Carmela at Bellissimamma is an expat living in the beautiful country of Italy, and fellow mom blogger sharing the journey of her life with two boys (well 3 if you count her hubby). Her family adventures are full of fun and excitement as they travel Europe and enjoy daily life in picturesque Italy. Today she’s sharing 5 ways to teach your little ones the Christmas story. Enjoy!
5 Simple Ways To Teach The Christmas Story
A guest post by Bellissimamma
Christmas is perhaps the most anticipated holiday for many children around the world. This is the time for families and loved ones to get together to celebrate love, joy, and peace on earth. For a lot of Christian families, Christmas is centered on the birth of Jesus Christ. My family has started some traditions on celebrating Jesus’s birthday. Here are five simple ways to teach the traditional message of Christmas to our kids:
1. Story-telling
Children love it when their parents read to them. Choose books that are short and interesting with kid-friendly pictures. The Beginner’s Bible My Christmas Manger is an interactive pop-up picture storybook. It tells the events of the Christmas story using simple and clear words and kid-friendly dialogue. My two toddlers enjoy this book because they can lift the flaps to see the animals in the story. Also, ask simple questions at the end of the story. Doing so helps them understand the story better.
2. Interactive Play
You can have the kids act out the Christmas story to help them get learn about the characters and events that led to the birth of Jesus. Use puppets, dolls, play dough, or even cutout pictures to act out the Christmas story with the children. I found a very cute Nativity set in the Flying Tiger store. The dolls are made of wood and can easily be held by little hands. It’s very similar to the one pictured below.
3. Watching a Movie
Short movies are a great way for kids to learn about the message of Christmas in way that they can enjoy and understand. There are plenty of cartoons out there that focus on positive messages about love and giving. One movie that we enjoyed as a family is called Angela’s Christmas (2017). It is available on Netflix. Set in Limerick in the 1910s, ‘Angela’s Christmas’ is a funny and heart-warming story about the real message of the season through the eyes of a five-year-old girl. This animated film is only 30 minutes long and can be enjoyed by preschoolers and parents alike.You can check out my review of the movie here!
4. Giving Back
Children always love receiving gifts during Christmas. They can also enjoy the spirit of giving by giving back to the community. Kids love being little helpers and making other people happy. We recently participated in a toy donation drive in my kid’s school. The holiday season is always a good time to extend extra help to people in our community.
5. Celebrating with a birthday cake
This tradition of preparing a cake for Jesus’s birthday started in my own family when I was a kid. My parents would buy a cake (my mom does not bake) for Baby Jesus and we would sing “Happy Birthday” to him. My sisters and I would even blow out the candles. Now that I am a parent, I am going to continue with this tradition. Celebrating Jesus’s birthday in this way helps children understand that Christmas is not just about them, but also (primarily) about the birth of our Lord and Savior.
How are you going to be celebrating Christmas this year?
Love,
Bellissimamma
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Such lovely ideas here on how to share the message of Christmas. I especially love the cake and giving back tips.Thanks for sharing ❤️
Thanks Kamapala! Carmela did a great job with these tips. I’m planning to do either cake or cupcakes this year with the girls! 🙂
Thank you for the opportunity to write a post for lovejoyblessings! Merry Christmas to you and your lovely family. Xoxo
I love your post on 5 ways to teach the Christmas story! That is fabulous for children, especially when the true meaning of Christmas get lost in the Santa celebrations. Story telling and interactive play are my favorite as well as the birthday cake to Jesus
Thanks for reading Tina! I can’t wait to make our cake this year!
I think your suggestions are fantastic and really wonderful to give children, but why not even adults, a unique Christmas! It takes fantasy, but also a lot of love!
You’re absolutely right Cristina! We could learn a thing or two from Carmela’s tips.
These are great tips for teaching kids anything, not just about Christmas. Thanks for sharing!
Great point! These methods really would work for anything.
Such a beautiful post. Merry Chrismas to you babes. Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading the article.
Thanks Amara! Merry Christmas!
This is literally the perfect article! I hate the thought of my children thinking it is just about Santa and presents. Thank you!
It’s certainly up to us to make sure they know the true meaning, and The Bellissimamma gave us some great pointers!
We’re glad you enjoyed it! Have a very merry Christmas!
I love watching Jesus movies and feasting not much about eating cake more like rum pudding in Jamaica
Yum…rum pudding, or rum cake would be just fine with me!
These are all wonderful tips that will help the child remember the true meaning of Christmas. Thanks for the insight!
I agree! Thanks again Bellissimamma!
Great tips. I love interactive play. Kids will have fun and learn at the same time.
Interactive play is the best. They’re learning without even realizing it!
We do storytelling. My kids love bedtime storytelling, and what’s great about it, is that it sparks their imagination. Oh I love your Christmas cake.
These are great ways to teach the Christmas story to kids. We use all of these to teach our kids the Christmas story. We especially love teaching them to give back and how important giving is, not just this time of year but all throughout the year. Our favorite movie to watch about the Christmas story came out last year and it is called The Star.
Thanks so much for reading Jessica! Definitely going to look into The Star for my little ones.
My family isn’t the traditional holiday family, but I do like the Grinch movies. And I like the spirit of the season when it’s more about family and love and less about commercialism.
Spending quality time with family is one of the best parts of the holidays!
We have a similar Nativity set that my kids loved to play with when they were little. I always found it important that they knew the history behind Christmas and what it actually means. They are in elementary school now, and in the younger grades they always did a birthday cake for baby Jesus, something I really loved.
That’s great Katie! My girls are toddlers now, and they have a good grasp on the true meaning of Christmas. I think it’s so neat that your kids made the birthday cake for Jesus!!
Christmas is my favorite holiday. I’m glad you turned your attention to the central point of Christmas because people are forgetting a bit about why this holiday is and why we celebrate it.
I love this. These are great ways to teach kids about God. I will remember this.
I think this is the best way to tell what Christmas is really about. There are so many things to know aside from gift giving. Story telling is my jam.
I love your idea about giving back this time of year. My family and I recently talked about wanting to make that an annual tradition. Maybe I’ll have to get the ball rolling and start volunteering somewhere 🙂 Thank you for the inspiration!!
These are wonderful ideas for ANYONE that is looking to teach their children about the many versions of Christmas for different cultures and religions.
What a wonderful post! These are some awesome ideas, I liked this. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
As a Christian we share the same values when it comes to celebrating Christmas. It is important for everyone to know that it is not just a holiday but also the birth of the saviour.
Lovely post! I love the happy birthday jesus cake very much. What a great idea for christmas. Watching film with family is such a special feeling.
I would have never have thought about a birthday cake – thats very clever. Merry Christmas xx