Advent, Christmas, & Epiphany Activities
Actvity 6 – Three Great Kings Puppets
Activity 5 – The Holy Family
Activity 4 – Christmas Around the World
Activity 3 – The Story of Silent Night
Activity 2 – The Meaning of Emmanuel
Activity 1 – O Come O Come Emmanuel lyrics
Three Great Kings Puppets
The fingerplay and rhyme, Three Great Kings, helps our little ones celebrate the Epiphany and remember that the goal of our journey is Christ. It also helps in developing beat development, but that's another story. You can make these fun paper puppets based on the illustrations in your songbook, to help act out the rhyme and celebrate the Epiphany.
Use these pages for children who want to color their own puppets: Print the Pictures
Use these to cut out pre-colored Kings: Print the Pictures
Remember to keep your puppet-play rhythmic when doing the rhyme! Feel free to send us a digital picture or video of your child and his work for the website!
The Holy Family
Each Christmas Season, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family and the Feast of Mary, Mother of God. It is a time to think of Jesus' childhood and reflect on the Holy Family. Here is a simple activity to help your children reflect on their own family to better understand that Jesus grew up in a family just like us! DOWNLOAD the PRINTABLE
Christmas Around the World
The Advent/Christmas/Epiphany CD is one of the most multi-cultural in the curriculum, with songs and carols from around the world and in various languages. Print this little coloring book for an introduction to the various countries and customs explored in the curriculum. Our little booklet has a uniquely spiritual perspective. If you want to take this further, follow up at home with appropriate library books and globe studies.
Download the pages of the booklet. (Adobe Acrobat Reader is required.) This may take several minutes to download. Print the first two pages. Then, print the last two pages on the back of the previously printed pages. It will work no matter which pages are put together. Just be careful that the pages are right side up! Put the pages together and fold it in half to make a booklet so the cover comes out as shown in the picture. Staple if desired.
Read together about Christmas in Russia, England, Germany, Ireland, USA, Ecuador, and Spain! Color the pictures, design your own Christmas card and decorate the Christmas tree!
Stille Nacht – Silent Night
On your Advent/Christmas CD, you'll hear Silent Night in both the original German and in English. Silent Night was written by Fr. Josef Mohr and Franz Gruber in Austria in the early 19th Century. Print this little fold-up book for children to color and learn the charming story of the origins of this classic and arguably, most-beloved, Christmas Hymn.
Click Here to Read the Story Online
The Meaning of Emmanuel
In Christmas Dance and O Come O Come Emmanuel, we introduce the title of "Emmanuel" to the children. Christmas Dance, in particular, reinforces the meaning of the name, "God with us", in this line: "Now God has come to dwell with us here. We dance for Baby Emmanuel." These two Scripture passages illustrate the significance of this name:
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Emmanuel". (NASB) Isaiah 7:14
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name, 'Emmanuel', which translated means, 'God with us'." (NASB) Matt. 1:23
Use this printable to help your child remember that Emmanuel means "God with us" and that Baby Jesus is truly God made man. It may take a few minutes to download.
O Come O Come Emmanuel
In our Making Music Praying Twice curriculum, we teach the first verse only of O Come O Come Emmanuel, so our young students, many of whom are just learning to talk, do not struggle with the lyrics. If you'd like to teach the rest of the lyrics, you may wish to focus on one each day and use this craft to reinforce the lyrics:
1.
2. Hang the picture of Baby Jesus, Emmanuel, in the manger in a place the children can see. Emmanuel literally means, "God with us".
3. Each time your children learn a verse, they can color the symbol, cut it out and decorate the manger.
CHAIN – symbolizes the captives
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
TEN COMMANDMENTS – symbolizes the law
O come, O come, Thou Lord of Might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times didst give the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe. Refrain
TREE – symbolizes Rod of Jesse
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave. Refrain
CLOUD – symbolizes the clouds that the light will disperse
O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight. Refrain
KEY – symbolizes Key of David
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery. Refrain
DOVE – symbolizes Wisdom
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
And order all things, far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And cause us in her ways to go. Refrain
HEART – symbolizes the hearts of mankind
O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of peace. Refrain
