Christmas is a-comin’
And the goose is gettin’ fat!
Please to put a penny in an old man’s hat.
If you haven’t got a penny then a ha’penny would do,
If you haven’t got a ha’penny then God bless you!
We used to play the ‘Bonanza’ Christmas album that features that song over and over at Christmastime when I was a kid. I don’t hear it often anymore, but it does hint around at the real spirit of Christmas.
Last week for playgroup we tried to focus on the real reason for the season. We met at a local church, where the pastor read the children a story by Ruth Graham that talked about the very first Christmas.
After that, he assigned each child a part in the Christmas story, and they dressed up using simple costumes that the church had on hand. (I think it would be really fun to make some costumes like this sometime ….) The pastor then read the Christmas story from the book of Luke and directed each ‘actor’ when his part was read. The angel was very excited about his wings!
After that, it was time to break loose for a bit. Everyone brought craft supplies, and the kids made cards for our next field trip, when we’ll visit with the residents at an assisted living center. Some were especially excited about fancy scissors, while others were more interested in decorating shapes and gluing them onto their cards..
Soon we’ll visit the center and sing to the residents and pass out the cards we’ve made. What better way for little ones to spread some Christmas cheer than with crayons and song?
