Hello dear ones! By God’s grace, I wrote a nativity play for our homeschool group. I also had an Advent craft and goodies for the kiddos. If you read my Easter play post then you know I do my plays a bit differently. No one memorizes lines and the kids/audience interact as they watch the adults perform. My son Michael performs too and again was a big help. Here’s the link for the Easter drama:
https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2014/05/11/easter-week-jesus-our-passover-lamb-easter-drama/
Alrighty, onto how this went down :). I played Mary who was the Narrator.
Here’s the cast list:
Mary/ Narrator- Me
Joseph- Michael, my son
Gabriel- Hannah
Herod- Stacie
Elizabeth- Erin
Zachariah- Michael, my son
Simeon- Stacie
Anna- Rachel
Wise Men, Shepherds, Angels, & Animals~ played by children/audience
Jesus & John~ baby dolls
So the other homeschool moms stepped up nicely to play the main parts. Michael and Stacie played double roles. I was very excited to include lesser known characters in the play, like Anna and Simeon.
I didn’t have the time or motivation to make all the props/costumes this year. I bought most of it from Oriental trading.
Setting:
Bethlehem backdrop (used for Nazareth & Jerusalem too)
Cave with manger- made from a cardboard box
Cross backdrop
Altar with incense- We just pretended for this.
Chair for Mary to sit on
I had my audience pretend to go back in time with me. Then the children picked their costumes and watched and waited for their part in the story. We have a small group so this worked well.
We began our story by meeting Anna and Simeon in the temple. Simeon explains the dark times the Israelites were in but how God has made him a promise. I wanted to follow the Biblical time line. Most Nativity stories smoosh everything together and leave parts out. We of course did not see Simeon’s big moment until after Jesus was born. I wanted the kids to get an idea though of how everyone was waiting for the messiah. Simeon and Anna set that up.
Then we moved on to Zachariah’s encounter with the angel Gabriel and the prophecy of John. John would prepare the way for the Messiah. If you celebrate Advent then you know the Advent wreathe has four main candles (not including the Christ candle that lights them all). The candles represent Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace. The scenes in the drama each represented a candle. The prophetic scenes represent Hope.
Michael as Zachariah. You can read about this scene in Luke 1.
My best buddy Hannah as the angel Gabriel and also her daughter Miriam as an angel in training ;).
Zachariah loses his voice because he doesn’t believe the angel.
We head to Nazareth to meet Joseph, and Mary goes from Narrator mode to being in the story. All of the next part is also found in Luke 1.
Gabriel visits the virgin Mary and tells her that she will have the Son of God, Jesus.
Scene 2: Love (God prepares the world for His gift of Love)
Mary and the audience travel to Zachariah and Elizabeth’s where John the baptist is born. Zachariah’s voice comes back as he announces John’s name and proclaims the prophecy.
Erin as Elizabeth with the baby John.
Mary returns to Nazareth and Joseph finds out she’s pregnant. He doesn’t believe the miracle until he has a dream with Gabriel in it. Now he knows Jesus is the Son of God. Mary hasn’t cheated on him.
Joseph takes Mary as his wife. King Herod (Stacie) announces Caesar Augustus’ decree that everyone should return to their hometown to be registered. Joseph and Mary embark on the journey to Bethlehem. Silent Night played while we walked around the room.
Scene 3: Joy (Jesus is born) story found in Luke 2 and Matthew 1.
Mary tells Joseph the baby is coming. There is no room for them except with the animals. It was most likely a cave not a stable. We used a box with straw in it for the manger.
Baby Jesus is born.
Angels appear to shepherds in the field and announce the baby’s birth. Luke 2: 8-21
We pause at the manger scene to sing Joy to the World.
Scene 4: Peace
Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus go to the temple for Jesus to be dedicated. We run into Simeon and Anna again. Simeon holds the baby and makes a big speech (sorry no pics. Rachel the photographer was playing Anna). Luke 2:22-38
Meanwhile, the wise men ask King Herod where the Messiah will be born. Matthew 2:1-12
He tells them Bethlehem and God sends a star that the wise men follow to Jesus. Mary and Joseph are in a house at this point and Jesus could be as old as 2 yrs. We don’t know. The audience/children used glow sticks to be the Christmas star.
The wise men (maybe 3 maybe not. We don’t know) give 3 gifts. Mary holds up the gifts and explains them.
Gold, a gift for the King of kings. Frankincense, like the incense the priests burned, to represent the Priests of all priests. Lastly, myrrh, a perfume used in burial, a reminder that Jesus would die to save us from sin.
Scene 5: Christ, Our Light
The Wise men return home and Herod realizes that they are not coming back to him. King Herod is furious and commands that all baby boys 2 and under should be killed.
Joseph is warned in a dream. Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus flee to Egypt until King Herod dies.
Everyone exits except Mary. Mary goes to the cross backdrop and explains that Christ brings light to the darkness. Jesus grew up and died on a cross to save the world from sin. Then three days later he arose from the dead. One day Christ will return and destroy all evil. There will be no more sickness or sorrow. We ended the play by singing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”. Then we hopped in our time machine to have snacks and crafts.
Shout out to all the awesome moms who helped make the play possible. All of the pictures were taken by my friend Rachel. She has a cool blog. Right now Rachel and her daughter Maggie are making ornaments for the Jesse tree. Check her out: http://homeschoolingmom2mags.blogspot.com/
Michael and I made Red Velvet Cake Balls for the treat. Recipe here: http://www.bakerella.com/red-velvet-cake-balls/
I put together treat bags for the kids.
Nativity stickers
The craft was a simple Advent wheel that the kids colored. I found it on Oriental Trading too.
Here’s a link with Nativity facts:
https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/12/24/my-family-rocks-sunday-nativity-facts-the-end-of-advent
I hope the play inspires you. God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
amberdover 