My husband and I have been trying to teach our daughter the real meaning of Christmas. We want to have lots of fun around Christmastime but we don’t want to put too much emphasis on the wrong things. Through the years I’ve found a couple of books and items that really help put Jesus at the center of our Christmas.
Teaching your kids anything involves putting the message on a level that they will both understand and enjoy. For my 3.5 year old daughter, she loves books. Loves them so much that she ends up memorizing them! So for us, reading books and playing with a couple intentional toys has helped her learn more about why Jesus is so important at Christmas.
Here are some of my favorite books that teach about Jesus:
“What is Christmas?” by Michelle Medlock Adams. This is a simple short story that we’ve been reading almost every night. I love this book because it makes the message so simple. ”Santa Claus, Christmas trees and presents are okay. But Jesus is the real reason we have a Christmas day.”
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” by Charles Schultz. This is an interactive book with sound. Towards the end of the story, Linus shares a quote from the Bible telling the story of Jesus’ birth to Charlie Brown. My daughter has pressed this button a gazillion times, so as a result she practically has most of the whole passage memorized!
The Very First Christmas by Suzanne Berry. This is a recordable book from Hallmark. Her grandfather (a really good storyteller) reads the book to her through the recording.
Fisher Price Nativity Set. We bought this at full price (about $40) a couple of years ago and it was worth EVERY penny. The set comes with animals and the Wise Men. Having little “characters” to play around with and act out the stories we read helps solidify the message. Both of my kids enjoy playing with this so my hubby and I have plans to keep this for a long time.
How do you keep the focus on Jesus at Christmas time? I’d love to hear some new ideas!
Until next time, Merry Christmas!
Our Christmas Eve tradition was always to make birthday cards for Jesus BEFORE we opened any prrsents. We would leave the cards out with cookies and milk so Santa could take the cards and deliver them to Jesus. Now that my kids are older (17, 15, 12) we have a “Thankful list” on our fridge where everyone writes what they are thankful for each day. Happy birthday Jesus!!
The cards for Jesus and the thankful list are GREAT ideas, Ann! Maybe by next year both the kiddos will be old enough to make cards.
I didn’t really grow up with Jesus being the focus of Christmas, but one thing that was so important for us was traditions–spending all day decorating with cheesy Christmas music blaring, Dad cooking everyone omelettes, & waking up to presents–it wasn’t about those things, but about being together as a family and I hope to establish similar cherished memories with my kids someday that are centered around Jesus–I found a really great article about talking to kids about Santa here: http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/mark_driscoll/2010/12/what_we_tell_our_kids_about_santa.html
The time spent with family is one of my favorite things about Christmas. Thanks for sharing the article–he really gives a great way to focus on Jesus and still have tons of fun!