What Is Christmas? 

Drama for Children's Ministry | by Faith Scott

Characters: 
Grandma, Alex, Katy, Jessica, Lee, and Elizabeth.

Setting: In Grandma’s house

Props: Green wreath, Christmas tree or green branches, candle, snowman, bells, plate of cookies, table, rolling pin, cookies on sheet, spatula, baby doll and blanket.

Opening scene: Grandma making cookies and singing along with tape player.

Children enter.

Grandma: "Hello" (and greets children)

Lee: "What are you doing Grandma?"

Grandma: "Making some cookies and listening to some music"

Jessica: "Grandma, I am confused, are there two Christmas’s? Elizabeth says Christmas is Santa Claus and presents, and Katy says Christmas is Jesus’ Birthday."

Katy: "It is Jesus’ Birthday".

Elizabeth: "No, it is Santa Claus and presents!"

Katy, "It’s Jesus’ Birthday."

Elizabeth: "Santa Claus and presents".

Grandma: "Oh my, maybe we need to sit down and discuss this."

Everyone sits down. (Alex sits on a chair holding her doll.)

Grandma: "OK, now first lets talk about the story of Christmas that you learned in Sunday School. About Jesus’ birth.

Lee: "Well, there was a man named Joseph and a lady named Mary who lived in Nazareth. She was expecting a baby and they had to go to Bethlehem."

Grandma: "Why did they have to go to Bethlehem?"

Katy: "They had to pay some taxes and had to go to the place where their relatives came from."

Grandma: "And how did they get there?"

Katy: "Joseph walked and Mary rode a donkey, it was a long trip."

Jessica: When they got to Bethlehem, they had to stay in a stable because there was no room at the inn.

(Everyone sings O Little Town of Bethlehem)

Grandma: "Alex, what happened when they were in Bethlehem?

Alex: "Mary had a baby boy."

Grandma: "And what did she name her baby boy?"

Alex: "She named him Jesus."

Grandma: "And where did the baby sleep?"

Alex: "In a manger".

Lee: The manger is the box the animals eat out of, but they filled it with clean hay and Mary wrapped the baby in a blanket."

(Everyone sings Away in the Manger)

Grandma: "And did anything else happen that night?"

Elizabeth: "There were shepherds out in the field with their sheep and a bunch of angels appeared to them and told them about Jesus being born in Bethlehem.

Grandma: "Then Jessica, what did the shepherds do?"

Jessica: They went to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus."

(Everyone sings It came upon the Midnight Clear)

Grandma: "And who was this special baby called Jesus?"

Katy: "He was the son of God, he came to show people what God was like and to teach them to love one another and later he would die to save people from their sins."

Elizabeth: "Now, what about Santa Claus and presents and decorations, we couldn’t have Christmas without them."

Grandma: "Well to be truthful we could, but lets see what these things have to do with Christmas."

Lee: "Why do we have wreaths and Christmas Trees?"

Grandma: "Well, look at the wreath, what shape is it?"

Lee: "It is round, like a crown, (she puts it on her head). And it has no beginning or end.

Grandma: "Right, it reminds us of the crown that Jesus wore. There is no end.. Also it is evergreen, or everlasting, just like God."

Jessica: "What about the Christmas Tree? (points to the tree)

Katy: "Well, it looks pretty with the lights on it, and Jesus was crucified on a tree, so maybe that is why the tree is important".

Elizabeth: "And you need some place to put the presents."

Grandma: "You are all right, and Christmas comes at what time of the year?"

Lee: "In the winter, in December."

Grandma: "There are no flowers in bloom and December can be a bit dreary, so we bring evergreens into the house to decorate them and make them cheerful."

Jessica: "So what about the candles, we don’t need them we have electricity."

Grandma: "That is true, so what do the candles remind us of?"

Katy: "I know, in Sunday school, we learned that Jesus is the light of the world. And when we see a candle we think of light and how it can help you see in the dark if the electricity goes off, and they used them in the olden days, right Grandma?"

Elizabeth: "Why do we have bells (picks up and ring them) and songs that are not about the Christmas Story.?"

Grandma: "Well, bells are used to give messages, church bells tell when it is time to come to church. Bells have been used to send good new. What better way to announce the news of Jesus’ birth."

"The other songs that we sing are winter songs and December can be the time for snow.

Alex: "What is your favorite winter song?"

Alex: "I like Frosty the snowman" Alex picks up Snowman."

Grandma: "I do too, Why don’t we sing it?"

(Everyone sings Frosty the Snowman)

Elizabeth: "And how about Santa Claus and presents"

Grandma: "Well, Santa Claus represents the spirit of giving, and no matter what the method men use to explain this, it goes back to the fact that God gave us the gift of his son because he loved us and knew we needed that love. We give gifts to each other to show that we love one another."

In one way or another, all these things, the wreath, the tree, candle and gifts led us to think of God and can be enjoyed during this season but there is only one true Christmas and that is the Birthday of Jesus, God’s wonderful gift of love, and as long as we remember that and don’t over emphasis the other things that add to the season, Christmas will be a joyous time.

Christ’s coming demonstrated love in abundance. When we sing carols and celebrate the birth of Jesus, it brings joy to our hearts and we want to share that joy with others. Now why don’t we sing my favorite carol, Joy to the World?"

(Everyone sings Joy to the World)

Lee: "Oh Grandma, what about these cookies, what do they mean? (She picks up the plate of cookies.)

Grandma: "Lee, that is a very good question, I think that they are just really good to eat, so lets eat some!"

Everyone gets a cookie and says to the audience "We wish you a Merry Christmas".

Copyright 2002 Faith Scott
Fscott424@aol.com

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