If you have young children like I do, they may enjoy dressing up and re-enacting the Christmas scene: Mary, Joseph, the Three Wise Men, the shepherds, maybe even an angel. You don’t need lots of players – they can take turns – we did!

First the Wise Men came, then the shepherds. In fact, one of the Wise Men couldn’t make it so he passed a gift on with the other Wise Man. Dress up clothing needn’t be expensive. I was Joseph and I was dressed up in the coarse striped blanket that sits on our couch! Of course “Mary” had a headcover and a doll wrapped up in a neutral colored blanket, making sure to cover the doll's clothes that might give away that this was not a birth from 2,000 years ago! The presents ranged from boxes of yellow toys (gold) to every toy on the shelf (the Wise Men had sisters that also wanted to give presents). No worries, once you’ve been one character, just swap roles (and blankets) and try out another persona.

Of course, the event wouldn’t be complete without plenty of humor – a piece of toast for the wise man’s camel. Or maybe a Larabar from Trader Joes for the Wise Man’s trip home. What about Joseph expecting the Wise Men’s visit because he’d read about it in the Bible (which, incidentally, hadn’t been invented yet!). Or maybe even a present that was defective and had to returned to Amazon! By the end of it I was rolling on the floor crying tears of laughter.

You may be wondering if this is actually reverent or useful. I think so. You can be sure they will always remember it! …The gist of it, at least, which is all that matters. Of course, the “Wise Man” gazed into Mary’s eyes and stated seriously that this was the moment he’d been waiting for his whole life. And “Joseph” praised “Mary” on their beautiful baby. “Mary” hugged her baby tight and sang sweetly, “O Holy Night”.

To top it off, once we were done all the kids wanted a “Baby Jesus” of their own. So of course we had to find some more dolls and some nice neutral blankets to swaddle them in…and some containers for a manger…and more blankets for hay.

All in all we had a fun time, a great activity for a rainy day.

 

Why not try it yourself? Drama can be lots of fun!