Teacher Book Bag's Black and White Nativity Packet

The Publisher's Description:

There’s nothing more meaningful than a nativity scene. It is a visual remembrance of why we celebrate Christmas time as well as all the other days of the year. This packet was designed for children with small hands learning how to cut, but older children find it fun as well. Cut out your stable, assemble it, and cut out your characters in groups or individually. Design the colors to all the parts of the packet. This was made specifically with families in mind who have black ink printers. For families with color printers, save some money and allow your children to be creative!!! What fun for the children as they make each part of the packet uniquely theirs. Stands are included in order to make your stable and characters stand upright. A variety of sizes gives you loads of choices. Enjoy a packet near and dear to our heart.

My Thoughts:

If you are looking for a new way to make Christmas meaningful this is it! This is excellent for personal family use, Sunday School, Children's Chapel, or Home school settings. My children and I sat down with the scriptures and read the biblical account of Jesus' birth. We talked about each of the characters in the story and their significance. This opened up an opportunity to talk with my kids about how God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things in this world - From the unlikely shepherds on the hill to the believing magi that traveled from afar. From a young girl with a heart turned toward God and a young man willing to follow God's instruction even though the path would be difficult to the Inn Keeper who offered the stable.

My children enjoyed coloring the pictures/figures which I copied onto card stock paper. We put glitter and gems on them and made. Each of the four children worked on their own nativity. I took time during this to ask them each which character in the story they thought they were most like and which they would like to become.

I really liked the fact that the children could choose different sizes of figures - though my children chose to color one in each size. I also liked the fact that they could display these in their rooms and take pride in knowing they could now tell the story themselves.

This by far has been one of my favorite Christmas crafts thus far this season. I am certain that it would be a hit in Sunday School classes and intend to recommend it to our Sunday School teachers as well as to others.