Christians, I need idea's for Christmas activities for pre-teen bible studies....?

Question

This is the first time I am 'running the show'......im nervous! There are about 25 kids.....I want to do something unique and fun for them!!! (For the church Christmas show).

Answer 1

Olivia has a good response. In my church, our praise teams, youth and children shop together for blankets, cologne, trinkets, candy, fruit, and any other items we can provide for the elderly and we go and visit. Usually the nurses and caregivers will have the whole room filled with the residents. Hot chocolate and warm cookies are served (for those who can have them) and we tell the story of Jesus' birth. The children sing, dance, recite Bibical scriptures, and pass out the gifts. We share love with the residents and caregivers and carol up and down the hallways. It always brings a smile to their faces AND more importantly - it's not done ONCE A YEAR. We go every month to share Jesus with them and show them love. That's one of the most rewarding things we do. If you want to do a program for the church, go online or to a Christian bookstore and find a very simple "play" that you can put together. You might need some assistance from other members of the church or parents, but we also do this. Our play this year is called: The Greatest Gift. All of our kids are participating, and even the older people have parts. I play all the music and our young people will peform a dance to "O Holy Night". We carol in the neighborhood and we also decorate the neighborhood's mail boxes while we sing. Good luck.

Answer 2

Take them into a nursing home to interact with the residents. You can do crafts, sing carols, have lunch! Film it, and show the film as part of the Christmas show.

Answer 3

I was the Awana leader at my church for several years... We had an advent ceremony for the kid of that age group...

http://www.just4kidsmagazine.com/advent.html


Hope that helps..... Jim

Answer 4

Are Pagan Customs All Right,
So Long as Used in Honor of Christ?
Americans have always been smitten with the "quaint" customs of peculiar people in other nations. Gum-chewing, camera-toting American tourists take endless pictures, smiling at the "quaint" costumes, architecture, music, customs and religion of other nations. But Almighty God sternly warns His people not to copy pagans and heathens; wondering how they worshiped their pagan gods (which are merely figments of the imaginations of superstitious minds) and then adapt those "quaint" heathen and pagan customs, wrapping them in tinsel, whitewashing them, packaging them in gay colors, and calling them "Christian"!
Notice this! When God dispossessed the pagan nations before the advancing hosts of Israel, He explained to His people that these heathens were losing their lands because of the hideous abominations they practiced; including every perversion, depravity and bestial practice known to man. They worshiped nonexistent "gods" of the host of the heavens, of the sky, earth, water, rain, the sun and the seasons. They worshiped fertility, indulging in orgiastic celebrations and ceremonies in harvesttime, in springtime and at the winter solstice, begging their "sun god" to resume his northward journey across the sky, warming the heavens towards spring and summer once again. The trappings of their various and sundry religions included everything from ritualistic worship of sex objects to human sacrifice!
God said, therefore, "When the Eternal your God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
"Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods?' even so will I do likewise.
"Thou shalt not do so unto the Eternal thy God; for every abomination to the Eternal, which He hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
"What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it" (Deuteronomy 12:29-32).
God strictly commanded His people NOT to become inquisitive about the manner of worship of these heathens; wondering what various accouterments and paraphernalia of their worship service "meant," in symbol—becoming curious about their "quaint" ways; their temples, decorations, feasts, orgies, practices and customs—and then adapting such heathen customs to the worship of the true God!
Yet, godless, sinning mankind has done exactly that!
If a time machine could suddenly catapult ancient pagan Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Huns, Scandinavians, Druids and others onto the streets and into the homes of modern, so-called "Christian" America, these pagans would immediately recognize the trappings of "Christmas"!
While they would no doubt see many modern innovations, the underlying symbols would remain the same!
They would see symbols having to do with the worship of life, fertility, sex and reproduction, Nimrod and his mother-wife, orbs and eggs, logs and trees, wreaths and berries, and the cheerful "ho, ho, ho" of jolly old "Saint Nick."
Conversely, if modern Americans could be catapulted back in time to some of the ceremonies of the pagan Germanic races—the Scandinavians, Druids in Scotland and Ireland, or Babylonians, Egyptians and Greeks—they, too, would immediately recognize many of the trappings of the pagan ceremonies of these peoples: decorated trees, wreaths and berries, eggs and orbs, the "yule log," exchanging of gifts and presents, roast goose and family meals, bonfires and celebrations, drinking and kissing under the mistletoe.
But wait! The modern American, Canadian or Briton, propelled backward in time, would find some important ingredients of his modern "Christmastime" celebrations missing if he suddenly found himself in the streets of ancient Babylon, or observing a ceremony of the Druids in Scotland. He would find, nowhere amidst all these familiar trappings and surroundings, mention of Jesus Christ!
Conversely, the ancient pagans, transported forward in time, would see all the paraphernalia and revelry associated with their ancient orgies to the sun god, and would perhaps marvel that the professing "Christian" world had managed to subtly and cleverly substitute all of these methods of sun worship for worship of their "Son of God," Jesus Christ, rather than the "sun-god," Nimrod, or "Tammuz." Others would think it a ceremony to "Mithra," or Horus. None would assume the festival honored Christ!
But let's understand, from history, the true origin of the trappings of "Christmas," and see whether it is something Christians should do.