I know it’s summer & you’re probably not thinking about Christmas. But hey, what about Christmas in July, or Christmas in June. Let’s talk about Christmas service ideas for your entire family.
One of my favorite Christmas service ideas is to have preschoolers to my home and let their moms have a break. They could go shopping without kids, grab a cup of coffee in quiet or whatever they wanted to do. As my kids got older, they helped play with and watch the kids we had to our home.
Although we’ve done several Christmas service activities, like bake cookies or make cards, one of our most memorable is making nativity candy crafts. Before sharing what we did, check out these nativity crafts for kids and other activities.
Mom’s Day Out
When my kids were about 8-10 years old, we started inviting kids of young moms over for a few hours during the Christmas season. My kids babysat while the young moms could have some time by themselves.
Some years we made cards.
Some years we made sugar cookies.
Some years we simply played outside.
One year we made homemade cards, nativity sets from graham crackers, threw leaves and played on the fort. I couldn’t have done it without my son, Hunter.
Let me share fun Advent traditions that you can do this week to put Christ back in Christmas. While we made our graham cracker nativity, we discussed the Christmas story.
You can get more detailed instructions from nativity crafts for kids or AOK Corral. Remember: the photos on my blog are from real kids, making a real candy nativity, not the picture-perfect Pinterest image. That’s what we’re all about. Kids having fun learning.
First we made sheep from large marshmallows, toothpicks, and black licorice.
Next, we made horses from tootsie rolls and toothpicks.
We made Joseph, Mary & shepherds from gumdrops. Fruit Roll Ups were cut in squares to make the shepherds scarf.
A little fun & eating as we worked
A fun, fun time for all!
We made the stable and manger with graham crackers and chocolate frosting for the glue. Coconut for the hay and a small marshmallow for baby Jesus.
Christmas Service Idea: Bless Missionary Families
I wrote an entire blog post about our kids Christmas and how they became others-focused. In fact, this activity is my kids’ favorite Christmas memory.
Wondering how you can bless missionary families as a Christmas service idea, read all about our kids Christmas traditions.
Again, I know it’s Christmas in July, but you might want to start early.
Integrate Christmas into your homeschool…to encourage a love of learning during the holidays, I’m offering for a limited time, my Christmas Unit Study. You’ll get practical and easy ideas in Christmas Writing, Christmas Math, Reading, History, Science Experiments and much more.
Enter your name & email below and we’ll send it to you for free through the next few weeks. Then, it goes back up to $9.97
