We have forgotten the true meaning
of Christmas. The true meaning of
Christmas will continue to be in oblivion if we don’t remind ourselves of the
true meaning of the season and teach our children the essence of Christmas.
The true meaning of Christmas, the
birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, is often buried in the commercialism of today’s
Christmas celebration. We get caught up
in the excitement of the holiday and unwrapping our gifts. Kids couldn’t quit thinking if their “wish
lists” would come true. To prevent the
true meaning of Christmas to be totally forgotten, we need to teach children the
true meaning of Christmas, the spiritual side of Christmas.
Some very intuitive single moms,
came up with the following ways to teach children the true meaning of
Christmas:
Use
the Jesse Tree to help children learn about the salvation history. Show the genealogy of Jesus through symbols and use this to decorate your Jesse tree.
This is a fun way of teaching and a great time for bonding with your
kids. For instance, ask your kids to
draw an apple to represent Adam and Eve then hang this on the lowest branch of
your Jesse Tree. Next ask them to
cut-out a rainbow from their old story book to decorate another branch of your
Jesse Tree, all the way to the baby Jesus being born. For every ornament they draw, cut-out or
make, tell them the story and the importance of the symbols.
Instead
of the usual bed-time story books that you read to your kids, get a Bible story
book for your children. They would love
to hear the adventures of Noah, Moses, David, Samson and more. Get them excited by reading portions of the
adventures every night. Make the birth of
Jesus Christ your finale emphasizing its importance, saying that Jesus came to
gift us with eternal life and nothing can ever compare to this gift. Receiving Christmas physical gifts on
Christmas day is a bonus but the gift of eternal life, the sacrifice of Jesus
is the utmost gift anyone can receive.
Let
your creative juices flow and build a manger with your children. Make it more meaningful by allowing your kids
to “add comfort” to baby Jesus by allowing them to add straws on the manger every
time they do a good deed. Get a cardboard
box large enough to fit a baby Jesus doll.
Put some straws on it and then let the fun begin as your kids try to be
good to enable them to add more straws on the manager. On Christmas Eve put all the ornaments – baby
Jesus on the manager, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and sheep, and the three
kings.
Lull
your kids to sleep with old-time Christmas songs like Silent Night, Hark the
Herald Angels Sing, O Holy Night, etc. On your
bonding time, watch Christmas movies such as The Polar Express, The Grinch Who
Stole Christmas (animated version), etc.
Make the Christmas holiday truly
fun, enjoyable, entertaining and full of the true meaning of the season.
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