There’s no denying it. There’s about five weeks till Christmas and yep… I’m starting to get excited about it. I’m looking forward to the end of the year, to those wonderful weeks of resting with my family, Christmas carols, Christmas lunch and dinner, and marvelling once again at the wonder that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

My kids are excited about Christmas and as their mummy, I love that they’re excited about Christmas.

I’m all for keeping Advent simple and over the next few weeks in the lead up to Christmas, I’ll be reading Christmas bible stories with my kids and doing simple playful Christmas crafts, to enjoy the stories together. Let’s start playing and get excited about the coming of Jesus. 

Our first story is from Luke 1:26-38. In this story, an angel came and told Mary that she would have a baby boy, God’s Son. His name would be Jesus.

We enjoyed creating this Christmas craft together. N and M cut out the bits for the angel wings, E enjoyed practising his cutting skills on the scrap pieces and Miss K, drawing on them.

We then acted out the story of Luke 1:26-38. The boys didn’t want to play Mary, and Miss K didn’t feel like sitting still for the story, so we had our giant teddy play Mary for awhile.

We also read Luke 2:8-20, where the angels visited the shepherds and told them the good news about God’s son, baby Jesus. The boys had an absolute ball singing/yelling, “Glory to God!” I didn’t give them a tune to sing, but they managed to somehow make one up, on the fly and with much enthusiasm. Too precious!

We created our no-sew angel wings using paper plates, marker, scissors, hot glue gun and some ribbon. Hands on heart mummies and daddies, this Christmas craft for kids is dead-set easy, cheap, so much fun to make and they look amazing! Here are the instructions for this Christmas craft for kids, from the very clever Maker Mama.

Don’t miss our next playful Advent activity, a DIY Little Town of Bethlehem.

What makes Christmas special for you and your kids? It would be fabulous if we could all share our Christmas ideas here. Are there  traditions you’ve grown up with? Have you tried something with your kids and it’s been loved to bits? Or have you tried something that hasn’t quite worked? Found or seen something online that just totally knocks your socks off? I’d love to pin ideas to my Pinterest boards, I’d love to share ideas on our Facebook Page. Let’s pool everyone’s wisdom together and get excited about Christmas together.

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Christmas Crafts for Kids: Easy Angel Wings by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

 
What an extraordinary announcement!

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
(Luke 2:8-14 ESV)

Christmas Crafts for Kids: Angels

 
You’ll need:

• Tissue Paper
• Rubber Band
• Scrap A4 paper
• Printout of Angel Wings Template
• Paint (we used water colour paints)
• Brushes
• Cup of water to rinse brushes

 
 Method:

1. Paint your angel wings and let it dry.
2. Scrunch up your scrap A4 paper into a ball; this will be your angel’s head
3. Wrap tissue around the paper ball and using your rubber band, section off the head from the body by wrapping it under the head a few times.
4. Cut out your angel wings.
5. Tie the angel wings to your angel by tucking the long middle bit under the rubber band sectioning off the angel’s head.
6. Finish your Christmas angel craft by fluffing out the body of your angel and spreading the wings slightly so it may be more clearly seen from the front.

The angels brought good news; such good news that thousands of angels celebrated and sang at the top of their lungs, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

It’s not every day that angels talk to men. It’s not every day a King is born.

God has provided a way for people to return to Him. God has provided a way for us to have peace with Him; to no longer be at war with Him.

Jesus is God’s peace. He was born in a little stable, in Bethlehem.

N&M: 4 years, 6 months
E: 2 years, 5 months
December 2012

The post Christmas Crafts for Kids: Angels by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.