Jesus is the reason for the season! And one of the easiest and best ways to convey this message to children is to include nativity sets in your holiday decorations and celebrations. But if you only have a fancy breakable nativity set that they can’t touch, you’re not reaching them on their own level as much as you could. Today, I want to bring you a ton of ideas to bring the nativity set to your children on their own level, in a way that they can interact, and in a way that can help grown their love for the Baby Jesus. You can find even more resources for the season on my Advent And Christmas activities page. So here we go- lots of nativity set crafts and activities for kids for the Christmas season!
Nativity Set Crafts For Kids
I find that young kids absolutely love crafts- it is one of my favorite ways to teach them! They take so much pride in what they have created and everything sticks with them better when they are invested in it themselves!
Check out my whole post of Baby Jesus crafts for kids here– I will tell you that the sock baby Jesus is an absolute FAVORITE and kids can make it totally independently. No sewing needed! Sometimes just a baby Jesus craft is best for the smallest hands because they tend to be less complicated than something with tons of people.
I also have a round up of nativity crafts for kids here. These are good for younger kids but I would say above preschool age. Lots of fun stuff in this post including some free printables, so you don’t want to miss that!
Catholic Sprouts also has a round up of nativity craft ideas for kids with a lot of great links!
Nativity Set Crafts For Older Kids
I have a totally separate round up for nativity crafts for older kids and adults. So if you want to craft a set for your kids, or if you have older kids that love to craft, you definitely need to click over!
My favorite for his is my set of printable nativity peg dolls. They are so easy because you just decoupage on the bodies and you only have to paint the heads. Also, I include step by step directions for how to paint the heads, so it’s super easy to do!
Nativity Handprint Crafts
In my printable children’s Christmas treasury, Holidays In Handprints, there are several handprint nativity crafts you can do with your kids. These pages run from Thanksgiving through Candlemas, celebrate the true meaning of the season, and act as a long term keepsake for your family.
Nativity Sets You Can Purchase
For those of you looking to buy a cute and affordable nativity set that is kid friendly, be sure to check out my round up of fun kid navitiy sets!
Nativity Snacks And Edibles
I always love edible crafts because you don’t have to wonder… hmm… what do I do with this now that it’s made? You just eat it and then voila- no more clutter! lol.
If you don’t have a set of nativity cookie cutters, I would suggest that you invest in one. We have been using ours for almost a decade now and they’re really fun to have around. NO professional decorating skills needed! I have a post here for how to decorate nativity cookies easily using just colored sugar. These would be easy to stand up in a nativity gingerbread scene as well!
I also have super simple directions for baby Jesus cookies made from nutter butters, so if you want an easy or last minute idea that doesn’t involve baking, be sure to check those out.
Nativity Art Projects
If you’re thinking that nativity art projects are the same as crafts… well I disagree lol. I have a step by step chalk pastel nativity tutorial for kids here that kids can actually be successful at! Do you have a budding artist? You definitely don’t want to miss this post!
Post continues after this brief information about the Catholic Icing Monthly Membership
Monthly Liturgical Membership
Check out my free how to draw an easy nativity video for kids! Super fun and simple to follow along with. I also love the colors in this one.
Nativity Songs For Kids
I love to sing while we craft, bake, etc, so here is a list of “nativity songs” that you can pair with your projects (And you can find these on this album of 33 Favorite Christmas Hymns)
- Away In A Manger
- Silent Night
- O Holy Night
- What Child Is This
- O Little Town Of Bethlehem
It’s always good to make sure they know more than just “Jingle Bells” this time of year 😉
Nativity Books For Kids
Don’t forget about reading the story to them! You can grab your favorite children’s bible off the shelf, as I hear that one has the Christmas story in it 😉 or you can check out my list of our favorite and most beautiful nativity books for kids here.
Interactive Nativity Set Traditions
Our family has several nativity set traditions we like to do every year to make sure this plays an intriguing part in our Christmas celebrations. I love having what I call an “interactive” nativity, which is when different places of the nativity get placed at various times. Some families add pieces to the nativity set each Sunday of Advent, some families move the wise men across the house closer and closer on their journey.
My personal favorite is to keep baby Jesus to the side during Advent, then hide him while we get ready for Christmas mass. When we return from mass, the kids find all the various baby Jesus’ like an Easter egg hunt (we have several nativity sets) and then we sing “Joy To The World” as we process around the house placing baby Jesus in all the sets. You can check out the details to that tradition and more here in my interactive nativity post.
It is also traditional to do a blessing of the creche when it is first set up, and you can find my round up of various Catholic Christmas blessings including the blessing of the creche here.
Nativity Sensory Bin For Preschoolers
I made on of our child friendly nativity sets (the Playmobile set) into a nativity sensory bin and it was a huge hit with my kids! See the details here.
I hope you found some useful resources in this ultimate list of nativity ideas for families! Be sure to check out all of my posts for Advent and Christmas below.
Find all my Advent and Christmas Posts here.