Children's Christmas

26 pages

7 m, 4 w.

Chris, a very materialistic teenager, just got busted for stealing her parents' credit card. Her punishment, "to teach her a lesson about those less fortunate than she," is to work at the local homeless mission every evening of her Christmas vacation. It's a punishment she is not happy about! Through Sam, a bitter homeless man; Les, the long-suffering director; and Miss Jackie, a wise, yet mysterious resident, Chris learns the true meaning of Christian love and unselfishness. A humorous, yet touching play, with an unexpected twist at the end. One simple inter...

32 pages

1 adult female, 2 flexible adults, plus 3 male teens, 7 female teens

Students in Mrs. Smith's class have forgotten, or never knew, the true meaning of Christmas. From Santa to expensive presents to boyfriends, their explanations of what Christmas means to them are generally selfish and shallow. But that quickly changes when their bus breaks down during a snowstorm and they find themselves seeking shelter in an abandoned church. A homeless man suddenly enters. At first cautious, they soon give him their food, warm coats, shoes and other belongings to comfort him. When he reappears as an angel, he shows them that their generosit...

32 pages

4 m, 2 w, 4 flex, and a choir or singers.

When Jack Willoughby's youth minister has to go out of town at the last minute to visit his sick aunt, he leaves his best student, Jack, in charge of this year's Christmas play. But when everyone begins arriving at the church for the first rehearsal, this teen realizes his task may be more than he bargained for. Strange noises are heard in the empty church, an unknown janitor begins appearing and disappearing, and no one wants to cooperate with the new young director. It's beginning to look as if there may not be a play after all. Then things begin to change ...

32 pages

4 m, 3 w, 1 flexible, extras.

This innovative play follows a news show's attempt to broadcast the Sorrow of Ramah. Studio hosts, Paula and Jack, try to put the pieces together as investigative reporters, Madeline (in Bethlehem) and Frank (in Jerusalem), talk to various citizens. They interview a scribe from the royal palace, one of the killer soldiers, other-worldly Magi, an earnest innkeeper and his wife, two shepherds, a couple from Mary and Joseph's home town of Nazareth, and an old prophetess at the temple in Jerusalem. As the fascinating interviews unfold, a much bigger story is brou...

38 pages

3 m, 2 w, 1 teen girl, 10-19+ children

With the holiday season approaching, Pastor Jack Taylor finds himself overcommitted, unable to take his own advice about not doing so much this year. When parishioner Beulah takes the pastor’s sermon of slowing down to heart and quits the children’s Christmas pageant, Pastor Taylor jumps on the opportunity to let Pam, an inexperienced teen who loves TV crime shows, be in charge. The Pastor doesn’t have the time to supervise her, so she and the kids create a new Christmas pageant called “Bethlehem CSI.” Now the long-loved Nativity scene is a crime scene! Pam t...

28 pages

3 m, 5 w, optional 3 m.

Mary had her simple life with Joseph all planned out, that is, until she had a visit from the angel Gabriel. He told her of the great honor that God was bestowing on her; she would be blessed above all women. Come along on Mary's journey to see what it might have been like for her. Sense her excitement as she visits Elizabeth and learns more about Jehovah and His awesome power, and experience her broken heart over Joseph's unbelief. After Joseph has a visit from an angel in a dream, he decides to take Mary as his wife straightway. When he and Mary confront he...

24 pages

3 m, 4 w, extras.

Jill, a 17-year-old runaway with a new baby, has been living on the streets for the past two years. It's just a few days until Christmas, and she finds herself at a bus station contemplating whether to continue living on the streets or to reunite with her parents. Jill wants to do what is best for her 7-week-old baby, but her stormy relationship with her father makes her hesitant to return home. At the bus station, Jill meets Walter, a kindly bus station attendant, and another young runaway, Lisa. With Walter's love and guidance, Jill eventually finds her way...

54 pages

6 m, 8 w, 4 children, extras. Doubling possible.

Here’s a wonderful comedy that’s sure to charm audiences of all ages. When pre-teen brats Jimmy Pate and his cousin Brianne don’t get the gifts they think they deserve, they pray to God and ask for no more Christmas. The next year as the holiday fails to materialize, the two kids are the only ones who notice, in hilarious and heart-wrenching ways, that it’s missing. The store owner doesn’t have a clue about Christmas displays, the cable company operator never heard of Christmas movies, and even Jimmy’s older sister thinks the only holiday in December is New Y...

14 pages

3 m, 4 w.

A group of modern teenagers discuss how disenchanted they are with Christmas. By a miracle, the television becomes a time machine. Mary appears and tells them what it was like to be a young, frightened girl visited by an angel and finding herself pregnant in an era when that was punishable by death. The kids are amazed to realize that teens were involved in the first Christmas.

45 pages

5 m, 5 w, 1 flexible, 2 boys, 1 girl, extras, choir

Imagine the Christmas story written, directed and performed by teenagers! Follow the antics of CJ, the author of this wild and crazy nativity scene, along with Amos and Jordy, two idiotic stagehands, as they try to retell the story of the nativity from a "teenager's point of view." After watching a rehearsal and weathering an emotional explosion from a stuffy lady of the congregation, the Pastor reminds CJ and the rest of the teens that, although it is okay to have fun in the Christmas program, there is still a holiness about the entire event that should neve...

20 pages

7 m, 5 w, 2 teen girls, 2 boys, extras as angels.

Leah, a teenager, has never spoken a word in her life, and her mother, an old servant woman at an inn, feels guilty and worried about the future. But that all changes when Baby Jesus is born at the inn's stable. As shepherds come to worship Him, another miracle occurs and Leah speaks for the first time, to sing a lullaby. A beautiful, dramatic story. Performance time: 30 minutes.