How to Keep Jesus in Christmas for Little Kids

Commercial Christmas is everywhere! Santa, gifts, the “magic” of Christmas. It’s easy for little minds (and big ones!) to get confused about all they are bombarded with at Christmastime. If we aren’t intentional with our actions and words, we can easily get lost in the holiday and forget the true meaning.

There’s nothing that keeps me more intentional with my time than my kids. Realizing that what I say and do is impacting them every minute sometimes hits me hard. Other times when I’m really frustrated I forget all about that. But as we approach the most wonderful time of the year, let’s strive to keep our minds focused on the true meaning of Christmas so we can point those little minds to what truly matters.

The Birth of Jesus is not something to be taken lightly. It’s not just another “story” to tell. It was the most life changing and sacrificial gift God could ever give. Imagine giving up your child, even for a season, to help a bunch of people doing bad things. As we remember the hugeness of this gift, it will help us be more passionate and intentional with our families during this season.

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1 – Talk about it

Kids are smart and are sponges. Even when they are very little. We decided we were not going to “do Santa” with our kids before we even had them. We just didn’t feel comfortable with the idea. Although we may share the true story of Saint Nicholas, we do not want our kids to believe a man in a red suit is watching them all the time. We don’t mind them enjoying Santa as a story for fun, but we really want them to know the true meaning of Christmas from a young age.

But Santa is EVERYWHERE. We cannot watch anything or go anywhere without Santa being there. So when Santa comes up, I use that as a challenge to turn that into a conversation about the true meaning of Christmas. Try to challenge yourself to turn the topics of gifts, Santa Claus, and even generosity into the Nativity story where the greatest gift of all humanity was given. Just keep talking about Jesus and the true meaning of the season with them.

2 – Get an alternative Elf on the Shelf

I will admit the Elf on the Shelf is a fun idea! I wanted to find a good alternative with a Christian spin on it. I came across a couple options.

Shepherd on the Search

The basic premise of having something hide or “do” something every night is the same, but it’s a Shepherd instead of an Elf. It comes with a book that will help you explain to the kids that the shepherd is on the search for baby Jesus. Every night you can move him, and the next morning have the kids help you find him as he’s on his way to find Jesus. Then on Christmas morning you can have him with baby Jesus in a nativity scene.

Dayspring has all sorts of awesome resources that go along with Shepherd on the Search. There’s a puzzle and a couple advent calendar options. You can look around and see the options and what would work best for your family. We personally went with the large floor puzzle and the Shepherd on the Search kit.

The Giving Manger

The Giving Manger is a little bit different than the Elf on the Shelf premise. It is all about acts of kindness. There is a book that goes along with it, a little manger, pieces of straw, and a baby Jesus. Your family is intentional every day to do acts of kindness, and with every one they can put a piece of straw in the manger. The goal is to get the manger full of “kindness” before Christmas morning when you can place baby Jesus in the manger.

I love the fact that this emphasizes acts of service. Christmas can be a great time for giving gifts, but sometimes we get so caught up in the “fun” things of Christmas we forget about basic kindness. It’s amazing that this gets the whole family involved in thinking of others during this time of year.

3 – Nativity

Nativity sets are an easy way to get your kids thinking about the true meaning of Christmas. We LOVE our Fisher Price set. They can play hands on with it without me worrying about something getting broken or messed up. I’m sure there are plenty of other kid friendly nativity sets out there.

We have multiple options in our house. We have 3 handmade sturdy wooden sets that I let my kids play with in addition to their Fisher Price set. They LOVE playing with the characters and the nativity scenes. It sets up so many great conversations about Jesus as well as gets their imaginations engaged.

You could even make a game out of it where you hide parts of the nativity, and when they find a piece you talk to them about what it represents and let them put it in the nativity. Then I’m sure the kids would love to hide the pieces and let you find them too!

4 – Books and Movies

There are tons of awesome movies and books out there now about the true meaning of Christmas. Instead of focusing on most mainstream Christmas stories, pick out one of the many options that are available.

Our favorite Nativity movie is The Star. It is so cute since it is the story of Jesus’ birth from the animals perspective. Our most favorite Nativity book is ‘Twas the Night: The Nativity Story. I cannot rave about this book enough. It is written like the traditional Twas the Night Before Christmas, but about the night Jesus was born. The boys (and I) love it so much we read it all year long.

5 – Birthday party for Jesus

One of my friends has done this for her kids ever since they were little. Now they are pre-teens and still love to do it! The idea is really simple. Just have a time set aside to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. Make sure it is a separate time from when you’re doing other presents or Christmas things. It should be a special time just dedicated to Jesus’ birthday.

Make a cake, have yummy snacks, read the Christmas story from the Bible or a fun kid’s version, and you could even decorate like you would for one of your kid’s birthdays. They will love doing all the fun birthday things! And it will give you so much time to just talk with them about Jesus. If your kids are old enough, it would also be a great idea to let your kids pick out some of their toys to donate and then you can take them together to drop them off.

6 – Family Devotions

Take some time to sit down together as a whole family and do some devotionals during the Christmas season. There are lots of options of family devotions out there depending on the age of your kids. It doesn’t have to be a big long thing. Just something simple and to the point. You could do once it every Sunday for the 4 Sundays of advent. Or you could do something every day.

You can get some really cute options from Dayspring that have ornaments that go with each devotion. So you can read and talk about it and then let your kids decorate the tree with the ornament for that week.

Then on Christmas Eve or Christmas day take time to read the Christmas story from the Bible with your kids. It doesn’t take long. We always did this growing up and it’s one of my favorite memories/traditions from my childhood Christmases. You can also have family worship and prayer during this time too.

7 – Get Creative with the Nativity Story

Kids have amazing imaginations! And they love to get involved in doing creative things even when they are young. If you or your kids tend to enjoy creative exercises, you could have them act out the nativity story or recreate the nativity story with playdoh.

You can be the narrator the first time through, and then let your kids be the narrator for the next time through if they want to. My son loves to tell stories, like I’m sure many kids do. Then you can really see what they are understanding and learning about the Nativity story.

Recreating the nativity with playdoh is another way your child will get to use their imaginations freely. You can of course help them shape things, but if they want to I’d encourage you to let your children figure out how to do it on their own. It lets them think through each “character” in the story and what part they play.

8 – Play Christ Centered Christmas Music

One of our favorite things is to sing classic Christmas carols. Many of these are centered on Jesus so they make great, easy options for you to turn kid’s thoughts back to Jesus. I usually just stick with the simple chorus if little kids want to sing along.

There are also all sorts of music options for kids that are Christ centered. Our most favorite Christian children’s artist is Slugs and Bugs. They have songs that are silly and songs that are centered on Christ. If you haven’t tried them, I would look them up! Even for non-Christmas time they have so many fun options for kids. They are our kids very favorite music to listen to.

You can play this music any time – in the car or at home. We like to have dance parties and sing-a-longs in our house to make the music even more fun. Fill your house with the joy of Christ!

9 – Teach Kids about the Meaning of the Candy Cane

The candy cane is based in Christian roots, and that fact is often overlooked, forgotten, or just unknown. This is a great story you can teach to your kids every year so that they will always remember what the candy cane really means.

Here is a great article that details the meaning of the candy cane. Depending on your child’s ability to pay attention and understand, you can tell them as much or as little as you’d like.

Here are some fun candy cane crafts you can do with your kids. And I also think doing some kind of baking, like peppermint brownies or cookies, with your toddler would also be a fun activity to tie in.

10 – Do Jesus Centered Crafts

Little kids love crafts!! And to me there’s nothing more fun than Christmas crafts! Here’s a site that is full of Christmas crafts for toddler aged kids. You can even use some to give as gifts to family and friends. I know grandparents always love a good handmade gift 🙂

Another fun idea would be to get some of these nativity shaped cookie cutters and then make salt dough ornaments or cookies with them. You could also get some kid friendly paint and use them as stamps.

While doing any of these crafts ideas, you can talk about what you’re doing, why, and how it relates to the Christmas story. There are so many ways to tie in the story of the greatest gift of all during Christmas time!

Just Keep Trying

Kids will be kids. Even if you try every day all day, they are still going to want gifts and probably want to talk about Santa. They’re going to want to watch the popular movies and listen to the fun Christmas songs. But the more you keep bringing up Jesus the more it is being imprinted in their little memories. What you are doing and saying matters. And it will last. So don’t give up!!

Keep speaking the truth in all circumstances on all the days, not just Christmas time. We have been entrusted to raise these little people up in the Lord, and that is not to be taken lightly. The more we point them back to Jesus and parent them out of the Spirit, the more God has a chance to work in their lives and bring them to Him.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

You got this momma! What is your favorite thing to do with your kids to point them back to Jesus?