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Last week my family watched a movie about adorable puppies on a mission to save Christmas. If people and animals alike did not grasp the true meaning of the holiday before Santa’s magical icicle melted…Christmas would be lost forever. What a task for six young Golden Retrievers and Santa’s fluffy white pup. The movie, of course, ended on a happy note when the townsfolk and townsfur understood that Christmas is all about being kind to others.
I was not surprised that the movie took this slant…nor am I blasting the picture…it depicted many positive values. But I did find it ironic that a film about helping others learn the true meaning of Christmas never explored the heart of the holiday: Jesus.
Yes, it is true that some of our current Christmas customs derived from ancient Pagan practices. And it is also unlikely that Christ our Saviour was born on December 25th…But the holiday of Christmas that we celebrate today was established as a commemoration of Jesus’ birth. And that is why I celebrate.
The beautiful truth that radiates throughout the Christmas season is that God, the infinitive king of the universe, became a tiny and poor baby in order to live amongst His creation and save them from death…from themselves.
That is a lot to explain to young children, so for the past four years we have adopted the tradition of hosting a Birthday Party for Jesus. This year, DaySpring is providing me with lots of cute and fun party supplies from their Really Woolly collection. They also agreed to provide one of my readers with the same party kit along with two adorable plush lambs and a Christmas DVD.
The kit includes:
- 9 Online Event Access Tickets
- 1 Scripture-Based Celebration Guidebook
- 3 Candles
- 8 Plates
- 8 Napkins
- 8 Noisemakers
- 6 Balloons
- 1 Banner
To be eligible to win this prize pack, please leave a comment at the end of this post before 3pm EST on Tuesday, December 9. If you have a suggestion of a game or two that the kids and their friends can play a our special birthday party, please feel free to share your ideas in the comment section as well.
The winner will be randomly drawn during my party on Tuesday, December 9 and announced later that evening.
>Hi Ang~ This looks like such neat stuff! We have a Birthday Party for Jesus each year at my moms house and I'd love to celebrate in style with all these goodies!
Suggestion for things to do, have each child say one thing they are thankful Jesus has done for them before blowing out the candles on His cake! ~Amy
>What a really great idea!! We could totally use this for our Praying Wives Club that meets on Saturday morning… I think the kids would love this :0)… BTW so glad your comment system is back to the old way!!
>Angela, Thanks so much for posting about this. This is something I find important as well. Making sure our kids have an understanding of why Christmas is important. To have an actual Birthday party is a GREAT idea. We've made a cake before and sung happy birthday as a family, but never a full on party! Sounds like a blast!!
>We always have a cake or cupcakes on Christmas, sing the Donut Man version of "Happy Birthday Jesus" and blow out the candles. This is a great idea with all the party supplies!Thanks.
>This looks like so much fun! I'd need to do this whether we win or not! Fun!!!
>Lots of the traditional birthday games with a twist… "Put baby Jesus in the manger" or a memory matching game with the animals and the wise men." It can be hard to keep my focus on Jesus in the very busy, very commercial season, so even harder for children. A birthday party can help them remember. Great fun and wonderful gift package.
>What a cute birthday party. I love it! That is so important to stress this time of year.
>I absolutely love this! It's the first time that I have seen/heard about this, but it has gotten me excited! My son is 2 years old, and my husband and I have been discussing ideas on how to get him excited (at such a young age) for Christmas, without associating Christmas with "getting things." And to teach him the true meaning of why we celebrate. This is wonderful. Perhaps for a game/activity, the kiddos can make cards for someone they love. It can be a picture or a few sentences, sharing about what they think Christmas is all about. Amber ambydoo143@yahoo.com
>We have done "Pin the star above the stable" a few years back. We like to make birthday cake for Jesus.
>Hi, Angela! This is my first visit to your blog and I love it! I fervently teach my children about the "reason for the season" as well but also allow fun, too. Each child at our party gets a little box with a heart inside. On the heart is their name – we present these boxes (that contain our hearts) to the baby in the manger. In other words, they are giving their hearts to Jesus. Good visual for the kids and we then discuss a little bit about what it means to give your heart to Jesus. Have fun!
>I love, love, love this stuff! You know how much I love sheep. What a precious collection.I hope you are doing well! Merry Christmas!
Carol
>my children would so love this!!! how fun!we have a cake each year for Jesus too. this year i am starting a new tradition. i am wrapping all of our baby Jesus' up in little boxes and placing them under the tree. when they children unwrap them, i think we'll do this as an all together gift…not sure yet, we will read the Christmas story and each child will place baby Jesus in his manger. I have LOTS of touchable nativities.Happy Birthday Jesus!!
>This is a neat set. Love Really Wolly! My husband and I try to bring Jesus into our larger family celebration with our nieces and nephews to remind them it is all about so much more than the presents.
>Each year I put down low a ceramic nativity. One in which the kids play with, act out, and four of my five kids have memorized Luke 2. Then on Christmas Eve before we go to bed, we take all the ceramic piece into our hands. Each person has a few parts and we tell the story and story is played out. Jesus is in the heart of our Christmas. We love the colors, the bulbs, santa's and snowmen, but Jesus Rules in our hearts and home.
>This is a wonderful idea! My kids are a little older but we used to always look for creative ways to teach them why, as Christians, we celebrate holidays like Christmas and Easter. Love it!Jen