The holiday season is one of the most exciting times for Sunday school lessons, and children love to participate in the festivities approaching Christmas. In your Sunday school class, help children learn about the events leading up to Christ's birth through games and crafts. Tailor your activities to the age and skill level of your students and have fun celebrating the reason for the season.

Nativity Hide and Seek
For younger children, hide all of the figures of a nativity scene around the Sunday school room before the children arrive. Then ask them to name as many of the important participants in the nativity as possible and explain that they are hidden throughout the room. Have the children search for the figures and set up the scene as they find the pieces.

Musical Inn
Talk about Joseph and Mary's search for a place to stay on the night of Jesus' birth, and how they finally decided to stay in a barn. Use this part of the Christmas story as a basis for musical chairs. Each chair is a room at an inn and when the music stops, each child tries to get to a chair quickly. The one who doesn't have a "room" at the inn can go to a corner of the Sunday school room that is the "barn."

Holy Family Craft
Remind children of the holy family and the story of Christ's birth with a coloring page depicting Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. Give each child four Popsicle sticks and a piece of construction paper. If time allows, have the children paint the sticks red. Then glue the sticks to the construction paper; place two of them vertically, parallel to one another, about six inches apart. Glue the other two in an upside-down V shape. This will be the barn. Have the children cut out the picture of the family and glue it under the barn. Make this craft into a Christmas ornament or wall-hanging by using card stock or balsa wood as backing and threading string through a hole so it can hang.

Blessing Tree
Have the children help you make a tree for the wall of your classroom, either out of construction paper, felt or just drawn on a chalkboard. This can be very elaborate, with an angel topper, tinsel and presents beneath it, or very simple, with just the outline of a tree. Give children ornaments cut from construction paper, or have them create their own. Use any shape of ornament you would like--stars, balls, angels, or shepherds. Ask each child to write a blessing that they are thankful for on one side of an ornament and to write their name on the other side. Allow them to make as many as they would like. Then gather the ornaments and read them aloud as you tape or glue them to the tree.