CHRISTMAS
CHRISTMAS: - 
-
For our Christmas combined activity we went Caroling. Not just any
caroling
but a special kind. We had it set up where we went to several people's
homes who were from church and asked them if we came if we could get
them
to be kind of rude and turn us away. They all agreed. That wed.
we
took the youth to their homes to go caroling. They were so mad
that
everyone we went to turned us away. Finally we went to the last home
where
all the kids were sure they would get to sing and they turned us
away as well. We went out to their parking lot to decide what to do.
When
all the kids were gathered around we had someone open their
garage
where we had people acting as Mary, Joseph and a baby doll for Jesus.
We
shared the Christmas story with them and how they felt when they were
turned
away. We then went into the home and had hot cocoa. The kids enjoyed
it.
Jennifer
SYMBOLS OF CHRISTMAS: -
STAR -- God's love for mankind and fulfilled
promise
of a Savior...Stars at night remind us of that HOPE.
RED -- 1st Color. Symbol of blood of
our Savior,
Jesus Christ, shed for us/Gift of Eternal Life/symbol of God's Love.
CHRISTMAS TREE -- 2nd Color. Fir
Tree is ever green
youthful, hopeful, branch, needles point Heavenward -- symbolic of
man's
returning thoughts toward heaven.... symbol of everlasting HOPE of
mankind.
WREATH -- Symbolizes the eternal nature of
love....one
continuous round of affection/ Reminds us of all the things of
Christmas.
TEACH THE CHILDREN...
CANDLE -- Man's thanks for the STAR of
long ago.
It's small light is a mirror of star light.
BELL -- Guidance and return to the
fold....ALL are precious
in the eyes of the Lord....
CANDY CANE -- Represents the shephard's
crook that helps
bring back strayed sheep of the ofld....Now the Candy Cane symbolizes
the
helping hand we show at Christmas time and that we are our brother's
keeper.
RIBBON BOW -- Spirit of the brotherhood of
man. Remember
that the bow is tied as men should be tied -- all of us TOGETHER, with
the bonds of "goodwill" toward each other forever.
SANTA CLAUS -- the jolly, old elf, is a
symbol of Christmas,
too. He's a sign of CARING, LOVING & SHARING! The
wtinkle
in his eye is a reflection of the JOY that comes into a person's heart
as he lovingly SERVES OTHERS, gives of himself, of his earthly
goods!
The spirit of Christ prompts such loving acts from Santa, from me and
from
you!
The SYMBOLS OF CHRISTMAS open a treasure
of deepest insight:
The one thing on earth we all ought to do, is the teaching of children
teh RIGHT and the TRUE....the ending of evil, the ceasing of
strive.
To GIVE and to HELP, to LOVE and to SERVE are the best things of life,
all men can deserve. PEACE, HOPE, JOY & "Eternal" BLESSINGS
reisde
in their wake. Jesus, our Savior, opened and led the way and
desires
to shepherd us back home to our Father in Heaven above.... TEACH THE
CHILDREN.
For a site that has Christmas Games on
it:
http://childparenting.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa112997.htm
CHRISMAS RECIPE: -
CHRISTMAS BY THE CUPFUL
(Holiday Recipe)
A heaping cup of happiness,
2 of love and caring,
1 of understand,
1 of joyful sharing.
A level cup of wisdom,
1 of artful living,
1 of thoughtful insight,
1 of selfless giving.
Mis ingredients together,
Toss in a little flair,
Serve to everyone you know
Topped with a tiny prayer.
May every measure of happiness
Be yours this Christmastime!
THE WORDS SANTA LIKES TO HEAR POEM: -
-
THE WORDS SANTA LIKES TO HEAR
One day while he fixed up his sled,
To the elves here's what Santa Claus said,
"When I hear the word "gimme",
Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme,
I wish I were back in my bed.
"How much nicer it sounds when I hear,
Friendly wishes for holiday cheer.
When folks busy as bees,
Say thank you and please
Then I'm happy that Christmas is near."
HOLIDAY CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS: - I thought
you might
be interested in a compiliations of Holiday Traditions I wrote up for a
RS Homemaking meeting one year. (These are family oriented,
but could be adaptable to YW) Click
here to read them.
MEANING OF THE CANDY CANE: -
The First Candy Cane
Honors Jesus
A shepherd's crook
Inverted a "J" for Jesus
By Jesus's stripes we are healed
Red is for the blood he shed
White is how He washes away our sins and makes us
pure
as snow
One bold stripe for the God of all the children of
men
Three fine stripes for Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
CHRISTMAS LINKS
Christmas
crafts from mining company
Quilt in
a day
Wise
Man page (scroll down to bottom for good links)
Grade
school planning a Child's Christmas party (use for room mother
stuff)
Gifts
to make -- daycare (should be easy crafts to make)
Christmas
At Orchard Hill School (homey page -- lots of links)
Elf
School projects -- become Santa's elf (looks like a game for kids )
Santa
Land
-- this looks good -- lots of things to investigate on this site!!!!
103+ QUICK AND EASY CHRISTMAS IDEAS - CLICK
HERE (added more ideas 11/24/98)
SCRIPTURE ADVENT CALENDAR: -
Dec. 1 Isaiah 7:14 Angels We Have Heard On
High
Dec. 2 Isaiah 9:6 Away In A Manger
Dec. 3 Micah 5:2 O Little Town of Bethlehem
Dec. 4 Jeremiah 23:5 O Come All Ye Faithful
Dec. 5 Isaiah 40:1-4 Joy to the World
Dec. 6 Jeremiah 33:14-15 The First Noel
Dec. 7 Isaiah 40:11 It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
Dec. 8 Psalms 24 Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Dec. 9 Jeremiah 23:6 While Shepherds Watched Their
Flocks
Dec. 10 Jacob 7:11-12 Far, Far Away On Judea’s
Plain
Dec. 11 1 Nephi 10:4 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Dec. 12 1 Nephi 13:18 What Child Is This
Dec. 13 1 Nephi 11:20-24 O Holy Night
Dec. 14 1 Nephi 11:27 Who Is The Child
Dec. 15 Helaman 14:3 Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus
Dec. 16 Helaman 14:5-6 I Heard the Bells
Dec. 17 Luke 1:30-31 I Believe in Christ
Dec. 18 3 Nephi 1:13 When Christ Was Born In
Bethlehem
Dec. 19 3 Nephi 1:19 Star Bright
Dec. 20 Luke 2:4-7 O Hush Thee My Baby
Dec. 21 Luke 2:8-11 How Great Thou Art
Dec. 22 Luke 2:12-14 We Three Kings of Orient Are
Dec. 23 Matthew 2:1-2 With Wondering Awe
Dec. 24 Mosiah 3:5-8 Silent Night Luke
1:26-38,
46-47 Luke 2:1-20 Matthew 2:1-14
CHRISTMAS STORY FUN: - Each adult YW leader
is
going to prepare a Christmas story-it could be from memory or a reading
from a favorite book. Then to go along with the story, we will
make
an ornament for each girl that symbolizes the story. We will take
the two weeks before Christmas to share our stories. At the end
of
each presentation, we hand out the ornament and a copy of the
story.
Each girl will get a file folder to keep her stories in, and be told
that
this is the start of their own personal christmas ornament
collection.
This also serves as our Christmas gift to each girl as well as to each
other. For example, my story is going to be The Little Match Girl
(was one written by Hans Christian Andersen. I just have a paper
back copy of the book, illustrated by Rachel Isadora. ) and I am going
to hand out an angel made from an old fashioned clothes pin, holding a
match. (As to the clothespin angel---paint an old fashioned
clothes
pin white, two black dots for eyes on the round/head part,
gather some lace for the dress around the neck, add wings made
from
a piece of gold ribbon tied into a bow, glue on back. Add
some
curly hair and a halo of some gold wire, glue a match on the her front
and add a hanger of some sort to make it into an ornament. If this is
done
each year, by the time a YW is 18, she should have quite a collection!
"LUKE II" VIDEO AND AMY GRANT SONG: - Play
the
song by Amy Grant entitled, "Mary's Song". It is on her
Christmas
CD. The video is entitled "Luke II". I found it in my
church
ward library. It is 5 minutes long. It fits perfectly with
Amy Grant's song. You just "mute" the video an play the CD.
It was a perfect ending to our Christmas lesson.