me.  And when He was a man he began to teach people about Father God.  He told them about the kingdom of Heaven.  He had love and compassion for people and did lots and lots of miracles.  Jesus did everything right and never did one thing wrong. 

I wish you or I could say we’ve never done anything wrong.  But we all have.  The things we have done wrong are called sins.  We can’t get into heaven with sin.  If there was sin in heaven, it wouldn’t be heaven anymore.  So how do we get rid of our sin?  Jesus took all our sins on Himself on the cross.  He died, but God raised Him from the dead and Jesus is alive again in Heaven.   Instead of you and me being punished for every sin, He was punished.  He took away our sins so we could get into Heaven, too.

Jesus really, really, really wants you there with Him one day.  So now all you have to do is believe in Jesus and thank Him for taking your punishment.  Thank Him for taking away your sin.  Ask Him to come into your life and tell Him you’ll live for Him and join Him in Heaven one day.  You are the best present Jesus could ever have!  Wow!  Jesus’ birth really is worth celebrating! 

Birthday Cake:

Sing Happy Birthday Jesus and share the Birthday Cake.

Party Games:

Musical Chairs (use Christmas music)

Pass the Parcel (use Christmas wrapping paper)

Pin the Tail on Joseph and Mary’s Donkey

Extra Activities:

• Birthday Cake colouring page
• Make a Birthday Card for Jesus
• Make a Gift Box