# Christmas Activities for Church: 8 Ideas for Advent and December

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_8 Christmas activities for church, Sunday school and small groups, each with steps, a Bible reference and a variation. From the manger to a gift exchange._

## Quick answer

This page gives you 8 Christmas activities for church, Sunday school and small groups. They walk through the Christmas story from angles that rarely get preached: the long wait, the room with no space, the shepherds, Herod and the wise men. The last two turn the gift exchange and the end-of-year dinner into something with meaning. Use them for Advent, a December class or a family night.

Almost everyone in church already knows the manger story. The December challenge is not to inform people, it is to help the same story say something new, and a fourth chronological sermon rarely does that.

The 8 activities below come in through less-used doors: the centuries of waiting before the birth, the inn with no room, the shepherds as the first guests, and Herod's reaction. The last two turn the gift exchange and the year-end dinner into more than a party. Every activity has steps, a Bible reference and a variation.

## Activity overview

- Audience: Children, teens and adults, in a church service, Sunday school class, small group or family gathering
- Time: 15 to 40 minutes per activity
- Group size: 8 to 150 participants

## Supplies

- Index cards, pens and envelopes
- Nativity figures (a set from home or church)
- Small wrapped gifts for the exchange
- A Bible (print or on a phone)
- A timer or phone stopwatch

## 1. The Four Hundred Years of Waiting

**Goal:** Start December with the part of the story almost nobody tells: the silence before the birth of Jesus.

### Step by step

1. Ask everyone to sit in complete silence for three minutes without telling them why. Time it on a phone and keep your own eyes on the clock so nobody feels watched.
2. When time is up, ask two or three volunteers how those three minutes felt and how long they seemed. Anyone who prefers can write one word on an index card instead of speaking.
3. Explain that roughly four hundred years passed between the last Old Testament prophet, Malachi, and the angel's announcement to Zechariah, with no new word from God in Scripture.
4. Read Galatians 4:4 aloud and ask: what does it mean that God sent his Son at exactly the right time?

**Key verse:** Galatians 4:4 — when the right time had fully come, God sent his Son

**Variation:** Have each person write on an index card something they have been waiting on for years, seal it in an envelope and keep the envelopes for activity 8 at the end of December.

## 2. No Room at the Inn

**Goal:** Help the group feel the exclusion in the best-known detail of the Christmas story.

### Step by step

1. Set up chairs in a circle, with two fewer chairs than people. Keep the area clear and tell everyone to walk, never run.
2. Play music while everyone walks around the outside of the circle. When you pause it, everyone sits; the two without a chair step out but stay where they can watch.
3. Repeat for 5 to 6 rounds until about half the group is standing outside. Do not let anyone back in, and keep the music light.
4. Ask the people outside what it felt like to watch from there, then read Luke 2:7 aloud.
5. Close by asking who in your town has no room today, and agree on one concrete action for December, such as a coat drive or an invitation to the Christmas Eve service.

**Key verse:** Luke 2:7 — Mary laid her newborn in a manger because there was no guest room for them

**Variation:** For a group of children, play it with floor spots or paper plates instead of chairs, and have the leaders sit outside first so the kids see it is safe.

## 3. The Nativity, Out of Order

**Goal:** Retell the birth of Jesus with nativity figures in hand.

### Step by step

1. Hand out nativity figures to the participants, mixed up and out of order. If you have no set, print simple pictures and cut them out.
2. One at a time, each person places a figure on a table and says in a sentence what that character is doing there. Anyone can say "pass" and come back to it.
3. When someone is stuck, the group helps and you fill in from the text.
4. Once the scene is set up, read Luke 2:1-20 aloud, slowly, while people move the figures that appear in each verse.

**Key verse:** Luke 2:11 — today in David's town a Savior has been born, who is Christ the Lord

**Variation:** Slip in a few figures that do not belong in the stable scene, such as the wise men, and discuss what Luke 2 and Matthew 2:11 actually say about who was there and when.

## 4. The First Guests

**Goal:** See the Christmas story through the shepherds' eyes, not the kings'.

### Step by step

1. Split into groups of 4 to 6. Give each group a sheet of poster paper and a marker and 5 minutes to list who today would be the equivalent of the shepherds: the people at the back of the line in our society.
2. Each group shares its list and tapes the poster on the wall.
3. Read Luke 2:8-12 aloud and ask: why did the angels announce the news to shepherds first?
4. As a whole group, choose one category from the posters and agree on a specific December action for it, such as writing cards or collecting needed items.

**Key verse:** Luke 2:10 — good news of great joy that will be for all the people

**Variation:** Invite someone who serves people experiencing homelessness to hear the presentations and add a few comments at the end.

## 5. The Gift That Cannot Be Earned

**Goal:** Explain grace in a concrete way before the gift exchange.

### Step by step

1. Bring 4 to 6 small wrapped gifts, such as a pen or a notebook, and hand them to people picked at random.
2. When someone asks what they have to do to get it, answer only: nothing, it is yours.
3. Ask those who received a gift how it felt, then ask those who did not. Do not skip the second group.
4. Read Ephesians 2:8-9 aloud, and finish by giving every person in the room the same small gift or a card. If you choose candy, check for food allergies first.

**Key verse:** Ephesians 2:8-9 — saved by grace through faith, a gift from God and not our own doing

**Variation:** Do this activity right before the group's gift exchange; it changes the meaning of everything that comes after.

## 6. A Letter to Herod

**Goal:** Work with the uncomfortable side of the Christmas story.

### Step by step

1. Read Matthew 2:1-18 aloud, including the part that is rarely preached. Read the last verses gently, especially with children present.
2. In groups of 3 or 4, ask each person to write a short note to Herod explaining why he had nothing to fear from the newborn King. Give 6 minutes.
3. Invite volunteers to read a few notes aloud. Nobody is required to read.
4. Close with a question: what does a person fear today if they do not want Jesus to reign in some area of life? Let people answer on paper and keep it private.

**Key verse:** Matthew 2:3 — King Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him

**Variation:** With teenagers, ask them to write the note as a text message; the change of format loosens up a heavy topic.

## 7. A Gift Exchange With Meaning

**Goal:** Turn the secret gift exchange into more than a bought present.

### Step by step

1. At the drawing, each person picks a name and receives one rule: the gift must be inexpensive and come with a letter. Set a limit, for example 10 dollars.
2. The letter says three things: what the writer has learned from that person, how they have seen that person grow, and what they wish for them in the new year.
3. At the exchange, the letter is read first (or handed over to read quietly), and only then is the gift opened.
4. Read Acts 20:35 aloud before the first exchange.

**Key verse:** Acts 20:35 — it is more blessed to give than to receive

**Variation:** If the group is very large, do only the letters and skip the gifts. Nobody misses the object.

## 8. The Table at the End of the Year

**Goal:** Close December by turning the group dinner into gratitude.

### Step by step

1. Before serving, each person writes on an index card one reason for gratitude from the year that is ending, without a name on it.
2. The cards go in the middle of the table, mixed up.
3. During dinner, each person draws a card that is not theirs and reads it aloud. Anyone who prefers can hand it to a neighbor to read.
4. At the end, read Psalm 103:2, and let everyone take one card home.

**Key verse:** Psalm 103:2 — bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget any of his benefits

**Variation:** If you did activity 1 early in December, give back the envelopes of waiting too, and close them with a short prayer together.

## Close with a quiz

Use the Christmas Bible trivia list, with answers and references, for a review round with the whole family or group after one of these activities.

[Close December with Bible trivia](https://www.ciniramaster.com.br/en/bible-trivia/christmas-bible-trivia-questions-with-answers)

## Frequently asked questions

### How can we keep the Christmas story from feeling repeated every year?

Enter through the angles that are rarely preached. Activities 1, 2, 4 and 6 work with the centuries of waiting, the inn with no room, the shepherds as first guests and Herod's reaction. Most groups know the whole story but little of these parts of the text.

### Which Christmas activity works with young children?

Activity 3, the nativity out of order, works from about age four: each child places a figure and says what that character is doing. The variation with figures that do not belong in the scene teaches kids to look at what the text really says, and it works with adults too.

### How do we give the gift exchange more meaning?

Use activity 7: the gift stays inexpensive and comes with a letter saying what the writer learned from that person, how they have grown and what is wished for them. The letter is read first. In very large groups, do only the letters.

### Can these activities work for a small group or a family?

Yes. Activities 3, 5, 7 and 8 work very well in a living room with 8 to 15 people, and activity 8 is designed for an end-of-year dinner. Activities 2 and 4 work best with 30 or more people, where being left outside the circle and the variety of lists really show.

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