Merry Christmas!!

 

Merry Christmas!! This week we are going to concentrate on the story of Christmas and Jesus' birth!

Our KDI for the week is community-Children participate in the community of the classroom. This week we will work together to present you the Christmas service, we will exchange gifts, we will wish each other a "Merry Christmas" and share in all the blessings that Christmas brings!

Table Activities- This week table activities include Christmas experiments with vinegar and baking soda, jingle bells and magnets, painting with bows, Christmas coloring pages, invite to create gingerbread, ornament making and a Christmas sensory bin.

Small Group- This week small group includes making a cover for our Christmas service, cookie decorating, making a nativity ornament and gift opening and our service!

Large Group- This week we will follow the star like the wise men and have a Christmas hide and seek.

Books of the Week- "Snowmen at Christmas" by Caralyn and Mark Buehner and "Star Bright, Christmas Night" by Hannah C. Hall.

Bible Story- This week we hear about the Magi who came from the east to worship Jesus. We aren't sure how the wisemen knew about Jesus or the star. Some speculate that Daniel in the Old Testament could have shared the prophecies about Jesus, others think maybe the Queen of Sheba who visited King Solomon could have brought the prophecies back with her. We don't even know specifically which countries they came from. The Bible doesn't even tell us there were three, just that they brought three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We do know that they came from the east and they followed the star to Jerusalem and then Bethlehem. It took them a long time to come, maybe even a year. By that time, Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus were no longer in the stable, but living in a house. The wisemen asked in Jerusalem if anyone had heard of a new king being born. That put everyone in Jerusalem in a state of panic, since crazy Herod had already killed a brother and other relatives so that he could remain king without challenge. The wisemen were directed to the small village of Bethlehem where the star stopped over the house where Jesus was. The wisemen worshipped him and gave him their gifts. The wisemen were warned in a dream not to go back and tell Herod where Jesus was like he had asked. The wisemen were safe and Jesus was kept safe by fleeing to Egypt. I kind of like to think God had the visit of the shepherds and the wisemen recorded to show us that Jesus was the Savior for all of us! Who could be more different- a small village shepherd, poor, dirty, not very well educated and a rich magi with resources to travel by camel for a year and well educated. Jesus came for us all- rich or poor, wise or not, from every land, language, color, people- all the world!

Joy to the world, the LORD has come!!

Merry Christmas!