Children's Christmas

12 pages

Large flexible cast

Preschoolers and children in lower grades will enjoy performing in this gentle and delightful Christmas pageant. Like many mothers of new babies, Mary is having a difficult time getting Baby Jesus to sleep. The wise men, shepherds, angels, lions, sheep, and mice sing their best lullabies, but all in vain. At last, one small, timid, striped kitten sings the Holy Child to sleep. Older children can handle the few speaking roles while any number of younger performers can participate as the animals. Easy costuming and staging and all the songs are traditional, wel...

18 pages

13 speaking parts, extras.

The older angels are preparing for the coming of the Christ Child but the little angels have not been told the great secret and their mischievousness is disturbing. Michael, the littlest one, is the worst! But when the Guardian Angel explains, they are eager to do their share. How Michael is chosen to be the one to accompany Gabriel down to earth makes this a play of beauty and dignity for smaller children.  Performance time: 25 minutes. 

33 pages

12 flexible plus extras

It is late December and Mr. Barker has sold all of the trees on his lot except for one - a little Christmas tree. It is a snowy evening, and the lonely little tree listens to Christmas carols that are playing in the distance. All of a sudden, an angel appears. He is a rather gruff, street-wise angel-- an angel that used to grace the tops of Christmas trees at Henthorne's Department Store. But this angel has been thrown out because its wing is broken. To cheer the angel up, the little tree tells the angel about this book she’s been reading: the Bible. She shar...

9 pages

7 main characters.

Annie is the saddest-looking angel in Heaven! With a broken wing, a crooked halo, untidy hair, and always a pile of mending to do, she is just too busy to even get to choir rehearsal on time. The angels all know something very, very important is about to happen. When the Heavenly Father chooses Annie to stand guard over his newborn son, all the other angels work hard to get her ready, and most of all, make sure she will be on time. Performance time: 20 minutes.

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 ...

12 pages

10 speaking parts, angel choir, optional extras.

Here is a beautiful pageant for children with easy-to-learn lines and simple staging and costuming. It's Christmas Day in the year 2050 and the spaceship crew wants to celebrate the holiday - all except for the captain. He says Christmas is just for children. When they come upon three lost angel children there's nothing to do but follow their map to return them to heaven. Once there the crew sings carols and exchanges gifts with all the angels. The captain, however, cannot see anything because he doesn't believe - until he receives the gift of love. About 20 ...

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...

28 pages

Large flexible cast, doubling possible.

It's Christmas and everyone is happy. Everyone, that is, except Travis, who tried to play a little joke on the Pastor's wife and now only has sticks and stones to look forward to. His grief is intensified by Felicity whose perfect record this past year has earned her all that she wants for Christmas - and she wants 364 gifts, one for each day of her goodness. After Felicity blows her contract and loses everything, they both learn that there is still one gift they can receive for Christmas...one that no one can ever be good enough to earn (Isaiah 64:6), but yo...

26 pages

Widely flexible,from children to young adults.

Benny is a young boy who thinks he is too little to do anything right. His grandmother decides to tell him a story of an impulsive young angel named Benjamin. He seems to have missed the journey to Bethlehem to welcome King Jesus. When Benjamin sets out to find Bethlehem on his own, he encounters a series of discouraged people. He proceeds to help them find their place in God’s plan, all the while fearing he himself has missed his own place. As he helps Mary and Joseph find a place for their baby to be born, he discovers God’s plan for his life and most impor...

17 pages

Large, flexible cast.

PowerPoint visuals, music, and narration blend together to form this beautiful Christmas program that you personalize to make uniquely yours. "God's Great Gift" is seen through three program parts: the Creation story, the Christmas story, and your own church story. Start with our eight photos of the heavens taken from outer space (included) and collect your own slides along with statements of thanksgiving from each of your Sunday school classes. Adults and children alike can celebrate together in this service of worship because the production is done ahead of...

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.

20 pages

Cast of 10. (2 w, 3 teen girls, 5 teens)

Kaylee is not particularly thrilled about having to be part of a living Nativity at her church. Instead of standing outside in the cold, posing with her friends in costumes like a cheap religious Christmas card, she'd rather be with her boyfriend. The others have varying opinions, but all agree that emailing, texting and playing on their cell phones help pass the time between running to positions whenever a car passes. Kaylee just thinks it's all a waste of precious time. But sometimes God chooses crazy things, like this living Nativity, to share His love. So...

41 pages

Flexible cast

This collection will delight all church children's leaders. The 22 recitations and choral readings are perfect for preschoolers and elementary school children. Older youngsters will enjoy performing the three plays: "Christmas Gifts From Jesus," "Channel J-O-Y," and "The Fourth King." Because of the flexibility of this book, any number of children can be involved. It's great for any size church - a must for this Christmas.

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.