Christmas

Last Christmas we'd acted out the nativity story; the year before we'd done the three wise men. The first year, we'd used flannelgraph, but I've been trying to get away from that more to keep the kids moving. But I didn't want to act out the story just like last year. So I took the flannel figures & Xeroxed them onto stiff cardboard.

Oh, but talking about keeping kids moving—ha! To help make the connection between the Genesis stories we've been learning and the birth of Christ, we went extremely quickly through the genealogy in Matthew 1—Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, Jacob begat Judah, etc. etc. With each new name the next person in the circle had to stand up & the previous sit down. It got everybody a bit giggly, but that was okay!

So, with the cutout figures, we had various kids hold them as we talked about their roles. When Mary & Joseph had to take the long trip to Bethlehem, they were passed around the circle twice. Then their "holders" knocked on all the doors leading out of the room, with no one letting them in to spend the night. Finally, they found the stable—a wicker cat carrier! It really looked authentic, I thought!

For our game we did use the flannelgraph, covered with a sheet of clear plastic. Kids and adults were blindfolded in turn and given a paper baby figure to try and stick in/on the manger. Lots of floating babies, lots of fun.

Craft time was making Christmas cards for whoever they might like to make them for. We used some of the extra material to make cards for a couple of our regulars who weren't able to make it.

Afterwards we had a potluck. Always popular! There were also gifts for the kids. Something really neat was that one mom who has always been very timid, very passive, and has been accused by some of only coming for what freebies she might get, brought gifts for all the kids too!

Her son had been making some progress in behavior, but the last few weeks has developed the unpleasant habit of playing with his saliva. This week he had a cold and was also wiping his nose on any available surface—ugh. We're not talking little kid, or even clueless kid here. He does know better. I don't like it when other parents rag at him for losing his temper, which I can understand he can't control (and only gets aggravated by being yelled at), but I agreed with him being scolded for wiping his nose on the arm of the chair!