Children's Christmas programs are an ideal way to get kids involved in learning about and sharing the true meaning of Christmas. While children might get the impression from popular culture that Christmas is about presents and Santa Claus, many Christians still believe in keeping the focus on the birth of Jesus. Everything kids do at Christmas can take on deeper meaning when they understand that it is a celebration of the greatest gift of all: the long-awaited savior who God sent us.

Nativity Play
A popular children's Chrismas program is the Nativity play, where the children dress up as Mary, Joseph, shepherds, barnyard animals and other important Nativity characters. You may choose to have the kids wear costumes appropriate to the time of Jesus' birth or decide to do a modern Nativity story with the children in regular street clothes. There should be a narrator who reads the Nativity story from scripture while the children act it out on stage. You might also institute the help of a children's choir to sing some popular Christmas songs along with the play.

Lessons and Carols
A traditional service of lessons and carols involves scriptures pertaining to Jesus from both the Old and New Testaments. The scripture passages are staggered with traditional hymns, such as "The First Noel," "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" and "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem." The children's choir should begin practicing the hymns several weeks in advance of Christmas, while scripture readers begin practicing their scripture passages, concentrating on correct pronunciation of particularly difficult words and names. Using flameless candles during the service will add a special ambiance to the occasion and make it seem more magical.

Puppet Show
Puppet shows can be either grand or small. For a grand puppet show, create large pole-operated puppets from papier mache to represent all of the key characters in the Christmas story. Have the children's choir learn a series of carols that tell the Nativity story. They can sing them during the service while the puppets act out the storyline.

If a large show seems like a daunting undertaking, consider a smaller show with a puppet theater set up at the front of the church. Handheld puppets are used to tell the story while the children kneel behind the puppet theater. The congregation can sing traditional Christmas hymns between various segments of the puppet show.

Multimedia Presentation
Multimedia presentations are ideal for churches that have several families and their children out of town around Christmas. Whoever is the program coordinator will not have to worry about who can attend the Christmas service or whether anybody is sick. Several weeks in advance of Christmas, have the children dress up as characters in the Nativity story. They can act out the story while you take pictures or film them. On Christmas, project the images or videos onto a big screen, and set them to music or scripture readings. The congregation will enjoy watching the presentation, and extra copies of the multimedia program can be sold on DVD as a benefit for your church.

Cultural Play
Several cultural plays have been written about discovering the true meaning of Christmas. In a world that tends to overemphasize Santa Claus and expensive presents, placing the focus mainly on Jesus is an important part of a Christian Christmas celebration. Choose a children's play that features a main character struggling with the true meaning of Christmas. Throughout the story, she makes discoveries about life and Jesus that lead to her deeper understanding of the true reason for the season. Several of these plays have been written, such as "3 Shopping Days Until Christmas," "A Christmas to Remember" and "A Handful of Miracles."