Children's Theatre

25 pages

Flexible youth cast.

All the joy of life bubbles out in this delightful play which combines favorite Bible stories with beloved hymns and spirituals. The church is putting on a show but unfortunately the "featured celebrity" can't make it because there are just too many prayers to attend to. So everyone takes turns reading God's lines. Stories include Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the Ark, Tower of Babel and 5 others. Humor shines throughout from the serpent telling Eve that eating the apple will stop ring around the collar, to the lions saying they'd rather have a pizza than Daniel for supper. Easy to ...

20 pages

4 m, 2 w

Here is a perfect play to introduce children to the Underground Railroad. Designed as a Reader’s Theatre, "The Silent War" is a story of three slaves – and eight little mice – who escape to freedom along the Underground Railroad. Uncle Amos, Belle, and Buck Henry, all slaves on a Kentucky plantation, didn’t plan to escape until they met Zakary, a Bible salesman and abolitionist. He shows them the way to cross the river into Ohio and from there travel north to other stations. Along the way, the three slaves are helped by other dedicated abolitionists including...

14 pages

10 agents and a group of younger children, no gender requirements

The children are given a "Mission Impossible"-type assignment to take a trip across America to find things that remind them of the original Christmas story. The young “agents” travel to Texas, Iowa, Alaska, Maine, Hawaii, and Florida to find things in each state that remind them of the nativity. In between stops to the various states, younger children may sing or recite poems. The play concludes with a reminder that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and a prayer that we won’t be at war for any Christmases in the future. Optional corresponding scripture readings th...

47 pages

3 m, 2 w, 5 teen girls, 9 teen boys, extras.

A comedy about the hardships teenager, Matt Duncan, goes through when his family moves from California to a small mid-western town. Matt is forced to make new friends and important choices that could affect the rest of his life. The Duncans' new neighbors lead them to Christ and invite them to their church. Unfortunately, the church youth are not very receptive to Matt and even think he is packing a gun in his over-sized pants! Fortunately, the church leaders are able to help, and as Matt accepts Christ, the church kids also start anew. Lots of laughs in this play which effectively captu...

33 pages

6 m, 3 w, 5 flexible

In the Prologue, Light, Night, Sky, Sea and Earth tell how and why God created them, and why He went on to create Adam to rule over all the other creatures on the Earth. In the Garden of Eden, Adam decides to name all the animals he meets. A pair of Elephants teach him some manners, describe how versatile their long noses are compared with his, and leave him to ponder his limitations. A pair of Monkeys play word games with him to arrive at their name, which Adam finally decides must be "Montgomery." Satan as the Snake appears and privately reveals to the audience his rebellious origin a...

36 pages

6 m, 7 w, numerous extra children.

A delightful version of the Noah's Ark story in verse. Noah talks with his wife about filling an Ark, but she is indignant at the prospect of cleaning up after all those animals. As the animals appear two by two we meet them and they, too, turn up their noses at the Ark until it starts raining. Once on board everyone is complaining. A clever Fox persuades all of the male animals to "mutiny" but the wives save the day and Noah's wife sends the Fox to the brig. When the Dove returns with the olive branch the Rainbow Children appear and describe the bright and colorful new world upon whi...

49 pages

8 sketches for 3-8 puppets.

This collection for elementary-aged students includes "Moses Smites the Rock" (with a talking rock!) and "The Prodigal Son," as well as original stories. "Seventy Times Seven" uses slapstick to teach forgiveness. In "No Eggs for Easter," the Easter bunny loses his eggs, but learns about Jesus. "Odd Somes" uses simple puppets children can make to show how God can use anyone. "Penny Latchkey" deals with crime prevention and wariness towards strangers. In the "Two Shoes," the characters are worn-out shoes who learn the difference between the Christian and the worldly life. "Frankie Finds a ...

27 pages

Large flexible cast, doubling possible.

A troop of young angels are singing their rousing "Angel Flight Song" as the play opens. Some of the angels have questioned the wisdom of making their announcement of Christ's birth to some lowly shepherds rather than to somebody "important." Through the miracle of "Angel Vision," they are able to observe firsthand how four potentates (King Herod, the Roman Governor, the high priest, and a wealthy businessman) would react if their announcement were made to each of them. They gratefully announce Jesus' birth to the shepherds as originally planned by God and ta...

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 ...

29 pages

20 characters. (2 m, 1 w plus other parts which can be played by males or females.)

Friar Francis and Friar Juniper decide to re-enact the First Nativity for the people of their town at Christmas. They ask the nearby animals if their ancestors were at the First Nativity and could tell them what it was like. They encounter an amusing variety of creatures, reflecting a range of human follies. But the animals they encounter are all too busy with themselves to give Friar Francis what he wants. In despair, Friar Francis lies down for a nap. As he sleeps it is disclosed that Friar Juniper and all the animals have secretly been rehearsing for weeks...

38 pages

Flexible cast

This resource will utilize your whole Sunday School. Younger primary children will enjoy performing and singing in "The Tracks of Christmas" (30 minutes) as they find out about the only perfect tracks that were ever made. In "A Christmas Miracle" (20 minutes) the poor woodsman's family was left wondering who the little stranger was that came to visit on Christmas Eve. A fun skit of pantomime and narration for middle primary students. To round out this package, older students will enjoy "A Christmas Tale at Antelope Springs." (45 minutes) Come along on this we...

21 pages

Flexible casting

These short, easy-to-stage pieces make it simple to have your church's youth become an active part of a Christmas worship service or outreach. Included are two reader's theatre works based on classic literature, made fresh for today's audiences: "The Selfish Giant" and "Where Love Is, God Is" require little rehearsal time. Three readings, "The Child of Bethlehem," "Mary's Good Night Song" and "Wise Men and Shepherds," are short works full of big meaning. To round out the collection: "The Gift of Song" highlights the history of six familiar carols and "Central...

46 pages

A Collection of Skits

At last, nursery rhymes with a reason. Here are 15 skits, based on popular nursery rhymes and tales, with delightful new twists toward biblical lessons. For instance, "The Three Little Kittens" may have lost their mittens, but they end up dressed in the whole armor of God. In "The Grasshopper and the Ants," the grasshopper learns how important it is to make provisions for the future which explains why the ants collect the bread of life. In another, the Little Christian, like the little engine that could, finds he is rewarded for facing his challenges. These s...

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.

26 pages

5 skits

Here are five Bible story skits that will captivate hearts, and because they are written in rhyme, it is super easy for young children to memorize their parts. Laughter will fill the air when your children perform "Noah's Zoo." At just the right moment, the narrator, perplexed and bewildered, recites, "By the time he was through, Noah had himself a zoo!" In "Daniel and the Friendly Lions," one of the lions stands and declares, "I'm certainly no dummy...This man, Daniel, doesn't belong in my tummy!" They will delight any audience - any day of the year.