Christmas services are usually our most attended services of the year, especially those that involve the children. In this time of Covid, people keep asking what others are planning this year. We certainly want it to be as special and a celebration of the birth of our Lord. Here are a few options that I've come up with.
Christmas by the Children
With technology today it is super easy to take pictures of the children in costumes at home, and just as easy to do video. Give each child a part and have them say it in costume at home. Depending on how many children there are each can have their own part. You can also do a Zoom choir of them singing Christmas songs.
A really great idea (at least to me) is to have parents take a video of their kids telling the Christmas story.
Another option: If you'd like to create a special gift for parents, take a few moments to ask kids questions about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and various people or situations in the Bible such as the birth of Christ and compile their answers into a book to give parents for Christmas or as an "end of the year" gift. What a beautiful snapshot of what their kids believe at that moment! Remember not to change any of their answers to make them more entertaining or more humorous. That is not the point. They need to be authentic and you might be surprised at the depth of some of the answers!
Here's a simple sample of what a page in a book might look like but I am positive there are many creative scrapbook loving women in the congregation who would love to help put something like this together.
Christmas on the Road
One year we created the story of Christmas by lining up different places to take photo/video of the kids in costume around the county. We took pics of kids on donkeys, in the country walking on a donkey, shepherds with sheep, in a stable, in a wild garden (arboretum), as angels against the sky, and anything else we could think of to get the kids involved. We even found a place that wasn't too far away that had camels for the wisemen! If there was a scene we couldn't figure out we had the kids create drawings.
A lot of organization is required for this one, especially on photo shoot day. That's the day when everyone goes to take their photos/videos. Places need to be researched and appointments made, maps and/or directions need to be printed, costumes need to be picked up, etc.
It was unusual, but so much fun!
The Old Time Radio Christmas
This year we're doing an Old Time Radio Christmas. I'm writing the script right now and the youth are really excited. The one thing I didn't think about is that they had no idea what an old time radio show was. They hadn't seen anything like it. The reason I'm doing this is so that we don't have to worry about staging, costumes, or memorization and we can get away with fewer rehearsals. Not to mention that many boys have volunteered and are really excited about doing the sound effects.
Have fun and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!