Planning a Church or Preschool Christmas Event: Timeline, 90-Minute Schedule and Supplies

Choosing pages by type of event

For a church Sunday school event, the church Christmas set in the Bible story series fits directly. It includes scenes such as decorating the church Christmas tree, the Christmas pageant angel choir, the Christmas pageant gentle shepherds, candlelight carols at a snowy church, sharing Christmas gift boxes, making Sunday school pop-up Christmas cards, gazing at a nativity manger model and the whole church at a Christmas worship service. Baking Christmas star cookies in the church kitchen and a neighbor-care Christmas basket are in the same set.

For a preschool, first decide, according to the school's policy and what parents have been told, whether religious scenes are appropriate. If not, the winter light festival page in the kawaii animal series lets you run the same schedule as a year-end party on the theme of light and giving.

Preparation timeline: four weeks to the day

• Four weeks out: set date, place and expected numbers. Assign one host, one storyteller, four station leaders and one safety and photo person, and send parents a notice.
• Three weeks out: start coloring sessions. Children color the angel choir and gentle shepherds pages, and you keep them as role badges for the presentation.
• Two weeks out: rehearse the song or reading and order supplies such as colored paper, glue, ribbon and LED candles.
• One week out: print the pages with five extra, pack materials for each station into envelopes, and hold a 20-minute run-through.
• The day before: set up seating and put up station signs and arrows with masking tape.
• The day: teachers gather 30 minutes early to check the schedule and emergency exits.

The 90-minute run sheet

• 0-15 min, arrival: color the decorating the church Christmas tree page at the entrance table while waiting. Early arrivals sit first and put on name badges.
• 15-25 min, welcome and order of events: greet everyone and show the order on a picture board.
• 25-40 min, the Christmas story: show large color references of the angel choir and gentle shepherds pages while you tell the story, and close with the nativity manger page.
• 40-65 min, stations: four stations, six minutes each, with one minute to move. The stations are described below.
• 65-80 min, presentation: wearing the colored role badges, sing one song or give a short reading.
• 80-90 min, giving and closing: talk about who will receive the cards, then end with greetings and a group photo.

Four stations and what each needs

• Pop-up Christmas cards: fold colored paper in half, cut out the colored Sunday school card page and glue it inside. You need colored paper, glue, children's scissors and ribbon.
• Decorating the tree: cut out the Christmas tree page colored at arrival and attach it to a big paper tree or hang it on a string. You need masking tape and string.
• Gift cards for sharing: color the sharing Christmas gift boxes page, then write the name of the person you want to give it to and one sentence on the back. Put out pencils and markers.
• Candlelight carol wall: color the snowy church candlelight carol page and put it on the wall, set LED candles in front and sing quietly.

Running the story time

Teachers should read Luke chapter 2 themselves before the event and shorten it into simple sentences. While telling it, you can ask: 'Who did the angels tell the news to?' 'What did the shepherds do when they heard?' 'Who is beside the manger?' When a child answers, point to the matching scene on the color reference and carry on.

The story of the wise men is in Matthew chapter 2 and is a different passage from the shepherds. Decide, following your church's teaching approach, whether to show them as one scene or introduce them separately. A page of the three wise men is in the New Testament set of the series.

Adjusting by age

• Around age 3: six minutes can feel long. For cards, skip the cutting and have children put stickers on a colored picture, and let them circulate with a parent.
• Around age 5: they can do all four stations. A teacher stays close to each group during cutting and gluing.
• Around age 7: give them a reading part in the presentation and let them write longer messages in the card. They can also act as helpers at a station for the younger children.

If you have extra time or too little

• Extra time: add more decorations to the paper tree, or lay out the finished cards side by side and let children look at each other's.
• Short on time: drop from four stations to three. Folding the candlelight wall into the closing so everyone sings together cuts moving time.
• Large groups: run two copies of each station with two groups and cut the presentation to one representative per grade.

Safety and cautions

• Use LED candles instead of real flames for the carol. Keep heat-producing lights away from paper decorations.
• When sharing cookies or snacks, post the allergens such as egg, milk, wheat and nuts, and check with parents beforehand.
• Limit scissors to one per group and help younger children when they cut.
• Separate entrance and exit routes, and photograph only children whose parents agreed.